Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

I love my dog. He’s a handful, and often a troublemaker, but I will, without remorse or compunction, instantly put my fist through the head of anyone that tries to hurt him. One thing I’ve neglected to do, though, for my little buddy is to set up his doggy bugout-bag and set back some food for him.

A doggy BOB isn’t a silly idea. Think about it..if we have to beat feet and take Mr. Furman with us what are we going to need to make things conducive to travelling with him? First off, we’re gonna need a leash (or two or three), spare collar, copies of his vaccinations, a couple muzzles, water bowls, food bowls, and a few other goodies. If we wind up having to stay in a crowded friends house or something, last thing we need is puppy being unwelcome because he wants to eat someone’s four-year-old….hence, some muzzles. And, really, if I can swing it, get the vet to prescribe some tranquilizers…in a high-stress environment some doggie-downers might come in handy for keeping him calm when we need him to be.

Food, though…I hadn’t really given it much thought. I figured that he’s a dog so he’ll pretty much eat anything we eat (and a lot of stuff we won’t.)  In retrospect, that’s really not a good idea. After all, that means our supply of people food for two has become a supply of people food for two-and-a-half…turning a 12 month supply into a 9.5 month supply.

Here’s a great post about borrowing the canner from the LDS cannery and putting away some premium kibble. Certainly some #10 cans are gonna last quite a while but I think most dogs, when theyre hungry, aren’t really going to turn their noses up at their dog food because it’s stale. There are, after all, critters that are designed to eat roadkill. However, from a storage standpoint, if youre going to store a bulk amount of food you want it stored in a manner that does not promote vermin, insects and other pests. Just heaving a 50# bag of kibble onto the shelf and expecting it to sit there for a few years might not be a terribly good idea unless you like the idea of some really well fed and happy mice setting up shop in that bag. I think I might just go the mylar bag route. I have a stack of them from the cannery and they should hold about the same as a #10 can. I also have quite a few 5-gallon buckets sitting around with GammaSeal lids on them so that might be a way to go as well.

Of course, borrowing the canning machine from the cannery opens up a few other possibilites since I could can..well…anything.

Regardless, I’ve been neglecting Nuke’s post-apocalyptic needs and need to get him squared away.