Home Cooking While Travelling With Your Dog — It's Easier Than You Think

The single best thing you can do is batch cook before your trip. Make a larger than usual batch of your dog's favourite recipe, portion it into travel-friendly containers, and freeze it. Most of it can travel frozen and thaw gradually over the first day or two of your trip.

We asked our Facebook community how they handle it — and Helen had one of the most practical systems we've heard: "I weigh and portion out each meal and put them in individual snack ziplock bags. For shorter trips, I place them in a freezable cooler bag. Ice packs or frozen water bottles in a regular cooler works too. For longer trips, we bought a portable fridge that can be plugged into our charger in the car."

Marie takes a similar approach: "I make enough food portioned out and frozen in Pyrex containers, put it in a sturdy cooler with ice, and make sure there's at least a fridge wherever we're staying."

And Jill, who travels in a motorhome, has the longer-trip logistics figured out: "I put her frozen food in a pre-cooled Yeti with 5 ice packs. We get 2-3 days worth out at a time and put it in the fridge. Works great for a week — longer trips just require adding ice."

If you're staying somewhere with a kitchen — a vacation rental, an Airbnb, a friend's house — cooking fresh is completely doable. Keep it simple. One protein, one or two vegetables, your nutrient mix. Familiar ingredients your dog already loves.

Staying in a hotel doesn't mean giving up on home cooking entirely.

Most hotel kitchens are happy to cook plain ground chicken, beef, or turkey for your dog if you ask. No seasoning, no oil, just cooked meat. It's an unusual request but it works more often than you'd expect. The worst they can say is no.

Ask when you check in. Tip generously. Most hotel staff are genuinely charmed by a dog parent who takes their dog's nutrition this seriously.

You can also ask the front desk to store frozen portions in the kitchen freezer — again, more hotels will say yes than you'd think.

Whatever you use at home — your nutrient mix, your omega oil, your kelp — pack it. These are small, lightweight, and make the difference between a nutritionally complete meal and one that's missing key elements.

A small zip lock bag with your usual supplements takes up almost no space and removes the anxiety of wondering whether your dog is getting everything they need while you're away.

Travelling is not the time to experiment with new proteins or ingredients. Stick to what your dog already knows and loves. New environments, new smells, new routines are already a lot for a dog to process. Keeping their meals familiar is a genuine kindness.

Single protein. Simple vegetables. Nutrient mix. Done.

This is the one that catches people off guard.

If you're travelling internationally — especially into the USA, UK, Australia, or across EU borders — you often cannot bring raw or cooked meat across the border. Customs regulations around animal products are strict and vary by country.

Do your research before you travel. Check the specific rules for your destination country. Getting caught at customs with a cooler full of home cooked dog food is not the travel experience anyone wants.

Freeze dried food is your best friend for international trips. Brands like The Honest Kitchen are formulated with whole food ingredients — you simply add water and serve. They travel beautifully, clear customs without issues, and are a genuinely nutritious option for short trips.

They're not home cooking. But they're a far better option than whatever kibble you might find in an unfamiliar pet store in a foreign city.

This is the most important thing I want you to hear.

A few days away from your usual routine will not derail your dog's health. Home cooking is a long game. It's about what you do consistently over weeks and months — not whether every single meal on a five day holiday is perfectly balanced.

Do your best with what's available. A simpler meal, a freeze dried backup, even a day of high quality kibble if all else fails — none of these things will undo the months of nourishing home cooked meals you've already given your dog.

Give yourself the same grace you'd give a friend.

✅ Batch cook and freeze portions before you leave
✅ Pack your supplements — nutrient mix, omega oil, anything you use daily
✅ Research customs rules if you're travelling internationally
✅ Pack freeze dried food as a backup — especially for international trips
✅ Ask your hotel about kitchen access and freezer storage
✅ Keep recipes simple and familiar while you're away
✅ Don't stress about perfection — do your best and enjoy the trip

The Only Homemade Dog Food Cookbook You'll Ever Need has 50+ nutritionist-developed recipes that are simple enough to batch cook before any trip — including recipes specifically designed for busy weeks when you need something fast and foolproof.

👉 Get the cookbook here

And if you want personalised guidance on home cooking for your specific dog — including advice on travel and maintaining nutritional balance on the road — Katie offers one-on-one nutrition consults through Dog Child.

👉 Book a consult with Katie