Bugging out with your Dog!

When we bug out, everyone physically capable carries their own weight.  This includes the dog.  This means that we need to attach a saddlebag to the dog to allow for them to carry their bug out items.  We also need to take steps to keep the weight of all items as light as possible.  

One of the first things to consider when bugging out with your dog is your dog's individual needs.  What are their dietary needs, their sleeping arrangement needs, their food and water needs, their exercise needs, their medical needs, and do they have any special needs that would require specific accommodation. 

Sleeping Arrangements:
If your dog sleeps in a dog bed, then you might want to consider a blow up dog bed.  ChuckIt Makes a lovely Travel Bed that may be suitable for your needs.  My dog sleeps in the bed with me and would never be comfortable anywhere else.  So since she'll most likely be in the sleeping bag/tent with me, I didn't include any other sleeping arrangements.

Food and Water:
It is recommended that a dog drink 8 oz per 10 lbs per day MINIMUM.  It is important to remember that water is HEAVY.  8 ounces of water weighs about .5 lb.  So for my 20 lb dog 16 ounces of water is recommended per day. That's an extra lb of weight to her pack. 

Because of where I live, I presume that I am going to have access to some kind of water.  Whether I get it from a local stream or rainwater collection.  For this reason I am only including 16 ounces of emergency water in her pack.  Datrex makes these perfect little 4.2 oz packs of emergency drinking water.  I bought this huge box of them.   I am including 4 of them in her pack.  I will include some in our bug out packs as well.  The rest I will save for bugging in. 

Bug out bags should include enough food and water for 3 days at least.  The 16 ounces of water is only enough water for a single day.  For this reason I am including water purification tablets. 

The instructions are simple enough

I have already posted about how to make and can your own wet food here.  However, When it comes to food we can't really afford the weight or space in the pack for Wet dog food.  And I know I would want to give my pug the comforts of home whenever possible, so I wouldn't want to just give her nothing but dry food. So I decided to compromise with a freeze dried mix of my own making.  

Let me just say, it turned out SO DELICIOUS that I included a bit in my own packs!  

Here's the recipe:

9 cups freeze dried chicken

3 cups freeze dried zucchini

4.5 cups instant brown rice

2-3 cups dehydrated kale

1.5 cups freeze dried peas

First add the chicken to a LARGE Bowl

Then add the Zucchini

Then add the rice

Then add the Peas and Kale

Once everything is thoroughly mixed together (keep in mind, the rice will tend to stay towards the bottom)  I cut bags for the freeze dried mix.  Each bag holds 2 servings.  

I double sealed the bottom

I double sealed the middle as well.  Not only does this provide TWO seals in case of a leak, but the seal in the middle is spaced far enough apart that it allows the original seal to stay intact should you need to cut just one serving away.  

I used a piece of paper as a wide funnel to put the food into the bags.  When putting food into the bags you have to be careful to get a good assortment of everything.  The rice really likes to fall towards the bottom. 

I made sure each freeze dried serving bag held one 1 cup serving.  Which is appropriate for my 19 lb pug.  Be sure and make the packs according to your dogs dietary needs, and leave enough head space to adequately vacuum seal.  REMEMBER if you make your food packs larger, the amount of water you need to add is going to differ from the instructions provided below, so alter accordingly. 

Once the Packs are vacuum sealed you can write on them or label them with the following instructions.  Boil 3/4 cup of water.  Once boiling mix in the contents of 1 sealed pack.  Boil for 4 minutes then set aside until done. 

I cooked a couple of packs and WOW this stuff doesn't disappoint!   In fact it is so delicious I am including it in MY PERSONAL bug out bags. 

Wasabi wasn't disappointed either. 

Food and Water Storage:

If you make a serving of food that your pet cannot eat, or you open a pack of water that your pet cannot drink, you certainly do not want to toss it out.  Especially since the space in your pack is so limited as and your resources are finite.  For this reason I wanted to find a set of stackable bowls with lids that could easily fit into the pack.

I found these amazing silicone bowls that all stack inside of each other.  

For the Dog's Pack I chose to use the two smallest ones.  One for food, the other for water. 

I think the best feature is the fact that this is so compact here you can see how they stack inside each other after they fold down.  

And here you can see them upright and completely decompressed,  They are quite sizable.

And they slide right inside her pack so easily.  Definitely a great find!  I'm using the largest pop up bowl for my bug out bags. 

Exercise:

All dogs have different needs for exertion, but to some degree they ALL need to exert themselves.  If you planning on bugging out you need to make sure that they don't wander off from your camp.  You may also want to make sure that they can run around while you're getting stuff done without getting underfoot, but you still want them in your sight in case of a predator.  The ideal solution is a dog runner!

I have devised a solution that you can easily make with minimal components that will fit easily into any pack.  Firstly you are going to need carabiners.  Not just any kind of Carabiner will due, I recommend load bearing carabiners.  I picked up a pack of 10 from Amazon for 16.49 with free Prime shipping.  That's 1.64 a piece.  

Secondly, you are going to need paracord.  I used 50 feet of 7 strand core 550 glow in the dark paracord.   You might remember this from the August Apocabox.  

I used 10 - 12 feet of paracord and attached either end to a carabiner with a clove hitch knot. 

 The knot needs to be tight.  This type of knot is perfect because pulling on the paracord will not cause the knot to loosen. 

The remainder of the 38-40 feet will be used to tie between trees as a makeshift runner.  To store, you need only wrap around the cord attached to the carabiners and secure. 

Medication:

It's important to keep a spare of any medications in their pack.  For example my pug takes flea and tick medication every month, so I have a spare flea and tick pill in her emergency bug out pack.  You do not want your fur baby having to suffer the fleas and ticks in the outdoors.  Also, it's important to remember that heartworms are transmitted through mosquito bites. Your pets deserve all the help they can get.  

Waste Disposal:

There are many reasons to want to dispose of waste at your campsite.  A few I can think of being that no one wants to step in it, you don't want it to contaminate your water source, but most importantly you don't want to attract predators.  

While some small animals like squirrels might make for a delicious snack if they are attracted to the poop, you don't want to be faced with a fully grown bear.  This can be easily avoided by taking the simple step of picking up your dog's #2's.  I bought this very light clip on plastic thing that holds poo bags for dogs. 

Entertainment:

Entertainment shouldn't be an afterthought or be considered superfluous when it comes to expending space for resources.  It is important that your pet be occupied when you are bugging out.  

I bought this red dot laser light, which could be entertaining for the both of us! 

I got her a squeaky toy 

And I got her a bone

Heat and Cold Intolerance:

Some breeds, like pugs, have special temperature needs.  They are extremely intolerant to cold and heat.  For this reason it is extremely important that if you are bugging out with them outdoors then you take precautionary measures that will allow you to warm them up or cool them down if their temperature gets too far out of tolerance. 

I have included some reusable hand warmers in her pack for bugging out in winter.  If you remember I reviewed these on a previous blog posting here.

I have also included some instant cold packs for bugging out in summer.  These are NOT reusable, but are dead useful in an emergency.   Both the heat and cold packs are very lightweight. 

The saddlebag:

What your saddlebag will be composed of will depend on your locale.  My location is not very cold, but is near water and prone to flooding, so I attached a saddlebag to a life preserver.

If you aren't at risk for flooding or near water, you won't likely need the life preserver.  You might just want to stick with just the saddlebag.

I love LOVE love this saddlebag because there are so many zippers and pouches and hoops for attaching things.  It easily clips and unclips around the life preserver, and the emergency handle on the top of the life preserver slips right through the holes in the top!  It fit so perfectly!

If your climate is freezing cold, then you might need to replace the life jacket with a fur coat like this one. 

Your dog's needs are going to be unique, because your dog and your dog's situation is going to be unique.

Snacks:

Just like we need a boost every now and again, so do our pets.  Especially if they are hiking a long way or if they are exceptionally uncomfortable.  Anything to help comfort them during their time away from home.  

For Wasabi's BOB I made some Turkey Jerkey.  

I just mixed 1 LB of very lean turkey with cure and spices

I mixed the jerky and cure and spices together

I put the mixture into my jerky gun

I used the jerky gun to squeeze out the meat onto my dehydrator trays 

Five hours later, this is what the jerky looks like

I vacuum packed them into 4 individual packs.  I put one into her pack.  

First Aid:

My first aid kit hasn't arrived yet, but I have to say this is the BEST put together dog first aid kit I have ever seen.

I will actually not expect the dog to carry the contents of this whole kit because it's so comprehensive and spacious.  But it's surprisingly light!  So I'll just toss it in my pack!  I will review it when it arrives.