How long does unopened bagged dog food last?

[queenofthehivemomof5]

If you can get it free or dirt cheap stockpile a few small bags of a good quality dog food. Store it well and maybe your new dog/puppy will be able to eat it. If not you could always donate it to the animal shelter or if your food pantry takes pet food donations. Our food pantry just started taking pet food donations which is great because if we can help folks that need a little help feed their pets maybe that is less pets in the shelters.

[Gardencook]

Most dog food does not come in very well sealed bags meaning moisture and pets can get into the unopend bags pretty easily. The bags that come in more of a plastic type bag is better than the kinds that come in a paper bag. For long term storage we have treated it like we would flour. Froze it for 24-48 hours and thn sealed in 5 gallon plastic buckets.

Freezing to kill any critters that may be in the pet food already and then the 5 gallon buckets to keep pests and moisture out.

Just came across this thread and was going to give exactly the same advice. Haven't had a dog in years, so perhaps things have gotten better, but dog food was one of the worst at getting buggy years ago. Whenever critters started showing up in the kitchen, we could always trace them back to the dog food -- even when the bag wasn't very old.

[JulieDB]

Yes there are expiration dates but barring that I'd say it would last about a year. This is not something I would stockpile though. Dogs can be picky eaters and if it is a puppy you will probably want to fed it the same food that it has been eating to avoid any digestion problems.