I am new here and new to the whole idea of prepping. I have 2 dogs ... Both simple pets, not much good for anything but not something i am willing to walk away from if avoidable. I am assuming lots of people here have pets. So my question is what type of prepping do for them? Stock dry dog food, calculate their water intake needs into any water storage ... Is it as simple as that? Thoughts?
At one point, I had a herd of dogs and cats. i stocked 10 bags each of their regular (premium) food and another 10 bags each of el-cheepo stuff. I had a large shop and stacked it on a pallet. I suppose you would also want to think about water but I had a creek that ran through the back yard so never worried about water. With the food: we rotated the stock. When my wife was out, she picked up another bag and brought it to the shop where i grabbed a the oldest bag to take into the house. All things considered, this would be one of the lower things on my list of priorities since we may come to a point where keeping pets is a luxury long gone. Nice to be able to feed them for a year though before having to turn them out.
Yes it is as simple as that. You might want to also add in any specialized over the counter meds for your dogs.
I agree that there may be some point where you will no longer be able to support your pet in a SHTF situation. But the only pets I have are excellent watchdogs. And I am pretty sure we'd want to keep them around for the duration. This is any area I have recently started working on, just by stocking more food. I am also considering if I don't have a frig available that I can supplement their food with leftovers. But I guess we could also stock vaccinations, etc. that are available at the Grange/Feed Stores. I don't think rabies is one that you can get, but I have not checked into this much.
By meds I meant basics for things like dog ear and eye infection meds. The items in your own first aid kit can be used for cuts and injuries like that. Rabies shots are only available from the vet and the 7 in 1 vaccination from the feed stores has to be refrigerated and if I remember correctly, has a short shelf life.
I am very fond of my puppies. They would die to protect me. My wife and I rode out a hurricane on our shanty-boat once. At mid-point, the moorings began snapping and it looked like we would soon be in the water fighting for our lives. We each had our life jackets on. I also had my pistol strapped to me. My wife asked why I had the gun and I told her; If we have to take to the water, I am going to shoot our dog because you will drown trying to save him. In survival, one has to be prepared to prioritize and follow through with the necessary decisions.
Dogs are great at detecting things you or I will never hear or notice. They even tell me when there is a raccoon after the bird feeders and not many of us can hear a raccoon sneaking outside.
Honestly most of the medications used for animals are the same as used for humans. To make a short list of items that would be good to have around for dogs, here goes: (Some of these are restricted by law for use by or on the order of a veterinarian, but there are ways of getting them or substituting fish medication) -Doxycycline ( used for intracellular bacteria like Mycoplasma hemofelis which causes anemia) -Cefalexin ( Skin infections, urinary tract infections, and other bacterial infections) -Procaine Penicillin G, most likely Pen G.( If you access to IV admin sets and know how to use them, then Potassium Pen G would be useful for typical infections) -Gentocin or Amikacin ( Expensive and can be added to Pen G to extend spectrum of activity to kill most bacteria) -Clindamycin (Use when Pens fail or in specific situations) -Itraconizole ( Useful for yeast infections and other fungal infections) -Triple antibiotics like Neosporin (Warning use topically only or will cause death) -Lactated Ringers Solution (sub q administration during dehydration or IV for blood loss) -Ivermectin (assuming there are no breed contraindications as it will kill several breeds if administered, useful for heartworm prophylaxis and intenstinal parasites) -Moxidectin, Pyrantel Pamoate, or Milbemycin Oxime (Useful for common intestinal parasites) -Selemectin (If you can only choose one anti-helminthic for controlling intestinal worms this is the one, it also gets fleas, ticks, and mites even though not labeled for such use) -22guage needles, 6ml and 3ml syringes -10 or 60 drip/ml IV admin sets Another great resource to have is the Plum's Veterinary Drug Handbook. It is perfect for anyone that needs to know about conditions and treatment guidelines. There is a great amount of overlap with human med, but there are also some idiosyncracies you need to know about. Hope that helps a little
Snake training teaches ur dogs to stay away from snakes for obvious reasons. Also google the benefits of vinegar for ur pets. Should eliminate most mess u would need
I have a decent sized dog pack that I can strap to my dog. If I ever need to be on the move, my dog will be able to carry all of whatever he may need plus some of my gear as well as being a companion and another lookout.
This.. Is training the dog to avoid a snake... I used a 6 ft long 1'' stick and would walk the dog in the wood's until i found a cottonmouth..I would then proceed to beat the dicken's out of the snake while yelling at the dog..NO..It work's ..Crude that it may sound..Your saving your dog... Added note..Pound the snot out of the snake while yelling at your dog...It is a lesson the animal will not forget...
1 canine is worth 2 people I trained canines in 1981 to present for basic obedience, advanced obedience, personal protection, warehouse work and the hearing impared. A well trained dog will attack on command or do surveillance, defense, early warning, getting meat, pulling carts, scouting and tracking. In SHTF situation a dog really is worth 2 people and maybe more.
This is something I really haven't given enough thought. If we go into a situation knowing that at some point we may have to be able to either put the dogs out or put them down, I think I would probably opt to not have them with me at all. It would be too hard to have to make that call in such stressful times. Deal with it before it is an issue later. It will still be a very hard call, no matter how we proceed. As an after thought, I would probably take them along anyway, I would find some way to provide for them, just as I do now. They are little dogs, after all. I would not be able to put them out on their own and I surely could not 'dispose' of them. Ok, now I'm going to be obsessing about this.
In a SHTF situation there will be plenty of food for animals to feed on, if you know what I mean??? Sea's situation was much different then that and I understand. My dogs are my kids, since I don't have any, we all make it or we all die, PERIOD!
I am a dog lover. We've had dogs ever sense I was a kid. I don't currently have a dog, (had to put my lab down a few years ago, and never replaced her) but am thinking about getting another one. As for survival preps for dogs, let me just say this...people who turn their dogs loose in a SHTF type scenario, are adding to what will become a serious problem. Wild dogs. Animals with no fear of humans, and a desperate desire to eat make a bad combo. If you believe that the SHTF scenario could last quite awhile, then survival preps, or at least a plan for them would be in order. Feed them the scraps from what you hunt. If you encounter wild dogs, shoot them and feed them to your dogs. I've even heard of people canning meat, just for their dogs. (it's kinda disturbing to see a mason jar labeled "dog meat", unless you know that it's meat FOR the dog lol) What did people feed their dogs before the "invention" of dry dog food? I think part of their diet was oatmeal "doctored" with some sort of meat. I'm not really sure though. Just my opinion, do with it what you will.
I know this thread is a bit older, but I wanted to comment on this. Our dogs are our family, and they alert us and would protect us. I prep for them as I do for the rest of us. I know their food is 4 cups a day which is right about a pound of food a day (when they aren't working really hard). We have a big feed store sale here once a year where I can get good quality food ( I use www.dogfoodadvisor.com to check out the foods) for under $1/lb. I don't stock vaccines - I'm sure our dogs would have enough immunity at this point from all their vaccines to last them a lifetime. I stock green tea bags to do ear rinses on our one dog who is prone to ear infections, and then we have the other standard items we use for them. This includes trying to stay a year ahead on heartworm and flea meds. Our cat has extra food and litter stocked and that is all.
