How to Store Pet Treats

Keep treats sealed, dark, cool and dry, and keep them in the bag they came in, because that bag carries the date and the directions you may want later.

Air, light, heat and humidity

Each of the four does something you can see. Air softens crisp pieces and flattens the smell. Humidity turns freeze dried cubes leathery and makes chews sweat. Heat and light speed both along, and a bag left in a sunny window warms through its plastic and fades on the side that faces the glass.

FDA's handling tips advise storing dry pet food in its original bag with the top folded down tightly, in a cool, dry place, and the same sense applies to treats. Read the storage line on the back of your bag, since the maker's directions for that product come before anything general written here.

A glass jar on a sunny counter is the worst place in the house for a treat: pretty, easy to reach, and exposed to light and heat all afternoon. A closed cupboard away from the stove is better, with the original bag inside a lidded jar on the shelf.

Make it a habit: open the bag, take what the session needs, close it, and put it back in the cupboard before you do anything else. Treats left out on a counter for an afternoon are the ones that go soft, and the habit of putting the bag away is worth more than any container.

Resealable bags and jars

Press the air out before you seal the bag, then fold the top over once and close the seal along its full width. A jar with a gasket lid does the job better than a loose lid, and a plain clip on a half empty bag does the least.

Put the whole bag in the jar rather than pouring the treats out. The bag keeps the batch number and the best by date with the product, and the raw feeding notice asks you to keep the package, including any lot number or date, until the product is used up. On Sniff and Shift bags the best by date and the batch number sit together at the foot of the back panel, and the treats inside are freeze dried or air dried in small batches in Malvern.

The trade off is size. A bigger bag may lower the price per ounce, and it also stays open longer, so more of it meets the air. If a bag will take more than a few weeks to finish, divide it into two jars and open one at a time.

One more detail about jars: a tall narrow jar is better than a wide one, because less of the treat meets the air each time you open it. Keep a scoop or a pair of tongs in the jar's cupboard so you do not reach in with damp hands.

Freezing treats

A freezer works well for treats you will not finish soon. Use an airtight bag or jar and press the air out first. Take it out of the freezer well before you want to open it, and let it sit closed until it reaches room temperature; opening a cold bag in a warm kitchen lets water form on the treats.

Freezing suits soft and baked treats most. Freeze dried pieces stay crisp in a dry cupboard on their own, so the freezer adds little. Keep the label inside the bag or note the date on it, since a frozen bag does not announce its age.

If you freeze a big bag, divide it into portions first. Three small bags that each last a few weeks mean you thaw only one at a time, and the other two stay as they were.

How to tell a treat has gone stale

Stale is a texture first. Freeze dried pieces go leathery where they were crisp. Biscuits go soft. Jerky goes stiff or dry and snaps clean instead of bending. The smell changes next: flat at first, then sour or stale like an old cupboard.

Sniff a treat when you open a new bag, so you know how it smells at its best. Weeks later the same sniff tells you whether anything has changed, and your nose is the quickest tool you have.

Break one piece open and look at the middle. A dry, even interior matches the date on the bag. A damp or darker patch means the bag has been taking on moisture, and the rest deserves a closer look. The guide to how freeze dried dog treats are made explains why that middle should be dry to begin with.

Chews that sweat or mold

A chew in a humid room can bead moisture on its surface, which is the chew meeting damp air, and a wipe with a dry cloth deals with it. Fuzz is different. If a chew shows white or green fuzz, or smells sour, put it in the bin and write to us with the batch number from the bag.

Do not leave a half eaten chew out overnight, and give a new one only when the old one is gone. Chews in the dehydrated dog treats collection and the other dried forms are compared in the guide to freeze dried, air dried, dehydrated and baked treats.

Common questions

Can I keep treats in the freezer?

Yes, in an airtight bag or jar with the air pressed out. Let the container reach room temperature before you open it so water forms on the outside and not on the treats. Keep the bag's batch number with them.

Should I move treats out of the original bag?

Put the original bag inside the jar instead of emptying it. The bag keeps the batch number and the best by date with the treats, and the raw feeding notice asks you to keep the package until the product is used up.

Where is the worst place to keep a treat jar?

A sunny counter or the shelf above a stove, because heat and light reach the jar all day. A closed cupboard away from the stove is better. Keep the lid tight in either place.

How can I tell a freeze dried treat has gone stale?

It goes leathery where it was crisp, and the smell turns flat or sour. Break one open: a dry, even middle matches the date on the bag, and a damp or dark patch means moisture has got in.