To feed wet or dry dog food to my dog? If you’re a first-time dog owner or just concerned about your dog’s dietary health, you may have spent time pondering this question. It’s worth consideration, and as the pros and cons of wet and dry dog food are relatively balanced it can be hard to know which one is best for your pooch. Read on as we lay out the differences between wet and dry dog food to help you decide on your dog’s daily menu.
What is wet dog food?
As you may have guessed, wet dog food is the sloppy stuff – the chunks of meat often drenched in gravy or jelly. It tends to come in cans or small pouches and smells a lot stronger than dry food. By definition, wet dog food is a lot wetter than dry dog food, too – it contains up to 84% moisture, in fact – and therefore needs to be eaten sooner after opening to stay tasty and fresh.
What is dry dog food?
At the other end of the scale is dry dog food, which, in comparison to wet food only contains 3-12% water. Dry dog food is often called ‘dog biscuits’ in the UK, or ‘kibble’ in the USA – and comes in the form of small, brown pellets usually sold in larger sacks or containers than wet food. Generally it lasts a lot longer, too – and isn’t as messy (more on that below).
Wet or dry dog food: what is the best food for dogs?
The thing is, there doesn’t have to be much of a difference between wet and dry food in terms of nutritional content – if you are choosing high-quality food, that is – so the answer over which is the best option for dogs isn’t a straightforward one. There are variations between the two, so it all comes down to which would work best for your particular pooch and you.
Benefits of wet dog food
First, let’s unload the benefits of wet dog food:
