Hi All

I posted in the week about my Westie Hamish not wanting his Eukanuba biscuits, somebody told me that they soak there dogs biscuits and said to try this with Hamish so i put some water onto them last night and soaked them for a couple of minutes to soften the outside of the biscuit then added the chicken and he ate the whole bowl and licked it clean aswell, but on giving him the same biscuits dry he does not want them, is it okay to soak the Eukanuba biscuits or will putting water onto them take the goodness out of the biscuit?
I cannot understand why he will not eat them dry but on soaking them so that the outside softens he then eats them, surely dry food is not meant to be soaked as it does not say on the packet, but then again he wont eat them dry so what option have i got. The puppy Eukanuba he used to eat dry but the biscuits were a lot smaller than the adult one he is on now and it has only been since he first went onto the adult feed that he has started to leave his biscuits, he always used to clear the whole bowl before, and last night on soaking them he was back to normal again in clearing the bowl.
Any advice i would be grateful for as to whether anybody else soaks dry biscuits for there dogs.

Thanks
Helen and Hamish

There should be no problem with this Helen.
How old is Hamish ? I am just wondering whether he is at the teething stage and it could be hurting his gums ?

There would be no harm in soaking the biscuits Helen, but so saying, one of the reasons for giving hard food is as a tooth cleaning aid. The hard biscuit literally scrapes the teeth clean. If he is having nothing to perform this function then maybe you should be looking at some tooth cleaning method? Doggy tooth paste for example?

Best wishes, John

Hi John

Thanks for replying, it is only since he went onto the adult biscuits that he has gone off of them, the puppy biscuits were a lot smaller but these adult ones are quite big and he has gradually gone off of them. On the Eukanuba bag it does not say that you can soak them but i thought i would give it a try, he does have the denta stix for his teeth as i tried him with toothpaste and it was a disaster so i thought i would give him the denta stixs and hope that they clean the teeth.

Thanks
Helen

Hi

Hamish is just over 1 year old and lost his baby teeth ages ago so i don't think he is teething, it just seems that they are too hard for him to chew or something, the smaller biscuits were fine but now he has gone onto the adult biscuits they are a lot bigger and it is only since he went onto these bigger ones that he has gone off of them.

Helen

At a year some breeds do experience a 'settling' of the teeth into the gum - maybe an experienced Westie breeder will know if Westies have this phase?

OK Helen, what about trying something like a Terrier Biscuit Meal such as Winalot? This is small but would still provide something to crunch on? Just a thought.

Best wishes, John

One of the reasons I changed my Westie to Nutro  was the biscuit size, they do seem to prefer smaller bisc. He also goes through phases of preferring it moist.

Adding water to the food is no different to the dog having a drink of water afterwards, so there's no need to worry about loss of food quality. I always put warm water onto my dogs' dry food as a matter of routine. I have found that when the food is fed dry they need to drink much more water than otherwise to be able to digest it. Dry food expands greatly when it is soaked, making the dog feel fuller and so less likely to put on weight. On the occasions I have given it dry they don't crunch it, just hoover it up, so for mine there is absolutely no 'tooth-cleaning' benefit. If he likes it wet, let him have it wet. You can always give him a chew or marrowbone for tooth-cleaning (or use a brush!).
:)

Mine have two meals a day breakfast is dry and dinner is soaked in hot water. I put boiling water on it then let it cool, the dogs love the aroma as i'm preparing it and thet wolf it down after having waiting for it.

Hi

You said that you soak yours in hot water, how long do you leave it to soak for and do you drain the water off before putting the biscuits down for the dogs.

Helen

I personally don't drain the water off. I put on enough water to wet the food, and leave it at that. The food absorbs the water anyway.
:)

I just put enough on to wet the food then leave it to cooldown about 5mins usually long enough, they have it warm. :)

You could also try soaking the dry food in warmed chicken broth,i bet your boy would go nuts for it :D Or boil a peice of liver in a little water and use the broth for soaking his dry.
Or you could go back to using the "puppy" eukanuba,my shih-tzu's are 15mths. and 4yrs. and they still get the puppy dry,the only dry food they will eat is Royal Canin-mini-junior,this food has a distinctive livery smell,my dogs will do backflips for liver.

good luck

christine

Hi Helen, Yes you can add water the the biscuits. When the biscuits are dry they tend to clean the dogs teeth.  Just make sure if you decide to give your dog the biscuits dry, always make sure the dog has a bowl of water at all times.
bye, frances44

Hi All

Just to give you all an update on Hamish, i have still been soaking the biscuits in some warm water and leaving them for around 2 minutes and then putting them into his bowl with some cooked chicken sliced up, he has been clearing the whole bowl and licking it completely clean aswell, i think he would eat more but i don't want to overfeed him as i am following the 90g that it says for his weight on the bag of food, i am not sure whether to give him a few more biscuits or not!
I am just pleased that he is now eating them, and is ready for his meal aswell, as soon as he smells the biscuits soaking in the water he hangs around me all the time, they only seem to soften on the outside as when you feel them they don't break up completely so i think there is still a hardness to them.
Thanks to everyone that posted it was really nice to get some feedback, i will keep you all informed as to when he goes to the vets for his booster in a couple of weeks time i am going to ask the vet just to check his teeth and jaw for me.

Helen and Hamish

we soak our pups biscuits in hot water and so far so good,u could try.