Storing dog food

[BETHPAGE BLACK]

If I put large bag of ddry dog food in a secure container in the garage,, would aI need to worry about the heat decomposing the food or the smell??

[redwitch]

It should be okay unless it stays for months in there. I keep the cat food in the garage and there's no problem except for when I get close to the bottom -- that gets completely dry and the cats refuse to eat it or merrily barf it up if they do deign to eat it. It takes them about 4-6 weeks to eat a 22 lb. bag.

[Tweety Bird]

If I put large bag of ddry dog food in a secure container in the garage,, would aI need to worry about the heat decomposing the food or the smell??

Great question! I wondered the same thing.

[K9-Lovers]

It is best to keep kibble in an air tight container at room temperature. If it is kept in the garage and its hot, then it definitely should be kept in an air tight container. The heat and moisture in the air can cause it to grow mold..quite possibly from the bottom up where it is hidden for a while. The mold can contaminate all the food. Do consider keeping it inside the house where its not quite so hot. Additionally, most high quality dog foods use natural preservatives which will break down in the heat. Your dog can develop a nasty bacterial infection in his/her intestines by eating food that has not been stored properly.

[texasfal]

One quick note. After we moved here I started to get roaches. My exterminator told me that the varmits were coming from the 5lb and 10lb bags of pet food I was bringing home from Walmart. He told me to put the bags in the freezer for 24 hours and then the eggs would die. Did that and I haven't had a problem since.

[BETHPAGE BLACK]

Thank you everyone for all your input regarding storing dogfood in the garage. I guess I kind of suspected this would be a problem and while I did think of bugs,smells and decomposing food, I never thought of bacterial infections to my dog..That would be horrible, I guess I will be purchasing smaller bags of food and keeping it airtight "in the house"..
Thanks again to all....Laura