I have a 5 month german shepherd and a 10 week old bull mastiff they have royal canin and have just been reading on here about soaking dried food but royal canin says it should be fed dry so now Im completely confused any help as I want to do whats best
thanks sam

My 6 month old Golden Retriver has Royal Canin. On the breeder's advice, I add a couple of spoons of water to moisten it a bit. I wouldn't soak it, just a little water seems to make it more appealing. If it's fairly dry, it does help with keeping the teeth clean. Don't worry to much about what it says on the bag. For example, it states that an adult Golden Retriever's weight is between 25 and 32kg. Dylan is already 30kg at 6 months, and I think he will be close to 40kgs by the time he has finished!

Sarah

Do whatever your dogs prefer. I add a little cold water to it, just so I know she is getting enough water as she is not one to drink a lot.

Hi Sam.
If you think back to the days when everyone fed tinned food, a large percentage of that was water. Water is (Obviously) essential to a dog so when feeding a dry complete food the amount of water given to the same dog needs to be increased by the amount which was originally in the tin (if you can follow my logic!!!) Really it matters no whether you give some water mixed with the food or whether you give it separately although with a young dog I do prefer to feed it moist rather than dry. It often makes the food more palatable to the dog and rather more important; it’s my guarantee that they really have had some moisture. To not take on some moisture one way or the other when feeding can cause the dog problems by absorbing all the moisture in the stomach. We have all seen the puppy that has just eaten as a visitor arrives; the pup gets excited and completely forgets to drink!

Regards, John

The 5 month old is okay with it being dry but the 10 weekold Bullmastiff needs it soaked with hot water and then left to cool as at 10 weeks it cant cope to well with hard food.