Kibble And Water Question

[Guest onboarderror]

I was told when I adopted my dog that I would have to mix the food with warm water for some time. When is the point where I should stop doing that?

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

You should always do it. I don't know about every greyhound, but every single one I have dealt with (around 200 or so) needed to have moistened kibble, or they would basically just hack/choke/cough their way through a meal. They don't salivate as much, so adding water helps with that. You don't have to do warm water, I use room temp and it's fine. If I add mixins like raw beef I don't need to add water.

 

I tried giving my grey dry kibble a few times (just to see what happened) and it did not seem like a pleasant experience (although he still ate it all before I could add any water!)

[Guest RachelGreyhound]

Water makes it so much easier for them. Doesn't have to be much.

[Guest IrskasMom]

I always put warm Water on the Kibbles .

[socalgreys]

As I'm doing research, this is a new one on me. Why add moisture to the kibble? Just wondering...

[RedHead]

Just my opinion, but I think that kibble is an unnaturally dry way to receive nutrition (it would be like us only eating dry cereal). Kibble is usually less than 10% moisture, while "real" foods are around 80% water. In nature, protein is naturally eaten with a high moisture content. With dry kibble, the dog's body has to work to come up with the moisture to rehydrate the food. Much easier, imo to just add a bit of water (or other higher moisture add-ins). Not to mention, adding warm water seems to make the kibble more appealing to most dogs.

 

My dogs are used to a higher moisture diet, and I do notice that they choke and cough when eating dry foods.

[4My2Greys]

For one thing as mentioned above it helps them to keep from choking and hacking on the kibble. And more importantly as explained here:

 

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=protein_myth

 

The liver needs water to process protein and as a medium to carry waste products to the kidneys, where they are filtered out and most of the water is reabsorbed. The less concentrated the waste products in this primary filtrate are, the easier it is for the kidneys to do their filtering work - that's why it is unhealthy to feed dry food only and so critical that dogs eating mostly or exclusively dry food and dogs with liver disease get lots of extra water. Dogs who eat mostly canned food or a home prepared diet automatically take in more moisture and do not need to compensate as much by drinking. Contrary to what many people think and pet food companies claim, dogs (and cats) do not know instinctively how much extra water they have to drink to make up for what is lacking in the dry food. This is why I so highly recommend that people always add water to the kibble at feeding time.

[OwnedBySummer]

I always add a bit of water and will keep doing so. I don't let it soak -- just add the water, give it a quick slosh and put it down. My girl likes it with VERY warm water on it -- my best guess is that the heat brings out more aroma. She wouldn't be happy eating it dry. I don't add anything else to it. Dinner is canned or homemade, with the addition of salmon oil.

[silverfish]

Just my opinion, but I think that kibble is an unnaturally dry way to receive nutrition (it would be like us only eating dry cereal). Kibble is usually less than 10% moisture, while "real" foods are around 80% water. In nature, protein is naturally eaten with a high moisture content. With dry kibble, the dog's body has to work to come up with the moisture to rehydrate the food. Much easier, imo to just add a bit of water (or other higher moisture add-ins). Not to mention, adding warm water seems to make the kibble more appealing to most dogs.

 

 

 

Exactly so. The trainers here always add water and/or a meaty stew in with the kibble. I bought some kibble from a different trainer once and he was most insistent that I make sure to add a certain proportion of water to the kibble - despite the fact that he knew me and my dogs and that they were well-looked after and healthy (for their ages) he was most concerned to get this message across. He said it wasn't good for them dry.

 

Not to mention that dry kibble, day in and day out, always the same brand, would be SO boring. Why would we do that to them?

 

Contrary to what many people think and pet food companies claim, dogs (and cats) do not know instinctively how much extra water they have to drink to make up for what is lacking in the dry food.

 

Sadly true. Many dogs will simply not drink enough, and feeding those dogs dry kibble would be very detrimental to their health. It could cause serious problems for them.

[Guest onboarderror]

Thanks for the answers and explainations people. I will keep up with the water.

[GeorgeofNE]

I use water because it helps release some of the scent from the kibble, and to me it's sort of like cereal for people. Sure, you can eat it without milk, but doesn't it taste better floating around? I don't use much--but I've always done it. Learned it from my Dad, who probably learned it from his Dad...

[JohnF]

Peggy won't eat kibble without water anyway. I also top it with some high quality wet dog food.

[Jerilyn]

I gave Lila her kibble without water once to see what would happen - She chewed one mouthful then went back to her usual gulp and swallow technique which was followed by much hacking and coughing. She doesn't drink much either, so this way I know she's getting some water in her.

[beledi]

I always wet Samlurs food. I have never thought about water on my other dogs food. I will start doing this after reading so many replies.

[krissn333]

Everyone here gets water on their kibble. They eat too fast and choke otherwise.

[Guest CleverJason]

My grey isn't much for water, and sometimes I think he doesn't drink enough. Making a soup out of his nightly kibble is a good way to ensure he's drinking more water, so I always do it.

[NeedlenoseJake]

We did this with Jake's food when we first got him or he would choke, like most others have mentioned. Now we free feed him because he all of a sudden stopped gobbling it all down and eats at his leisure when he's hungry and he doesn't choke. He even chews now! Therefore I don't wet his food anymore because I don't want the wet food to sit all day.

[tra708]

i put a tablespoon of good canned food in their kibble with some warm water. mix it up, and it makes a gravy. then if i've cooked something suitable for them at dinner time, i add a little of that, too. that's the way i've done it for all my dogs so far.

[Guest AimeeBee]

I always wet their food, it slows down their eating and keeps the choking/hacking at bay. I usually use a cup of liquid to ~2 cups of kibble. Lately I've been doing about a 1/4 cup of chicken or beef broth to 3/4 cup of very warm water poured over the kibble -- results in a very happy dog who laps up all the gravy before working on the drier stuff.

[Guest skinnerjenna]

I also wet their food, sometimes with low sodium & fat chicken stock as a treat. It is a habit since my dog Boa got a frozen trachea from running into a tree throat first while looking up. We are not talking about the brightest bulb here. We called him the male model since he was beautiful but not really smart. He had trouble panting so we had to make sure he didn't overheat, and trouble swallowing, so we had to really soak his kibble. That made his teeth go downhill really fast so we had to start brushing his teeth.