To add canned/wet or to just add water.. is it worth it?

I would like to get more moisture in Angel as a preventative measure, but would also do it for Chloe as well, since it is good for them anyway.

I recently bought a bunch of canned foods, some I had BOGO coupons on, and then I bought a case of the Merrick 96% meat ones.

The dogs LOVE the added canned food to their meal.

What proportion of canned vs. kibble should I add to get a significant amount of moisture in them compared to just kibble?

I see this could be expensive, just went through one can in 2 days between the two dogs and feeding them 1/4 cup kibble.

Would you recommend just soaking kibble in water? If so, how much?

Do you think adding wet food or soaking the kibble in water makes much difference anyway? Part of me thinks that it really won't help much with such little water?

They obviously have access to water 24/7.

I always add water to my dogs' meals. Even my raw fed dogs. I figure it can't hurt and this way I'm ensuring they're being hydrated. It does seem to make a difference. My dogs definitely drink less than if they have to eat a waterless meal.

If your goal is simply to increase their water intake I'd go with soaking their kibble. To really impact their water consumption you'd have to feed a lot of the wet food I'd think and that will get costly. I feed some wet food with Tucker's kibble but it's just for added flavor/variety because I think kibble looks boring and plain lol.

I just add water and feed, I don't even really soak. I don't think the canned food is necessary.

Ok thanks for the insight! Maybe I'll just use the canned food I have for Frozen kongs. It will last longer that way for sure!

How much water would you add? Both of my girls get 1/2cup kibble each.

And how long do you soak it? Or can I just add water and serve?

Should it be warm water?

I put warm water on Hugo's food. Warm Jay because he seems to like it. He gets a cup of kibble and it's probably like 3/4 cup of water? I don't measure, just add till it looks really wet.

I only "soak" one dogs food and that's because she had a urinary blockage in December. (Which seeing you have Schnauzers, is definitely a risk!) I add canned/homecooked/dehydrated raw food/real foods (cottage cheese, eggs, plain yogurt, meats, tin sardines, ect) to her kibble too for an extra boost in flavor/nutrition. I make it into soup, probably a 2:1 ratio of water:kibble and then a small bit of "extras". (Tablespoon or so at each meal, she's a small dog) Obviously if I do dehydrated raw, I add extra water to account for it needing to rehydrate with the kibble. Lol. Soak time depends on the food used, some soak quickly and others don't seem to do anything unless they sit for a good while. Warm water helps soak everything quicker than cold though. My other dog just gets hers floated. I mix kibble and her extras, then I add enough water to float everything around and create a "soup" of goodies around the kibble then I feed directly like that. No soak time. She laps up the water, eats the kibble and then licks the bowl clean. She gets about 1/4th cup of extras but she's a bigger and more active dog. Even though I rotate foods, I feel guilty not adding some "extras" to swap up flavor each day and also feel it's better nutritionally than just kibble. They get a RMB to replace meals a couple times a week. Variety is the spice of life! We only have them for so long, why not treat them to nice meals?

I dont do it for the dogs - they drain the water dish so I think they're good lol. I do float my cats kibble though since moisture is very important for them, I just add enough water till its like alphabet soup lol with the kibble pieces floating around. It's a fine line though because at least with him, if it's TOO soupy he doesn't like that.

I agree with the above that with schnauzers I'd push the water! But don't think canned food has to be necessary if they'll eat soaked kibble.

I soak my dogs kibble. It seems to keep their thirst levels in check. If I don't soak it they get super thirsty and decide to drink the whole bowl at once and then all of a sudden have to pee really badly. When I soak the kibble, they drink slower and pee on schedule better.

For my dogs I put the kibble in the bowl, fill it so it's just covered and then watch TV for an hour.... Then I serve it. I generally just use lukewarm water out of the tap.

Yes, I am mostly wanting to get more moisture into Angel. She has had urinary stones before (probably like 4 years ago and needed surgery to get them removed, but hasn't had any since) and she is getting older and I would just like to make sure she stays hydrated.

If I soak the kibble for her, then I mine as well soak Chloe's too.

Chloe is also concerning me because she seems thirsty so frequently.. she will drink a lot at one sitting. But she is also weird and anytime the water dish gurgles she goes and has to drink some. But if I am at the SO's with a regular water bowl, she goes and drinks every hour or two.. or that is what it seems like, where Angel will drink a lot less than that and not as much as one time as Chloe.

So it will probably be a good change for both I am thinking.

Is it weird that I've NEVER heard of this?!?

Question: does this impact the effect dry kibble has on keeping teeth clean? I imagine if you do this you probably give RMBs or something for teeth.

Is it common for dogs not to drink enough water?

Dry kibble doesn't *really* clean teeth. It really depends on the dog on if they drink enough. Some dogs won't drink if they're having fun or doing something , almost like they forget. Some dogs are fine.

Auggie's kibble gets floated to make sure he has increased water due to urinary issues. Payton's kibble gets floated to slow him down because as a puppy he would finish his food then go try to steal Auggie's. Pepper's kibble gets floated to slow her down because she eats like she is about to die if she doesn't consume the food.

I think a lot of people float kibble for different reasons actually, and it wasn't until we had a thread about floating kibble that I found out so many people do it haha. It just doesn't come up normally when people are talking about food for some reason!