Refrigeration of Homemade Dog Treats

I am planning to participate in a month long doggie treat bakery sale. I notice that some, not all recipes suggest you refrigerate for freshness or that you may freeze. My question is although they recommend refrigeration would it hurt them to stay room temp for several days or until they are bought. I could at that time suggest refrigeration after they take them home. I just wanted to make sure before I made any treats that mentioned refrigeration.
Can you help me out with this ?
Thanks !! =)

Chef's Answer ~ The refrigeration guideline on the dog treat recipes is due to the fact that they do not have any type of preservatives. When baked goods are left at room temperature, the moisture in them can make them spoil quicker. One nice thing about homemade dog treats is that you can bake them hard and crispy, so there is very little moisture left in them. When a dog treat is very hard and dry, it is safe to leave at room temperature for several days, sometimes a week. Any treats you make that contain meat, however, would need extra care, such as one of the suggestions below.

Besides making them dry and crunchy, you could package them in an airtight container. One that allows you to extract the air after the lid is on.

A third option would be to purchase a natural baking preservative. This company, K9 Cakery.com sells a great preservative, as well as all kinds of neat things to make homemade dog treats, including cute packaging and sacks.

You can do one or all of these suggestions to make the homemade dog treats have a longer shelf life. I hope your dog bake sale goes well! :)