VETERINARY MEDICINE: Soaking Dry Dog food.

VETERINARY MEDICINE: Soaking Dry Dog food. If you've ever soaked your dog's food, you're aware of how much dry dog food expands when immersed in water. It's a little horrifying, actually, to realize how much more space a certain amount of food will require in a dog's stomach and gut once the dog's digestive juices hydrate the individual kibbles. It nearly doubles in volume. The kibbles are like little sponges - some more than others. Soaking dry dog food by adding water will definitely increase the palatability of dry food for some dogs,help digestibility and prevents bloat.It is very important not to let moisten food stand for long hours at room temperature to prevent bacterial growth . While most people soak the dry food with water,others use bone broth and many others use milk,just to ensure gut health of their pets. According to MastiffLover "I've been soaking my dogs kibble for about 45 years now. When I was a little girl my parents best friends lost their dog to bloat and I remember them saying their vet told them that it was probably because they weren't soaking her food and that she would always drink a bunch of water after eating." Jenny does these to her dogs kibble "If you give it enough 'soaking' time it will increase about four-fold :-(I no longer fed my dogs 'bowls' of dry food -- moistened of not. I prefer to feed hard biscuits -- large enough that they cannot be swallowed whole. I cannot understand WHY pet food manufacturers do not market their dry food as biscuit rather than pelletized bits. Adapted from whole dog journal.