Should you add water to dry dog food for puppies
Should you add water to dry dog food?
Adding water to your dogs food can provide a whole host of benefits, from making the food more appetising to actually improving how well your pup can absorb the nutrients in the food.
Were here to explain all those benefits and more, alongside answering the question of what type of dog food is the best for your dog. Each type of dog food has its benefits, to both person and pooch, but well give you the lowdown on which provides the best nutrition for your dog.
Read on to find out all about serving up the best dogs dinner for your pup to devour.
What are the benefits of adding water to your dogs food?
Discover delicious food your dog deserves
Learn more
Digestion
Whatever type of food your dog eats, adding a few splashes of water before serving can have major benefits to your dogs digestive health.
Well use kibble as an example. So, most mainstream kibbles are made through a process called extrusion, which is when the ingredients are put under harsh, extreme heats, dried and shaped into little brown balls and then often sprayed with animal fat to make them more appealing to your dog.
But the issue with this processing method is that the nutritional content in the food is seriously diminished as the nutrients cant handle such high temperatures, along with the digestibilityof the food being decreased. Kibble biscuits dont break down easily in your dogs tummy due to their firm structure, meaning that your dog will need to pull in extra moisture from the blood supply and tissues surrounding to help with digestion.
The absorbed moisture from your dogs body is retained along the rest of the digestive tract, rather than being salvaged for reuse, resulting in stools that are way too high in moisture. This is the perfect environment for bacteria to emerge and subsequently decay, causing a super smelly poop that you wont be best pleased to pick up. So, by just adding that moisture into the food before your pup eats it, you can make a huge difference.
A healthy poo is a sign of healthy digestion and good gut health, so if you often find yourself picking up poos that are the wrong consistency and colour with an incredibly pungent odour, it could be a sign that your dog isnt digesting their food as they should be.
Alongside this, because of the foods inability to break down due to lack of moisture, it means that your dog will struggle to absorb the few nutrients that were actually left in the food after the extrusion process.
So, if you are feeding a dry food such as kibble, adding a few splashes of water can make a dramatic difference to your dogs digestive health, helping to break down the food which could also maybe even prevent bloat.
But although we think adding extra water to your dogs kibble is a definite improvement on feeding it as it is, we think that theres better stuff to be feeding your dog for much better nutrition all round.
Appetite
We think that mealtimes should be the most exciting part of your dogs day! However, those boring brown kibble biscuits might not be taking your poochs fancy anymore. After all, a burnt brown pellet that claims to be chicken and veg flavoured doesnt seem that appealing to the human eye, so why should our dogs be eating that?
Anyway, adding a bit of warm water to those kibble biscuits will release the aroma of the food, potentially enticing your dog to eat it again.
However, instead of trying to attract your dog to boring dinners that they dont actually love, try serving up a delicious meal that theyll be eager to gobble up!
At Pure, we finely chop our real, natural ingredients and then remove the moisture from them under a low, gentle heat. This naturally preserves the food and locks in the goodness. You just need to open up the bag, scoop out some of the dry food and add warm water to serve up a delicious, warm, wet food that your dog is just going to love.
Because of the unique, careful preparation method of Pure, it still maintains the convenience of dry food, but youll be able to spot the real ingredients its made up of, which still retain all their nutrients and flavour. This way, your dog can always enjoy a delicious meal that theyll never turn their nose up to.
Hydration and urinary health
The extra splashes of water in your dogs dinners can really help out to keep your dogs urinary health working well, helping to prevent UTIs and reduce the risk of kidney stones. And extra water all round is great for keeping your dogs hydration levels up which is never a bad thing, especially in the warmer months when your pooch needs to be lapping up as much water as possible to stay cool and hydrated.
And this is what makes Pure so great! To prepare our Pure recipes, we gently remove the moisture from our natural, nutritious ingredients to naturally preserve the food and lock in the goodness. And then to serve up, all you need to do is add that water back in!
This helps get some extra water into your poochs system, and you can add as much or as little water into Pure as you and your dog wish, you can just leave the food to stand for a little longer to soak up all the extra h2O. As a result, your four-legged friend will feel hydrated with every meal, which is great if you dont think your dog drinks enough and it helps out with their overall urinary health.
Weight loss
Dry dog foods like kibble can often leave your dog feeling hungry, and this can lead to overfeeding and as a result, unwanted weight gain.
Adding some water to your dogs dinners can help to increase the volume of their food, without racking up the calorie count which in turn helps your pooch feel satisfied and full. However, your dog should be eating dinners that are packed with all the good stuff to keep them full anyway.
Look for food thats filled with meat, fruit and veggies, which all work to keep your dogs tum full. With our tailored, healthy dog food, we only include the good stuff, nothing nasty that provides no nutritional value to bulk out the food. Just good, honest ingredients to keep your dog happy.
Prevents gulping
Greedy dogs (were looking at you Labradors!) often gobble down kibble biscuits so fast that they dont even chew the pieces at all, so they enter the stomach whole and undigested. This can cause your pooch to regurgitate their food back up the same way it went down, which is not nice for your dog, you and of course, your lovely, plush carpet!
So, softening the food with water helps to slow mealtimes right down, preventing your pooch from gulping their food down whole. This helps massively with digestion.
With Pure, as you have to add water anyway before serving, it comes as a soft meal that your dog can eat slowly and actually enjoy, again helping them feel fuller, satisfied and the food will be digested properly.
But what about my dogs dental health?
Adding water to any type of dog food of course softens it right down, and you might believe that dry, crunchy kibble helps to scrape the tartar and plaque from your dogs teeth. However, this is simply just not true.
Many commercial kibbles are often super high in sugars, chemicals and simple carbs, which end up sticking to the teeth and forming a breeding ground for bacteria and plaque. Just as eating a crunchy, sugary biscuit wouldnt clean our teeth, crunchy, sugary kibble wont help your dogs oral health at all.
The only real way to clean your dogs pearly whites is to brush them yourself, as youd clean your own teeth.
Is kibble (soaked or dry) actually good for dogs?
Although we do think that adding water to your dogs kibble can make a huge improvement to how well your dog digests their food and absorbs nutrients, kibble might not be the best for your dog.
Kibble doesnt offer your dog the best all-round nutrition, it might be complete and balanced, but its not the food thatll help your dog thrive. Its often processed beyond belief, making it difficult to digest and can contain low-quality ingredients that can have a negative effect on your dogs physical and dental health.
Instead, we offer perfectly balanced nutrition thats tailored to your dogs needs, containing real meat, fruit and veg to keep your pup happy and healthy.
The just add water concept of Pure helps keep your dogs meals easy to digest so they can get all the goodness out of every bite, helps with hydration and allows you to serve up a warm, tasty meal every single day that your dog is going to get excited for. Itll leave their belly full and satisfied, keep their body healthy and keep that tail waggy.
Recap
Adding water to your dogs dinners has a load of benefits for your four-legged family member, and it takes next to no effort on your end to splash some water into the bowl. All in all, its a win-win situation!
Is It Okay To Add Water To Dry Dog Food?
We may earn a commission if you click on a link, but at no extra cost to you. Read our disclosure policy for information.
Written by Tim Rhodes Last Updated: Apr 16, 2024
Sometimes, our pets do not get as much water as we would love them to have, so in such scenarios, you may want to consider adding water to dry dog food, as a means of boosting their water intake.
You love your dog, and when you love someone, you care for them, and that includes knowing what they like and what they dislike.
However, when someone depends on you, like your dog, you should know whats good for their health and whats not.
When it comes to your dog, all heated arguments boil down to dog food, as it is usually a never-ending debate, whether you should add water to dry dog food or not, and it seems like it is never going to end soon.
But how about if we make it easier for you, and discuss dry dog food at length, so you get a clear idea of all possible options?
Is It Okay To Add Water To Dry Dog Food?
So, today, well be going through the most anticipated question is it okay to add water to dry dog food?
Also, well look at the benefits and risks involved, with adding water to dry dog food, how to and how much water to add to dry dog food, some other things you can add to dry dog food, and what to keep in mind before adding water to dry dog food.
So without further ado, lets get to it.
Dry Dog Food
Dogs eat dry food, as well as wet canned food, and the high quality processed food contains all the essential nutrients a dog needs.
While there are different kinds and brands of dog food available in the market, dry dog food has its own place.
Dry dog food has bagged kibbles, that contain all the necessary nutrients to keep your dog healthy.
It has carbohydrates in cereal form, proteins in the form of meat byproducts, vitamins, grains, and minerals, etc.
Basically, dry food has a lot of kibbles, but the exact ingredients vary.
However, dry dog food has less water, you can say about 3-11% of water, which is why you know it as dry dog food.
Less water might cause digestive distress sometimes, which is why many dog owners prefer to add water to dry food.
Adding water also reduces the chances of dehydration, and dry dog food is usually inexpensive, and easily available in the market.
Some dogs prefer dry dog food, while others like wet canned food, because of the enriching aroma that pops out from wet food.
Now if you consider whether to use wet dog food or you should mix water in, there are definitely different opinions.
The best practice is, to do your own research and most importantly, consult your pets vet.
Lets take a look at the benefits, of adding water to dry dog food.
Benefits of Adding Water To Dry Dog Food
The idea of adding water to dry dog food surprises many people but, if there are no restrictions by your vet, youre free to choose.
In fact, there should be nothing stopping your choice, and you should definitely add water to dry dog food.
Adding water to dry dog food costs you nothing, but brings about enough benefits, to convince you to add water.
It is more beneficial, however, if your dog is continually on dry food.
Just to let you know, that soaking dry kibble in water is a good practice, let us share some of the benefits of adding water to your dogs food.
Keeps Your Dog Hydrated
While dogs are not as bad as cats when it comes to poor water-drinking habits, it is still important to keep dogs hydrated.
Since your dog is on dry food that has only about 10% water, the dry food may absorb more water, and the dog may get dehydrated.
Adding water to the food is the easiest way to make your dog drink more water, and stay hydrated/fresh
It also prevents many health problems, that we are going to discuss next.
So lets move on to it.
Keeps Your Dog Away From Diseases
You might wonder, how adding water to dry dog food will keep your dog away from diseases but, its true.
When your dog is on dry food and water intake is less, there is a great risk of urinary tract infection.
Similarly, low water intake can lead to dehydration, as well as an imbalance of necessary electrolytes, that your dog needs to keep going.
Not only that, but a continual low intake of water may lead to low blood volume, which can pose other health issues to your dog.
So, adding water prevents your dog from critical health issues.
Makes Digestion Easier
Other than keeping your dog hydrated and fresh, soaked dry food makes it easier for your dog to digest easily.
It decreases the workload on your dogs digestive system and improves gastric functioning.
Enzymes work more efficiently, and food is digested, and distributed to the body easily.
Also, soaked food makes it easier for your little puppy or old dog, to chew it and break it down into smaller pieces, so it digests easily.
If the dry, solid, and hard food, go into the stomach directly, it puts a burden on the GI of your dog and increases the risk, of stomach upset or other GI issues.
Just by adding water, you get rid of it all and make life easier for your dog.
Makes Them Enjoy Food
If for any reason your dog acts like kids who run away from food, adding water might help.
Heres how.
Dry dog food doesnt have the same intense aroma, as wet food.
When you add water, the aroma pops out and when your dog smells it, the signals go into the brain and stimulate the hunger center.
Its the same as when you smell hot delish food, and it makes you more hungry.
Also, it will make food easier to chew, and thus easier to eat.
So your dog will enjoy soaked kibbles, better than dry ones.
Costs You Nothing
Not a direct benefit but, considering the health benefits it brings just by adding water to dry food, it is a huge advantage.
And that is, it costs you virtually nothing.
Just add water, reap the benefits, and pave the way for your dog to live a healthy life.
So, the dry food that is inexpensive and nutrient-rich, is more beneficial for your dog when you add water to it.
Slows Down Eating Time
If your dog eats too fast and just slurps up the whole bowl in a few mouthfuls, you might want to discourage the practice.
Research suggests that large dogs are, more prone to develop gastric dilatation-volvulus if, they eat too fast.
Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus (GDV) is a fatal disease, that progresses fast, and proves to be life-threatening for your dog.
When you add water to dry dog food, it slows down their eating time and also prevents bloating, which is a common problem for big dogs.
Risks of Adding Water to Dry Dog Food
While there are no major risks involved with adding water to dog food, there is one thing you should take care of when you add water, to a dogs dry food.
When you add water to dry dog food, make sure your dog eats it in an hour or two.
This is because if you leave it for hours after soaking, itll spoil in a few hours and youd have to discard it.
Also, soaked food attracts flies, so make sure to not leave it uncovered for flies.
Should You Add Water to Dry Dog Food?
Now if you think you should add water to your dogs dry food or not, well, its up to you.
You can stick to the dry food or try soaking it in water.
Obviously, you should consult your veterinarian before doing so, as pets like cats and dogs have body systems, that require plenty of water.
When your dog eats solid dry food, it steals digestive fluids and upsets the stomach.
Not only that, but it may also lead to severe dehydration if, your dog doesnt drink plenty of water otherwise.
If your dog drinks after eating food, it may lead to bloating, but mixing water with the food wont cause this trouble.
You can take two bowls with dry dog food, and add water in one while leaving the other as is, with only dry food.
Notice the difference for yourself, and decide whether you should add water to dry dog food or not.
Heres When You Should Add Water To Dry Dog Food
To be honest, you can add water to any dog food, but in some situations, it is more preferable to others.
Lets look at these conditionswhen you should add water to a dogs food.
When Water Intake Is Low
Like cats, some dogs act notorious when you give them water, and if you have such a dog who avoids drinking water, you cant ignore the fact that water is a must.
Dehydration is dangerous and may prove to be fatal.
So, if your dog doesnt drink water, soak dry dog food in water and give it to your dog.
Not only will it be good for their digestive system but, the water will keep your dog hydrated.
When You Need To Give Supplements
There are times when your dog needs medication or supplements, so you mix these supplements with dog food.
Turns out it repels your dog, and now youre worried.
When this happens, soak the food in water, and the water will suppress the smell of medications or supplements.
For larger dogs with arthritic pain, some supplements are useful but, the smell is awful for dogs.
Adding water solves the problem, delivers the supplement or medication, as well as hydrates your dog.
When Your Dog Has Dental Issues
If your dog suffers from painful teething or other dental issues, consult your veterinarian.
Although older and senior dogs usually suffer from dental troubles, puppies can have dental problems too.
Meanwhile, giving dry food in such situations will only make it worse, thus adding water will make dry food soft, and alleviate the pain.
You can call it yet another benefit of adding water to dry food, as it helps dogs with sore mouths.
Even though soaked food may help alleviate pain, you should still head over to your veterinarian and get your dog checked up.
Heres Why to Add Water in Dry Food Instead of Getting Wet Food
Many people argue over adding water to dry food.
Theyd say why cant you just give wet canned food, instead of adding water to dry food.
Well, not just that, people believe dry food prevents tartar build-up, so you shouldnt soak it in water.
However, on the contrary, many dogs dont even chew the food properly, instead, they try to gulp it all down in a few big mouthfuls.
Dry foods are dehydrated basically for storage purposes, and when you intend to give it to your dog, you can add water.
Adding water will only benefit your dog, and the dog wont have to drink more water after the food.
While it doesnt harm many dogs, eating dry food can lead to bloating in some dogs, thus, soaking dry food in water will prevent your dog from bloating.
As for soaking dry food instead of wet food, well, it boils down to your personal choice.
Dry food is economical, and more nutritious, with high-calorie content.
It is less smelly for us and quite easy to store, thus, it has low moisture content and you can add water when its time for a meal.
How Much Water To Add in Dry Dog Food?
No one answer fits all, youd need to experiment with it, and see how your dog prefers it.
Just for an idea, there are a few things that can help you determine how much water, to add to dry dog food
If the food is less, youd want to add less water and vice versa.
The amount of water you add to dry food may also depend on the weather.
If its too hot outside, you might want to add more water, so your dog stays hydrated and fresh, similarly, if its cold, you can go with less water.
Also, you need to experiment with how much water your dog likes.
Some dogs may be fine with a bowl full of soggy kibbles, while others would like dried and less watery.
You can start by adding ahalf cup of water, to a full cup of kibble and see how it goes.
How to Add Water to Dry Dog Food
If youre not sure how to add water to your dogs dry food, this might help.
You should know that there is no harm in adding water to dry food, unless, your veterinarian recommends otherwise.
Now, to the topic of how to add water, and things to consider while adding water, there are a few things to look into.
First, you can adjust the amount of water you add, according to your dogs liking.
Howd you know how much water your dog likes? By experimenting of course.
Try it with 1/4th cup of water, for one full cup of dry kibbles.
You can increase the amount of water, or decrease later if, your dog doesnt like it.
Secondly, soak the dry food in water for at least 10 minutes, so the kibbles can absorb the water properly and soften well.
How long you soak dry food in water, also depends upon how hot the water is.
Thirdly, if you add warm water, be it microwaved or warmest tap water, itll soak the dry kibbles better.
Also, make sure that the food is at normal temperature before you serve it to your dog, and not too hot.
Another thing is to make sure, that you dont add too much water.
So, to sum it up, you can add warm water to the dry kibbles, with the ratio of half cup water to a full cup of kibbles, and leave it to soak well in water for 10 minutes.
Youre done and ready to serve it to your dog.
What to keep in Mind Before Adding Water To Dry Dog Food
There is one very important thing, to keep in mind before you add water to dry kibbles and make lots of batches to feed later, and that is, to never leave soaked kibbles for more than an hour or so.
If you leave the soaked food for hours in the open, itll attract bacteria, as well as get spoiled quickly.
The better option is, to only soak dry dog food freshly when its time for a meal or dinner.
An alternate way is, to make two meals and refrigerate one for later but, make sure to never leave it for more than 48 hours.
It only takes you 10-20 minutes to prepare your dogs meal, so it isnt worth the risk.
Also, the bowl in which you feed your dog should be washed every time, whether you soak the dogs dry food or not.
Otherwise, it may be infected with bacteria that may make your dog sick.
So wash the bowl each time, before meal or dinner.
Would Adding Water to Dry Kibble Affect Teeth Cleaning?
Most people think that dry food helps clean a dogs teeth.
They think that because dry dog food is solid, dry, and hard, itll scrub off the tartar.
If you also hesitate due to this reason, well, here is an important fact for you!
This is not factually correct, because dry food doesnt scrape away all the tartar.
Dry kibbles are high in calories especially in carbohydrates, and like eating kale chips or pretzels wont clean your teeth, dry food wont clean your dogs teeth either.
There are different opinions of experts, on the dental health of the dogs that eat dry food.
While some researchers and experts claim, that dogs who eat dry food have a pretty bad smell and suffer more from dental issues, some experts say there isnt much of a difference.
So, if dry food were to eliminate plaque buildup and tartar, 80% of the dogs wont be suffering from dental issues.
So the thing is, if you avoid adding water just because you think itll help your dog keep its teeth clean, youre wrong.
To keep your dogs teeth clean and healthy, feed raw bones, brush your dogs teeth, and schedule a visit to your veterinarian.
Meanwhile, you can add water to dry dog food and reap other benefits that await.
Final Thoughts
So now you know all the benefits of adding water to dry dog food like; keeping your dog hydrated, away from diseases, improves digestion, increases salivation and thus stimulates hunger, and more.
Also, youre now well aware of the fact that, along with the benefits of adding water to dry food brings, it also prevents bloating.
Similarly, you can now add water in the proper ratio, and experiment with it, to know what quantity your dog likes the best.
Not to forget that, dry food is dehydrated for storage purposes, and that adding water will increase water content from 3% which is extremely low, especially if your dog avoids drinking water.
You must get rid of the myth most people have, that dry dog food improves dental hygiene, and helps clean your dogs teeth.
Like we discussed previously, if youre concerned about the dental health of your dog, brush your dogs teeth, feed it some bone, and visit your dogs veterinarian.
In a nutshell, reap all the benefits of adding water to dry dog food, costing you nothing, and bringing about great health benefits for your dog.
Why not give some of the tips in this article a try, and tell us all about it in the comments section below?
