[nagdu] Adding water to food.

Sat Nov 9 21:51:27 UTC 2013

When I was at GDB and for a few years after returning  home, I used to add
water to the dog food, but that was when I was not using as high quality of
the food. I used warm or even hot water because it absorbs faster. Cold or
room temperature water will work, but it will take longer. For it to have
any effect, it actually has to get absorbed into the food. Even with the
warm or hot water, it takes a few minutes, and, yes, the food does expand
quite a bit. Lexia now eats Blue Buffalo for breakfast and dinner and the
Science Diet dental food for her lunch. I do not add water to either one,
and things seem to work fine. I do make sure that she has water available.
Not having to add water also makes things a little easier if you have to
feed your dog in public or while riding some sort of transportation.

	At home, I leave water out for Lexia, but she tends to drink mainly
when I change it, after coming in from doing her business, after a meal, or
after coming in from work. I generally monitor how much she drinks because
she has drank too much before and had an accident in the house. I would take
her out if she was doing something to indicate that she needed to go;
however, it seems that she does not realize that she has to go, and it just
comes out. Then she is like, "oh, where did this wet spot on my blanket come
from?". At work, I only give her water certain times of the day. Also, she
seems to drink more immediately after she comes in from doing her business
than if I have her wait a little while before drinking.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Raven Tolliver
Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2013 6:50 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Adding water to food.

Hi Deanna,
Larry's guide dog is a poodle. Generally, poodles eat smaller meals
throughout the day, which is best for this dog breed because they are prone
to bloat.

On 11/7/13, Deanna Lewis <DLewis at clovernook.org> wrote:
> Thank you all for all your answers!
> I leave water out all day for Pascal and my cat. He does not drink 
> enough if I were to give water on a schedule. His bladder control is 
> very good /smiles/.
> I used to put water on his food, but he always had diarrhea when I did 
> this, so I stopped doing it shortly after returning home. He seems to 
> be doing well now, so I think I will keep things the same.
> Maybe I was wrong in saying that it should be warm water, I guess it 
> doesn't really matter. I just assumed that the food would expand 
> quicker in warm water.
> Again, thanks for all your comments on this thread!
> Deanna and Pascal (who is getting hungry with all this talk about 
> food)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cindy Ray
> Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2013 12:38 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Adding water to food.
>
> At The Seeing Eye it sort of depended on the trainer. Theory was that 
> if the food was watered, it would expand before the dog eats it, thus 
> cutting down on bloat. If they were to eat and drink lots of water, 
> the chances were higher that the food would expand in the stomach, 
> thus causing a life-threatening situation. That is a debated theory, I 
> think, and it may not even be a valid one now. We put water on all the
dogs' food here.
>
> CL
>
> On Nov 6, 2013, at 11:10 AM, ichoosechrist2 at gmail.com wrote:
>
>> I don't remember if the Seeing Eye asked me to put water on my dogs food.
>> I still measure of my dogs food on a schedule mostly because 
>> otherwise I will trip over the water bowl. :-) I personally put some 
>> water in my dogs food just so he will stay hydrated and So he will drink.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Nov 6, 2013, at 10:03 AM, Deanna Lewis <DLewis at clovernook.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>> I was just wondering if all the schools recommend that you add a 
>>> little warm water to your dog's food? What are the benefits of this? 
>>> Does it keep them full longer?
>>> Do you still follow this practice when you get home with your dog?
>>> Also, do you leave water out all day for your guide dog at home, or 
>>> do you still give them water on a schedule (even after being home 
>>> for a while).
>>> Just curious as to what others do. Thanks!
>>>
>>> Deanna and Pascal
>>>
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>
>
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--
Raven

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