Soaking the dry food

[fialCo]

Dear all,
I am sorry if this has already been discussed, but I wanted to ask of your professional opinion about soaking dry food.
Once I've read you have to soak, after few times I discovered my dog loved it dry, not soaked, so I stopped, and afterward I found a new "version" - dry food should not be soaked, because of the stomach juices, which are the diluted by the soaked food.
Now we have a discussion on our forum, and one vet says - we must soak, cause dry food causes the sores, the gastritis etc.
Others say, that mixing dry and vet food ( e.g. minced beef or canned meat) also causes digest problems, like gastritis or even throwing food up.
In my opinion, I would give only dry food with addition of raw food three - four times a week ( including meat, eggs, chicken necks, cottage cheese etc). I mean, without soaking it.
the same vet says, feeding like this from a dog's childhood, stomach would get used to that and prepare it's juice normally.

Well, thanks for your time and advises:)

[marjolein]

I've never heard you should soak dry kibble, unless it's that stuff you have to soak, lol (don't know the English word for it).
I wouldn't worry about giving them dry food.

[Wetdog]

Marjolein, Pablum=the mushy cereal and milk stuff that you feed little babies without teeth yet or sick people. They used to feed Pablum to people with ulcers(before they found out that they are caused by bacteria, not natural digestive ensymes)---it can be made by soaking bread or crackers in milk to make a bland mush.

I've had hundreds of dogs over the years and they've all eaten mainly kibble, dry, and I've not had digestive problems with any of them.

What I look for is the guaranteed analysis(usually printed on the side or back of the bag)---with a protein content of over 24%, and a fat content of 9-18%(you need to adjust the fat content according to the needs of the dog---highly active dogs that are outside in cold weather a lot need more----a less active dog that spends more time indoors will need much less. I prefer foods with a protein content higher so the dog needs to eat less to get sufficient nutrition. I have fed mine cat food for a long time since I was having problems adjusting the fat intake on a couple of mine-----high protein content dog foods tend to be very high in fat(made for field dogs that are outside in the cold most of the time) which was causing one of my shepherds to gain too much weight. So I switched from Purina High Pro(27% protein, 18% fat) to cat food(30% protein, 8% fat) ---and the cat food cost less anyway. That way I could add extra fat to the diet for the two who needed it and leave it out for the one who didn't.

I'd advise not using foods with artificial colors--those are added for people--dogs go strictly by smell. They wouldn't care if it is purple with yellow polka dots as long as it smells good---and keep in mind that what dogs think smell good may be radically different from what YOU think smells good. The main reason for avoiding colorings is that they pass right through unchanged for the most part----if there is an accident, vomit or diarhea for instance, it stains things and can also mask natural colors that you need to be able to see to figure out what is going on.

I add cottage cheese(or yogurt is also good) a couple of times a weeks for the beneficial bacteria---cheese is also good.

Table scraps are also good in small amounts---dogs fed strictly on a single diet will get digestive upsets if the diet is changed, so adding variety with scraps is a good thing I think---sort of making sure that they won't have a problem if for some reason you need to change what they are eating.

[marjolein]

I meant this stuff Fred,we call it diner in Holland. You have to add warm water and let it soak for a while.

[fialCo]

thanks for your opinions.
I myself think it is not neccesary to soak the dry food ( not the "diner").
I used to feed my dog with a very interesting dyr food, which was not as dry as usually. it was like dark bread, with a very nice smell. And dog ate it very nicely.
Now I give dry granulated food Nutra Gold, which is actually not tasty for me ( I try dog's food) and she also doesn't love it very much:( Sometimes I add a small teaspoon of olive oil, just to increase to smell of the food...
But soaking it - no. Once I've tried it when dog was sick a little, but no, she didn't like it.
The same vet of our forum says, this is craizy, if dog doesn't eat soaked food:) she means - he HAS to eat it.

[weimaranermama]

I feed my dogs dry brocks of dogfood. And always i put some water over it. I's an advice of an Professer in the Animalklinic in Utrecht, after that my Bacchus had a stomach rotation(i hope i write it good.) My dogs eat two times a day, also my older Bacchus.
When it's going wrong, they can get the brocks easier out of the stomach than other food, he told me.
So, that's why i dont' give other food.

[Kobie]

Migle,

I also feed dry kibble, but always put some water to it, as the extremely dry kibble takes fluets from the stomage, so I avoid that with some little water in the kibble....
The dogs are used to this, so they don't mind....

[Lois]

For 30 years I always soaked my dog's food as that was what was recommended up until about 2 or 3 years ago. I also put the dog bowls up high so the dogs didn't have to bend to eat (that was recommended too!). Now it is recommended that the kibble is fed dry and the bowls are not elevated. It took me a long tome to get used to not soaking the food but now it doesn't bother me. I do put some cold water on it just before feeding to make it easier for them to eat. I mix the kibble with raw chicken necks, meat, sardines and sometimes if I forget to take food from the freezer, they have canned food. Mine are all very healthy with good coats and lots of energy (Sabi has toooooo much energy!)

Lois

[fialCo]

Kobie, Lois,
in my language kibble means minced, so I hope we speak about the same - the smal croquettes of food, not the flour consistence which was shown above:)
So, the thing is that our members asked - WHY none of the dog food producers do not write on the labels, the food should be soaked? Do they want to kill our dogs or smth?
I think dry food makes teeth cleaner, also dog learns to chew, so there is no need to soak it. Especially if the dog feels good and healthy.
Other thing, which was mentioned in our forum ( and I liked that idea) - if the dog doesn't eat his soaked food, one way only - throw it out. What is not very good, cause we all buy expencive and high quality food:) Don't we?

[Lois]

Our word kibble describes all types of dry, manufactued food. Usually bought in large bags. Can be small round 'balls', to bigger peices. I use Pedigree 'Advance' and when I sent Uoga to Jurate I asked what would be the closest to that food in Europe and I was told 'Royal Canin'. The Pedigree food in Europe is not the high quality we have here. 'Royal Canin' is now owned by the same company as 'Pedigree'.
My dogs NEVER leave any food in their bowls so I don't have to worry about throwing any away LOL
Lois

[Kobie]

Like Lois said, we also put some cold water to the kibble, just before the dogs starts to eat.. I don't soak it.
My dogs also eats their bols out.... ;D ;D

[fialCo]

ok, understood:)
Lois - I don;t like RC:) and my dog didn't too!

Nobody answered to my question - why nobody writes on the labels, the food should be soaked or watered before eating?

[Lois]

Most of the bags of food I have seen have something like 'always have fresh water available' printed somewhere on the bag.
As for Royal Canin - we won a lot of it years ago and my dogs really liked it. But then my dogs are not fussy
One of my friends has sponsorship from RC (she has Labradors and whippets) and her dogs coats always look nice and her dogs do well on it.
We are sponsored by Pedigree, and I am really happy with their products.

Lois

[fialCo]

well yes, this is written, so I put fresh water into another bowl:)
I agree it is very nice to be sponsored and I do believe Pedigree has another quality in AUS than here...

[marjolein]

fialco said:

Nobody answered to my question - why nobody writes on the labels, the food should be soaked or watered before eating?

Because it's not necessary.....

[tasha]

well for what its worth I had a similar discussion a couple of years ago with the people from burns and they recommended soaking the food with luke warm water rather than hot cold water takes alot longer to soak in, hot water will kill some of the goodness in the food and release some chemicals that could be harmful to the dog.

Feeding only dry food can give your dog liver and kidney problems later on in life if they don't drink suitable quantities of water with their food because to digest it the body needs to supply water and that detracts from its uses in the rest of the body - effectively making them dehydrated so less able to remove waste from their systems.

I think these things seem to change with the fashion in time but I do tend to soak foods so that I know exactly how much I am feeding, what appears to be a small amount in the bowl in the stomach is three times the quantity...

[Lois]

We always soaked our dog's food because we were told it helped prevent Bloat. Not the case it seems....http://www.vet.purdue.edu/epi/apr96.htm (see Predisposing Factors).

Lois

[Wetdog]

Soak it, don't soak it, have water available......

LOL, like my grandad used to say if some of the peas got into the mashed potatos....."Just eat it, it's all going to the same place anyway."

One reason for leaving kibble dry is chewing the hard kibble is good for cleaning teeth and gums it seems to me. That's just my own thought, take it or leave it.

[fialCo]

Thanks for your comments, I really appreciate it.
Just one more question - does the bad smell of dog's mouth tell about his stomach desease?If the teeth look very nice and shiny?

[tasha]

depends on what he's eaten, could be tooth decay or in bonnies case as she is an avid fan of all things stinky cow poo, horse poo, anything green and stinky.