This is a post from Sterngirl from another thread.

"I stopped packing dry dog food after the one trip that I brought it. It's heavy (Dixie is a 70 lb lab so she needed about 2+ cups each day) and it's a disaster if it gets wet. Now I use my dehydrator and make "patties" out of quinoa, baby food veggies, egg, and ground meat. (buffalo is her favorite) I mix it all, form it into patties, and dehydrate. She eats about 4 patties each day. (2 in the morning, 2 at night) I also buy chicken breasts when they're on sale and cut the meat into strips and dry that to bring for "treats." All of Dixie's food is packed in zip locks in our food pack."

I would love to do this but not sure my dog can adjust from eating Iams dry food. I would probably have to give her some a couple of weeks before the trip.

And Sterngirl, if you see this can you give a specific recipe of how you make those? Thanks!

Dixie usually eats EVO dry dog food at home. I don't give her any patties before we trip and she does fine.

Hmmm. Specific recipe. I'll give it a try based on last summer:

2 lbs ground meat
2 whole eggs
Quinoa - cooked, cooled, and mixed in to bind. Maybe 1-2 cups..
2 containers of green baby food. (green beans I think, but you could use any kind)

I mix the raw meat, eggs, veggies together. Then add enough quinoa to bind the mixture together. I added some garlic powder too.

Form into patties and dehydrate on the beef jerkey setting. I usually flip them once about 6-7 hours in. I dry them until the moisture is gone. Using leaner meat will help them "keep" longer without refrigeration. If you make them way in advance, store in the freezer.

I'm not a vet or nutritionist, so I can say this has the "perfect" nutritional value for a dog. But, it seems to contain the important elements: meat, veggie, carb.

If your dog isn't picky, you could really make the patties with just about anything you have around the house. Cook your own veggies until they are really soft, smash or blend, and add to the mix. I have used brown rice as well. You could use mashed potato mix as the binder too.

My lab is picky. She doesn't tend to eat well unless we're home. So, I started making these after I carried a bunch of dry food on a trip and she barely ate any of it. (and it got wet and blew up to big, fat pieces) Now she eats a couple patties for breakfast and dinner, and has some treats at lunch. (dried chicken)

Hope that helps.

Thanks so much!! I plan on getting a dehydrator for Christmas and will experiment making those patties and see what she likes. I won't be taking my dog on a trip till 2013. :(

Tom,
When I make them for my August trip to Beaverhouse, I'll take notes about what I use and the specific amounts and a more specific recipe.

Molly

When adding garlic powder just make sure to go with a pretty modest amount. Some garlic can be good for dogs but too much can actually be toxic and creates some sort or anemia type issue.

I've seen some charts about how much is safe for different size dogs. Might be worth looking into just for reference. If you're adding a pretty small amount and only occasionally using the patties then you're probably fine but I just thought I throw it out here just in case.

How many patties does this make?

I just finished making the patties and thought I'd share how I did it this time around.

I used about a lb of ground venison, 1 jar of baby food squash, 1 jar of baby food apples/raspberries, 1 egg, and potato flakes. I added the potato until it came together. I was able to make 18 patties, each (dried) about the size of a small hamburger. (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter) I decided not to use quinoa this time, but have used it in the past. The potatoes absorbed more moisture, and after they were dried, they held together better.

That's a lot of work! My 50 Lb husky-sheperd mix also eats about two cups of dry dog food per day. We just got back from a 13-day Quetico trip, and despite the volume of dog food, etc., were able to single portage the whole trip. We pack dog food in a nylon, Granite Gear dog bowl and a stuff sack, both wrapped in a plastic bag. Works well.