I've always wet dry kibble because years ago a vet told me dry food expands and it is better it does it before entering a dog's stomach and maybe cause bloat....made sense at the time so that is what I have done. However I read an article in a dog mag recently that states the reverse is true, that you shouldn't wet it at all! I guess it is a bit like the thing with the raised dog bowls....just wondered what others do?

Whilst I was looking for info just now I came across this site, not got time to read through it all now but looks interesting

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

I have always soaked it and would never dream of NOT doing so. I don't get how the reverse could be true -if it's finished swelling up it can't swell anymore.

I've always soaked it too; how can it possibly swell more if it's already fully rehydrated?

When you see the difference between dry and soaked food it's actually quite shocking!  That said, it isn't easy to get some of the dense kibble to fully hydrate, and some dogs don't like it mushy either...

This is actually one of the reasons I now feed raw :)

When I feed dry kibble (fish4dogs) I add salmon mousse but I know mine drink a lot after a dry meal too, it really makes them thirsty.  I always wait a minimum of 1.5 hrs to exercise after feeding but I still prefer to feed kibble in the evening as I like to give them plenty of relaxed time to digest it, and to take on extra fluids should they need to.

The Mag is called 'Healthy Pets' based in Peterborough. Dosn't say who wrote that particular article but the editor is a Neil Pope..it dosn't say anything about the food swelling just it may help bloat if you do not wet it...'not' being in capital letters....there's no justification for the advice, so I've rung them and asked where they got their info and they are  going to get back to me;)

I have always fed dry they like to crunch it, goes very squidgy when wet. Do think if made wet it perhaps stops people feeding too much as dry the meal looks so small.

I don't soak it as such, but add a good amount of water to the dry food. I would never feed dry alone as I'd always worry that they don't drink enough... especially my lurcher which never drinks at all.

I soak it.

I have on one occasion fed dry without it being soaked and the MASSIVE amount of water my dog drank after eating was very worrying, so now it's always soaked - without fail.

Soaking means the kibble swells before entering the stomach, it also means the dog does not have to ingest copious amounts of water after eating (drinking causes air intake) it alos means the stomach acids are not being absorbed by the dry kibble (I've read that if the acids are not soaked up by the food (the drier the food, the more they are soaked up) it aids digestion).
I also feed from a raised bowl. Water is not raised & I DO allow Buster to drink after excersise - I can't see how depriving a hot, thirsty dog of water is going to do it any good.

There appears to be a couple of conflicting points re.  bloat prevention. I think all any of us can do is be informed as we can and follow the advice we think is right. Sadly bloat can still happen when everything is done 'correctly', so you have to be sure that you are doing what YOU feel is best :)

The only time I add water to food is with nursing bitches to encourage extra fluid intake and because mouths may be sore.

While camping when the dogs will spend some time crated I will add cold water onto the food just at serving, to make sure they have had water before being crated, as I have yet to be able to put water in a crate and not have it spilt everywhere.

They are of course offered water at regular intervals, but don't have continuous access.

At home they have access to water all the time and their dry food is fed dry.

I don't soak dry food, if I wanted to feed moist food I would buy something like nature diet.  Each to their own though.

The occasions I feed kibble I don't soak it, Orijen doesn't seem to absorb water at all.

I don't soak dry kibble but do sometimes add a very small amount of Butchers tripe.As others have said I can't see how it can expand more when it has been soaked.

As I have toy breeds I prefer to dry feed as it can help with teeth cleaning and toys are notorious for having poor teeth. The chins teeth are tiny and they hate having their teeth cleaned!

Thankfully my dogs are not likely to be at too much risk of suffering from bloat as it mostly affects the larger or deep chested breeds

I always feed dry without soaking.

Can't see much point in feeding dry if your going to feed wet!

May as well just feed a good quality wet food.

I suppose you eat your pasta or packet soup dry too! ;-) I like my food rehydrated to make it digestible. :-)

I have tried offering both ways and my dogs have always preferred it dry.  I think they enjoy the crunch :)
However, I have never owned a breed where bloat was an issue so would probably be more cautious although goodness knows what the issues there really are.

There are very few dried foods with kibble large enough - ie about golfball size - for the dogs to crunch. Anything small enough to swallow whole doesn't get crunched.

Yes, I appreciate mine are much smaller :)

Jeangenie....I follow the instructions on pasta of how to cook it, I follow instructions on my dogs food how to feed it....

I don't like packet soup but thanks for the advice :-)

> Anything small enough to swallow whole doesn't get crunched.

Mine always crunch their food, standard and large kibble 20kg dogs.  Not had any , even the greedier ones that inhale food Like I have seen some dogs (labs. springers) do.

Mine chew anything they eat carefully which is why I never have problems with them trying to swallow chunks off bones or chews (hooves) once small.

Can't see much point in feeding dry if your going to feed wet!

I want to make sure that my dogs take in enough water to prevent any kidney problems in future. Especially one of mine never drinks, regardless of whether he is fed dry or wet. Without adding water, his kidneys would be under undue strain.

May as well just feed a good quality wet food.

Wet food is a more expensive way of buying water though... ;-) 

I had actually read some time ago that if you do soak food it should not be done with boiling hot water as this removes something that can aid the risk of diarrhea and in this weeks breed notes it's also mentioned.

>Mine always crunch their food, standard and large kibble 20kg dogs.  Not had any , even the greedier ones that inhale food Like I have seen some dogs (labs. springers) do.

Daisy doesn't even crunch chicken wings - bits of dry kibble don't even touch the sides!

I'm not sure that dry food helps clean teeth, although it would be better then wet simply because it dosn't stick but actually clean? not sure. I know my cats which are fed dry food (unsoaked) have had bad teeth and according to the vet it is because of the high sugar content in the dry..you can't win really !

[bI'm not sure that dry food helps clean teeth,]

I can't see how it could clean teeth, it just shatters when bitten, so not doing much at all.
I did notice a difference in my dog's teeth when I switched from JWB to Orijen, I put this down to the low carbs in Orijen, then they really got sparkly white when I changed to raw.

My 35kg+ (Hasn't been weighed for a while) GSD will crunch his large breed puppy food. This is beta pup so you're looking at kibble about the size of a 20p.

An interesting post.
I have fed a food that has to be re hydrated but due to costs and the amount of rice would like to try something else. They have had various dry foods in the past and there's been no crunching just hoovered up followed by a large intake of water. I've never really understood why kibble can't/shouldn't be soaked rather than fed dry especially in breeds that are prone to bloat.
Also am reluctant to move back to dry kibble having fed wet for many years.

I pour a couple of fl oz of boiling water over the kibble and chicken wings, or heart, or oxtail, whatever raw treat they are getting, and several times a week they get a raw egg (a good use for my hens' efforts). The dogs love the warm dinner (I let it stand on the counter till it cools off enough before anyone thinks I'm giving them a boiling hot dinner!) and they only get as much kibble as they can finish since they don't seem to like it all that much once it's gone cold and squishy. I feed twice a day so meals are not large

> I've never really understood why kibble can't/shouldn't be soaked rather than fed dry especially in breeds that are prone to bloat.

Same here - when I did feed kibble (CSJ) I had to either add something tasty as a topping OR a slosh of water to the bowl, before my lad would eat it. Not soaked, but for some reason he didn't like it completely dry.

Now I feed raw, I am surprised at how little water he drinks, compared to when he was kibble fed - he obviously gets as much moisture as he needs from his meat and veg.

Edited to add - on the subject of food "swelling", when my lad was a pup of about 4-5 months, I heard the sound of retching and went into the hall to see him drooping miserably over what looked like a giant pile of worms! Seems he'd done a bit of counter surfing in the kitchen - first and last time! - and had found a packet of oriental instant noodles right at the back of the counter in a basket - think they were Thai tom Yum flavour - and ate the lot, chilli sachet and all. Obviously the dried noodles swelled up in his tummy, and back they came!

I always add warm water to the kettle to their dry kibble (Arden Grange) before feeding. Significantly reduces the risk of the dog choking on totally dry kibble as well as releasing the meat aroma from the food. When adding a forkfull of tinned Arden Grange Partners (80% meat) or raw tripe, the water effectively turns the additive into a tasty broth when mixed up. The dogs absolutley love it. They don't always get anything extra, but always warm water.

On the subject of dry food swelling, I've never found that the AG swells much. Other foods fed previously did (Skinners, James Wellbeloved). I see this as a sign of quality and going by how great my dogs are looking, have no plans to change.

On the subject of raw, my youngest picked up something the other day in the field & started running about with it in her mouth. I thought it might be a big hunk of bread - WRONG! When I got closer, I could see two legs sticking out, and to my horror, she chomped the item "down in one"! Still have no idea if it was a rat (hope not) or half eaten baby rabbit, but was on tenderhooks hoping she wouldn't be ill (if a rat then always possible it had been poisoned), and because it had effectively been swallowed whole wasn't sure if it would be digested bones & all without issues. Happy to say normal poo's the next day & no problems.

Think she enjoyed her little "snack" none the less, and wasn't prepared to share with anyone lol!