# To soak or not to soak (kibble)



## PureMutt (Feb 6, 2009)

What are the pros and cons? And if soaking, can the kibble be soaked overnight in fridge? 


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## georgiapeach (Mar 17, 2012)

I put water on my dogs' kibble at each meal - enough to almost make it float. I only let it sit for a few minutes, not overnight or anything like that. I notice that the dogs drink a lot less water during the day once I started doing this. Eating dry kibble is like a human eating a freeze dried meal w/out reconstituting it, IMO.


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## PureMutt (Feb 6, 2009)

Does soaking the kibble overnight damage the nutritional characteristics of the food? That's my concern. 


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## Jen2010 (Feb 12, 2013)

I'm not sure it would change the nutritional characteristics of the food. But wet food will grow bacteria easier so I don't think I'd let it soak very long. And make sure your dog eats it all, otherwise take the remaining food away.


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## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

feed it dry....the dogs will eat slower

soaking kibble raises bloat risk in breeds predisposed to it


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## Xeph (May 7, 2007)

In the winter, I float (not soak) all my dogs' food. Only because they drink less water, though.

One dog I have I float his food year round, because he eats too fast and chokes. The water slows him down a bit.



> soaking kibble raises bloat risk in breeds predisposed to it


This has not been proven. There are just as many people that say floating kibble REDUCES the chance of bloat as there are that say it causes it.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Bumper1 said:


> feed it dry....the dogs will eat slower


Adding water slows my dog down. He wasn't drinking as much as usual last week (due to being sick) but was eating, so I floated his kibble and it slowed his eating considerably.


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## BubbaMoose (May 14, 2013)

Bumper1 said:


> feed it dry....the dogs will eat slower


I've experienced the polar opposite with my dogs. Adding water to their kibble slows their eating down significantly. 


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## sclevenger (Nov 11, 2012)

I put warm water on Royces food. He doesn't eat as fast as normal when I do this.


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## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

The dog will drink when it is thirsty. There is no need to force the dog to consume water by adding it to kibble. Just silliness.

Why would anyone care when or if a dog drinks water.


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## Dog Person (Sep 14, 2012)

Maggie was a healthy dog and would drink all day long. We would go through bowlfuls during the course of the day.

Zoey doesn't drink anywhere near what Maggie drank; actually Zoey drinks very little so I float the food in the water - she drinks all the water as well as eats her food. Its my way of making sure she does get enough water ... if she drinks more during the course of the day all the better.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

I add water to my dogs kibble. I just pour some over their kibble before passing out the food bowls.


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## MimiAzura (Jan 5, 2013)

I've never added water to their dry food.. I didn't even know it was a thing people did..


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I always add just enough warm water to bring out the smell and make it a tad bit easier as it is bolted down their throats! Lol!  Imagine swallowing dry hard food down your throat ......... That is how I see it.


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## ChaosIsAWeim (Feb 12, 2011)

I put a little water on all my dogs foods, cept for the frenchie because she won't eat it like that. 

The only time I soak food overnight (in the fridge) is when I have a litter on the ground. I don't ever soak overnight for my older guys.


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## BubbaMoose (May 14, 2013)

MimiAzura said:


> I've never added water to their dry food.. I didn't even know it was a thing people did..


Growing up my dogs ate their dinner like this every night. My mom would usually put boiling water on it and let it cool for a few minutes. I believe they still feed their dogs this way. 


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## quatro (Aug 14, 2013)

PureMutt said:


> What are the pros and cons? And if soaking, can the kibble be soaked overnight in fridge?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Only time I soak kibble is when foundation training a pup (feeding from my hand), it helps them eat as they have baby teeth. Once adult teeth come in and foundation is solid no need to soak in my opinion.


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## luv mi pets (Feb 5, 2012)

My friend has soaked her dogs food since it was 6 weeks old. Breeder bought pup in to find out why the pup was losing weight and throwing up the food. Puppy had megaesophagus and so had to be fed a soup type food. The breeder was going to euth but opted to give the pup a chance and signed the pup over to the tech. Now 3 years later dog is 90 pounds and larger than all of its litter mates. The dog still has some regurge problems but seems to be more controlled on a soaked based dog food. She feeds the dog twice daily and will start soaking the dog food after she feeds the dog to feed him the food the next food time. Surprisingly the dog's teeth are in great shape and have no tarter on them. I say it depends on how the dog likes it and the health concerns of the dog.


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## PureMutt (Feb 6, 2009)

Bumper1 said:


> Why would anyone care when or if a dog drinks water.


Seriously? Do some research on how a hydrated dog is healthier than a dehydrated dog. 



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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Bumper1 said:


> The dog will drink when it is thirsty. There is no need to force the dog to consume water by adding it to kibble. Just silliness.
> 
> Why would anyone care when or if a dog drinks water.


Umm, if a dog is having GI issues (including constipation) and probable Lyme and is drinking far less water than usual? Yeah, I cared in that situation.


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## ireth0 (Feb 11, 2013)

We always poured a bit of water over our dog's food. Not really true 'soaking', but he seemed to enjoy it more.

The only time I do it now is for very young puppies at the shelter when they're transitioning to regular food.


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## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

PureMutt said:


> Seriously? Do some research on how a hydrated dog is healthier than a dehydrated dog.
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App



No human is in a position to judge how much or when an animal should drink. They drink based on a mineral balances and a hormonal signal to drink. How people that cannot even pick a pet food without asking for endless advice seem to think they know how much a dog should drink is laughable. A dog that drinks too much a result of human tinkering can suffer injury or even die.

Leave clean, fresh, cold water out for you dog and don't intervene. They can take care of it. A normal healthy dog will drink when it needs water.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Bumper1 said:


> feed it dry....the dogs will eat slower
> 
> soaking kibble raises bloat risk in breeds predisposed to it





Bumper1 said:


> That is the old study. There were follow ups to the initial Purdue Study by the same team. It confirmed what most breeders of bloat prone breeds observed that bloat was largely a genetic issue.
> *
> "Factors which were found to increase the risk of bloat.
> 1.Increased Age
> ...



So does soaking kibble raise bloat risk or not raise bloat risk? Since you've stated both.


As for eating slower, every single dog that I have fed floated or soaked kibble to has eaten it slower than they eat the exact same amount of and kind of kibble fed dry. So, maybe, just maybe.... it depends on the dog! Novel idea, huh?



Bumper1 said:


> The dog will drink when it is thirsty. There is no need to force the dog to consume water by adding it to kibble. Just silliness.
> 
> Why would anyone care when or if a dog drinks water.


Well, let's see, some dogs drink a lot less then they actually need to drink and need to be encouraged to drink more to help prevent urinary tract infections. Adding chicken broth to water, serving warm water if the dog prefers that, adding a small amount of salt to food, and adding water to the dog's food are some veterinarian suggested ways to increase water drinking. While drinking excessive amounts of water can be dangerous, there are dogs that DO need to be encouraged to consume enough water to be healthy. 
If someone is concerned about over or under drinking, they can ask their vet for health advice.


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## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

Shell said:


> So does soaking kibble raise bloat risk or not raise bloat risk? Since you've stated both.
> 
> 
> As for eating slower, every single dog that I have fed floated or soaked kibble to has eaten it slower than they eat the exact same amount of and kind of kibble fed dry. So, maybe, just maybe.... it depends on the dog! Novel idea, huh?
> ...


We are talking about normal healthy dogs. They don't need anyone forcing them to consume water because the owner thinks they may be thirsty. Its the dumbest thing I have ever heard. 

As for soaking kibble and the relation to bloat, it is not mentioned in that study but many experts believe it can contribute because wet kibble will continue to expand. Kibble eaten dry is exposed to stomach acid and stomach pressure right away and digests without much expansion.


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## Rescued (Jan 8, 2012)

Bumper1 said:


> As for soaking kibble and the relation to bloat, it is not mentioned in that study but many experts believe it can contribute because wet kibble will continue to expand. Kibble eaten dry is exposed to stomach acid and stomach pressure right away and digests without much expansion.


this is an interesting one. do you have a source for this study, by chance?


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Bumper1 said:


> We are talking about normal healthy dogs. They don't need anyone forcing them to consume water because the owner thinks they may be thirsty. Its the dumbest thing I have ever heard.


Interesting that the dumbest thing you've ever heard comes from the suggestions of more than one reputable veterinarian that I know. Both said that encouraging a little "extra" water consumption is good. Refilling bowls regularly so the water is cool, using the water fountains etc are other ways to encourage drinking. I agree with my vets that there are plenty of dogs that do need to drink more water than they will consume from a regular bowl. 

As for the bloat question, you yourself stated in one post that it increases the risk of bloat and stated in another post that it decreases the risk of bloat. Like Rescued, I too would like to see a good study on the risk with a source.


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## Emmett (Feb 9, 2013)

Shell said:


> Interesting that the dumbest thing you've ever heard comes from the suggestions of more than one reputable veterinarian that I know. Both said that encouraging a little "extra" water consumption is good. Refilling bowls regularly so the water is cool, using the water fountains etc are other ways to encourage drinking. I agree with my vets that there are plenty of dogs that do need to drink more water than they will consume from a regular bowl.
> 
> As for the bloat question, you yourself stated in one post that it increases the risk of bloat and stated in another post that it decreases the risk of bloat. Like Rescued, I too would like to see a good study on the risk with a source.


Shell:

Something else to consider, in the past Bumper has replied to my posts about "top teams" supplementing heavily with raw by categorically stating they are doing this *only* "to help with hydration" and not for any nutritional benefits. So here are these "top teams" with presumably "healthy and normal" dogs concerned about the hydration levels of their dogs. Hmm? Interesting.

Just going to add my anecdotal experience, anytime my dogs have vomitted their partially digested kibble it is always expanded two or three times it's original size when it was ingested. That expansion is regardless of soaking or water consumption.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

I've never really soaked Sydney's food, but I've done it plenty of times at the different places I've worked. Sometimes if you have a picky eater, it's more appetizing when it has warm water in it, brings out the smell? And there is certainly nothing wrong with adding water, especially if a dog doesn't drink as much during the day. A bit more hydration doesn't hurt anyone! 

As for the bloat thing, who knows. Obviously Bumper hasn't provided any studies whatsoever... but when I worked at a large boarding/daycare/agility facility, we always soaked the boarding dogs food if they also did daycare. *shrug* never had any issues.


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## Rescued (Jan 8, 2012)

Emmett said:


> Just going to add my anecdotal experience, anytime my dogs have vomitted their partially digested kibble it is always expanded two or three times it's original size when it was ingested. That expansion is regardless of soaking or water consumption.


yeah this is my main thing. When dogs puke up kibble that they've eaten dry, its always (or at least always that i've seen) significantly expanded in size. I just somehow can't figure that dry kibble would not expand but wet kibble would keep expanding? doesn't make any sense.


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## Emmett (Feb 9, 2013)

:wink:


Rescued said:


> Doesn't make any sense.


Seems to be a pretty common theme with certain posts.:wink:

As to the OP, when Emmett was dumped he was severely dehydrated. So for his first few months I soaked his kibble in addition to feeding him canned. He rehydrated exceedingly slow. I stopped soaking his kibble and it became readily apparent that he would not voluntarily drink enough to maintain the proper levels of hydration. We ran tons of tests and found no physical cause, so it seems that he just _needs_ to eat a wet diet. 

For his six weekly meals of kibble, I add the hottest tap water possible, enough to barely cover the kibble, and let it sit while he goes outside. It usually soaks for 10 mins or so and when he comes back in it has expanded to double it's size. Generally there's still some unabsorbed water, but he slurps it up with the kibble. I'm not sure that soaking overnight would have any additional benefit, unless you were shooting for complete mush because of bad teeth. Most dogs don't chew (none of mine do) so that is not something I would have to ever worry about.

I don't routinely add water to anybody else's kibble because nobody else has ever demonstrated any need for it.


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## Dog Person (Sep 14, 2012)

Don't expect much from anyone saying that a food with a bunch of corn products in it is "one of the best". But then flip flops on that "one of best" by saying it's readily available and that's why it's good, I just placed a dog food order online and it was here in 3 days ... 2 of those being a Saturday and Sunday so all food should be readily available to everyone especially those who frequent a dog forum on line. As far as being educated in dog foods, everyone can pick Purina, Nutro and Science Diet and say their dog(s) do well on it, I fed my last dog that and she was in amazing shape per her Vet; wanting to purchase better food makes us "silly". Of course, insinuating you have knowledge and not really being helpful in it self is silly.

Anyway, I asked the Vet about adding water to food and she said it was OK. I agree that it depends on the dog and if a dog drinks enough or doesn't need soft kibble there's no reason to add water. For Zoey, she only drinks one or two licks at a time and the water bowl stays full so her food gets water.

From the Petmd website: http://www.petmd.com/dog/nutrition/evr_dg_the_importance_of_water#.Unrz07Yo6Uk

*Providing Adequate Water to Dogs*

To make sure that your dog always has enough water to keep him/her healthy, you must provide clean, clear water daily that is easily accessible to your pet. Keep your dog’s bowl filled at all times and always refill with fresh, clean water daily.

As a rule of thumb, dogs should drink approximately one ounce of water per pound of body weight each day. There are many factors that can affect how much your dog will drink, however. Depending on the environmental temperature and the amount of exercise your dog performs during the day, more water may be necessary. This is because water is lost due to excessive panting and salivation.

As we mentioned previously, your dog’s food also contains a small amount of moisture. Dogs that are fed a canned food diet will receive quite a bit more moisture as canned food is about 70-80% water. These dogs may drink less than dogs that eat a dry food diet on a daily basis.


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## sclevenger (Nov 11, 2012)

elrohwen said:


> Umm, if a dog is having GI issues (including constipation) and probable Lyme and is drinking far less water than usual? Yeah, I cared in that situation.


Yes and I cared a whole lot when my dog was OVERdrinking and found out that it was causing his kidneys to shut down and he had diabetes. It meant a big deal to me.


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## sclevenger (Nov 11, 2012)

Another reason I do it is that Royce will not eat his food if its dry, I mean he will....but he pouts around a good hour or more and keeps pushing it with his nose, add warm water and he eats. lol. 
Of course he could just be spoiled.


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## quatro (Aug 14, 2013)

It all depends on the subject dog, there is no right or wrong here. My dogs will eat their food in a couple of minutes whether it is warm/cold/wet/dry/cooked/raw/dead/alive hehe so I do not care to "prepare". Do whatever works for your dog.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Summer won't eat wet or mushy food. I have the opposite problem, lol.


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## BubbaMoose (May 14, 2013)

quatro said:


> It all depends on the subject dog, there is no right or wrong here. My dogs will eat their food in a couple of minutes whether it is warm/cold/wet/dry/cooked/raw/dead/alive hehe so I do not care to "prepare". Do whatever works for your dog.


Just to clarify when I said that my dogs will eat slower if I add water to their kibble, I meant they go from eating their meals in one minute to two minutes. 


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## Sarah~ (Oct 12, 2013)

Bumper1 said:


> Leave clean, fresh, cold water out for you dog and don't intervene. They can take care of it. A normal healthy dog will drink when it needs water.


So if you soaked your dog's food and they know when they are thirsty or not, wouldn't a normal dog just... drink less water?


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## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

Sarah~ said:


> So if you soaked your dog's food and they know when they are thirsty or not, wouldn't a normal dog just... drink less water?


A normal dog drinks when its body needs water, not when a human thinks it does.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Gee, I'd better not put any milk in my cereal. . .I'll drink when my body needs water, not when my cereal makes me drink.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Willowy said:


> Gee, I'd better not put any milk in my cereal. . .I'll drink when my body needs water, not when my cereal makes me drink.


I've always liked orange juice on cereal instead of milk. Only on the basic kinds though like Cheerios or Corn Flakes. I wonder if it is still safe to add orange juice or if it won't quench my thirst correctly like milk might and then I risk drinking too much water during the day. 

One dog eats raw, there is lots of water in raw, and he has a bowl of water available to him all the time. If I add the same amount of water to kibble that would be in the similar serving of raw and leave the same bowl of water available all the time to the other dog, it becomes dangerous and meddlesome? 

If I observe that a dog drinks 1 cup of water each morning but tends to splash/play with and toss the water bowl in the crate so instead, I put the same 1 cup of water into the breakfast meal and thus nothing gets spilled and the bowl isn't chewed at in the crate, that 1 cup of water becomes dangerous and meddlesome?

Yep. Makes perfect sense. 

I've fed horses for years where some needed their hay soaked with water for dust allergies or their food watered down for teeth problems etc and I have never heard anyone say to stop such practical actions because "the horses will drink what they need!!!"


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## Sarah~ (Oct 12, 2013)

Bumper1 said:


> A normal dog drinks when its body needs water, not when a human thinks it does.


My point still stands, if I put water in my dog's food, than naturally his body is more hydrated and he feels the need to drink water less.


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## Sarah~ (Oct 12, 2013)

Ok, here's another example, my dog is on medication that makes her thirsty and she drinks more water than she probably should, which makes her pee herself in her sleep, so am I meddling by restricting her water at bedtime? Should I let her drink until she throws up? Because that's what she feels like she needs, right?


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## Dog Person (Sep 14, 2012)

So I don't have a normal dog because she doesn't drink enough water and I want her to be hydrated is meddlesome. I should wait until she dehydrates, take her to the Vet and don't lift a finger to help her health because I don't want to meddle with nature ... 

Maybe that's the logic I should be using!

What I posted from petmd is no where near the amount of water that she is getting but by floating her food in water it is more than she gets otherwise.


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## luv mi pets (Feb 5, 2012)

As the person who is usually the one to pass the tube on a GDV (bloat), the first thing I will hear once the tube is passed into the stomach is air escaping. Then water, surprisingly not too much and then it will be kibble. I have never seen the liquid or the food take up more than a 1/4 of the bucket. The kibble is soft and mushy and expanded. It did not matter if the kibble was wet or dry pre eaten. One thing that is for sure is the smell. Drinking (gulping) large amounts of water and/or panting seemed to be the common factor in a dog with GDV. At least in my own studies of the bloats I have seen. Yes there are the GDV that occurs when a dog had access to a bag of dog food. 

I don't think adding a1/4 cup of water to 4 cups of kibble could call it meddling with mother nature. 

As far as normal dogs- what is that?


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

I add a little water to a spoonful of wet food and Ham's kibble when I stuff kongs to freeze for him. I've found a lot of canned foods aren't super moist, and the extra water helps them freeze harder, thus taking longer for him to eat. 

Breakfast he gets kibble out of a treat ball, which slows him down anyway since he only gets a few kibble at a time. He drinks plenty of water on his own, including my water if I leave a glass on an end table. If he isn't feeling well and I want him to drink more, I'll pour a nice big glass of water, set it down on the table next to the couch, and chase him away from it a few times. A guarantee he'll drink it


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## KuroSaya (Jun 3, 2011)

Sarah~ said:


> My point still stands, if I put water in my dog's food, than naturally his body is more hydrated and he feels the need to drink water less.


I so agree. Saya is raw fed and she still drinks water, but not as much compared when she was on dry kibble. raw has a lot of moisture and she is very healthy on raw and isn't dehydrated. Like I said she does drink water, but not compared to Bella who is kibble fed.. 

Bella drinks more on days she gets kibble only.. 

I add either cooked meat, honest kitchen, fruit, egg, caned dog food, caned fish, or mix of tiny bit of each thing as kibble topper. Sometimes I soak the kibble most times I mix the food in with the kibble being dry. does fine eating dry or wet kibble or with wet stuff added to the kibble.

I find Bella eats slower with soaked kibble or kibble mixed with some caned food or honest kitchen.


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## Losech (Apr 5, 2011)

I don't soak my dog's kibble. I'd only soak it if I were feeding young pups or a dog that needed softer food for some reason. I do, however, add water right before it's fed. I've noticed that my dogs digest their kibble better if it's fed with water than without. I usually feed homemade/raw foods though, which has plenty of moisture so I don't add any extra to that.


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## Little Wise Owl (Nov 12, 2011)

I soak lightly with warm water to make the food more aromatic. We did this especially for our elderly Bichon mix who was very picky.


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## PureMutt (Feb 6, 2009)

I recently bought a 8lb bag if sojos complete for $35. Was reduced half off. I'm mixing in one cup per day for extra moisture, flavor and added benefits. My dog loves it. So far I've used less than a lb in almost 2 weeks. Pretty economical topper if you ask me. 


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## KuroSaya (Jun 3, 2011)

I do same with honest kitchen for Bella it makes nice wet food topper for her kibble. I plan to try sojos next. The 10lb of HK lasting for long time as snack or kibble topper.


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## sclevenger (Nov 11, 2012)

Ya I don't wet Royce's for any other reason than he likes it that way. He seemed to pick around his food when dry and when I wet it he usually eats it faster....faster meaning he actually eats instead of picking through it. Lol.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

> feed it dry....the dogs will eat slower


ROTFLMAO seriously come tell that one to my dogs! I use water to slow my dogs down when they eat kibble, otherwise they eat so fast they choke. 




> The dog will drink when it is thirsty. There is no need to force the dog to consume water by adding it to kibble. Just silliness.
> 
> Why would anyone care when or if a dog drinks water.


boy if Rusty were in your hands he'd be dead by now. if you give him dry kibble he will quite literally choke to death. I have had to give him the Heimlich TWICE after he turned purple choking on dry kibble. and once in a while he just randomly decides to forgo water entirely, like to the point of being so weak from dehydration that he cant stand up. and there is NO medical reason for any of this, he's in perfect health, he's just...weird.


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## StellaLucyDesi (Jun 19, 2008)

I always add canned food and a little water mixed with my dogs' dry. They all seem to drink their water just fine, as well. I started this practice when Stella was alive. She didn't drink enough water and ended up with a urinary tract infection once and my vet recommended I do this. I've continued to do this with no repercussions. The dogs do enjoy their meals.


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## PureMutt (Feb 6, 2009)

KuroSaya said:


> I do same with honest kitchen for Bella it makes nice wet food topper for her kibble. I plan to try sojos next. The 10lb of HK lasting for long time as snack or kibble topper.


I foresee my 8lb bag of sojos lasting easily 3-4 months. Very economical. 


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