A baked dog treat's shelf life is set by how much water is left in it. Crunchy treats baked low and long until they're dry keep for months in a sealed bag; soft treats keep only days to a couple of weeks, because mold grows where there's moisture. Peanut butter and other fats also go rancid over time. In the example below, an Oʻahu dog treat bakery's bagged crunchy treats passed every test through day 120, and they say best by 90 days, a 25% margin. Below is what ends a dog treat's shelf life, crunchy against soft, the study, the date on the bag, and a free template.
The short version
- Water left in a treat sets its shelf life.
- Crunchy treats baked dry keep months; soft treats, days.
- Mold ends moist treats; rancid fat ends dry ones.
- Cool completely before bagging.
- Run a real-time study and leave a margin before the date.
- Print the date and a lot code; treats are regulated pet food.
- TaroStack gives every batch its date from the shelf life you set. More below.
What ends its shelf life
| What ends it | What happens | What slows it |
|---|---|---|
| Mold | Grows on treats with moisture left in them | Bake low and long until dry; cool before bagging |
| Rancidity | Peanut butter and other fats oxidize | Fresh ingredients; sealed bags; cool storage |
| Softening | Crunchy treats pick up humidity | Sealed bags; a desiccant in humid places |
| Warm bagging | Steam condenses in the bag | Cool completely first |
The license and registration are in dog treat business license, and pricing in how to price homemade dog treats.
How it's stored
| Stored | In the example's tests | On the label |
|---|---|---|
| Crunchy treats, sealed bag, room temperature | Passed every test through day 120 | Best by 3 months |
| Soft treats, sealed bag | Mold by day 10 in a side study | Refrigerated and dated 7 days, or not made |
| Crunchy treats in an open jar at a groomer | Softened by week 2 | Sealed bags only to groomers |
Oʻahu's humidity is the hardest test; the bakery dries its crunchy treats longer than a mainland recipe would.
An example: a shelf life study
Kaʻena Dog Treats, the made-up dog treat bakery on Oʻahu I use in these examples, kept sealed bags of crunchy peanut butter and pumpkin treats from one bake on a shelf and opened a bag at each pull:
| Test | Pass if | Day 0 | Day 30 | Day 60 | Day 90 | Day 120 | Day 150 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crunch score, 1 to 9 | at least 6 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Rancid odor, 1 to 5 | at most 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Visible mold | at most 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Water activity | at most 0.6 | 0.45 | 0.46 | 0.48 | 0.5 | 0.52 | 0.56 |
| All pass? | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail |
Everything passed through day 120; at day 150 the crunch fell below 6 and a rancid note came through. Taking a 25% margin off day 120 gives 90 days, three months. How the pulls and margin are planned is in shelf life testing.
The date on the label
A dog treat's date is a quality date, "Best by", with a lot code; treats are registered and labeled as pet food in most states. The business is in dog treat business plan.
Get the template
Download the dog treat shelf life study template. One sheet: the product, the lot tested, the day it was made, how it's stored and the margin to leave; then each test with its limit and the result at each pull. It marks each pull pass or fail, finds the last day everything passed, takes the margin off, and gives the shelf life for the label and the date for a batch made today. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The study gives one date for one treat. Three treats, bakes every week, bags at markets, pet shops and groomers: someone has to date each bake and send the oldest bags first.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack gives every batch its date from the shelf life you set, and sends the oldest out first.
Dates from the shelf life. Each treat carries its shelf life in days, and each batch's lot gets its production date and the date that follows from it.
First-expired-first-out. Orders take the oldest lots first by default, and a pet shop can be set to take only stock with enough days left.
What's coming up. A forecast shows what will expire unsold and what it costs, and anything thrown out is recorded with its reason, expired or spoiled, so waste shows by item.
| The job | Spreadsheet | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The date on a batch | Worked out by hand | From the shelf life, on the lot |
| Which batch goes out first | Dates on tape | First-expired-first-out |
| Stock with enough days for a pet shop | Checked by hand | The customer's shelf-life rule |
| What expired last month | Not counted | Waste by reason |
Lots, dates, first-expired-first-out and the expiry forecast are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.