The Importance Of Water In Dog Food
Is Your Dog Dehydrated?
Your dog’s biologically appropriate diet is fresh prey…fresh meats, the whole animal, fur, feathers, bone, muscle, organ, and all. A fresh diet offers your dog a diet quite high in moisture — approximately 70%,
Canned food will introduce more moisture at feeding time, but it’s not going to fully compensate for the dry kibble on its own. In most cases, canned food hold the same quality value as its kibble counterpart except for the fact it introduces more moisture.
Reading your kibble label — you’ll see a line item for moisture at 10%. Yes, that’s very low. And it’s there because they need to include it to help the food stick together again (among other pretty gross ingredients for binding).
As a result, most dogs are in a state of dehydration.
In order for your dog’s digestive system to break down those hard kibble nuggets, it requires moisture to function optimally. .
Eating a prey model diet, your dog would provide about 60=70% moisture. Even canned food would be about 65% moisture. Fresh foods will also be high in moisture.
Organ Robbing
For a dog that eats dry kibble, moisture comes in part from what he drinks. But it’s not sitting in the digestive system waiting on food to arrive. It’s in the organs of the body — the skin, the liver, the kidneys, the brain, the blood, the heart, etc. Those organs all need moisture,
The process of pulling moisture from the body into the digestive system has been called “organ robbing”. Technically, your dog is most likely in a state of chronic dehydration while eating a kibble-based diet.
This state of insufficient moisture, and dehydration, in the body can lead to several health concerns.
Skin Irritations
Dry Skin, Dry Feet, Dry Noses, Dry Eyes
Dry or sticky, swollen or bright pink tongue, especially during or after exercise.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (5 Element Theory) calls this Excess Phlegm. You may see signs of thick discharge in the eyes, gooey ears, hot spots, or odorous skin.
In the case of kibble feeders, I always recommend adding water to the bowl. This helps support the digestive system. But that will never compare to feeding a species-appropriate diet of fresh meats, organ, and well-hydrated foods!
Caution: Too much “water” in the belly with a belly full of food may be a contriburing factor to bloat, gastric torsion (emergency life threatening condition). Moist food simply proves to be a better option.