bloat

I was just reading some of the causes of bloat and listed was wetting Attachment 3105dry dog food,I just bought 2 large bags of fromm dry puppy food any ideas,I thought by wetting it ,you initiate the expantion of the kibble,if you give it to him dry,won't it expand after he eats in his stomach?

Honestly, if you read up some more, you'll find just as many studies that say dry food is bad. They get thirsty, drink a lot after eating and then the kibble bloats in their tummy. You can avoid that whole issue by serving completely softened kibble to them.

While labs can bloat they are not one of the big breeds that this routinely happens too. I'd be more concerned about just about anything else over bloat.

I lost my first lab zach to bloat,he also was 14 y/o ,packer is only 6 months old ,he swallowed a penny yesterday so while i was reading about swallowing the penny,below it listed common causes for bloat ,so i'll let the water soak into the kibble for a few minutes,thanksAttachment 3106

I have always put water in the kibble, no problems. As Jen said, bloat is not something I obsessively think about. I don't feed my dogs after intense exercise, I let them cool down. I don't allow intense exercise for about an hour after eating. I do use a slow down bowl for Maxx, he inhales his food. The slow down bowl helps a little but to be honest, not much and I use it more to keep him from choking by inhaling his food. I also don't let them gulp large amounts of water quickly. I think as long as you use common sense you will be fine.

I never worried about bloat in our labs but when we got Archie, a GSD, it got me to thinking. The "breeder" (and I use that word very loosely) soaked the kibble until it was mush, plus only feeding once a day. Pretty sure that contributed to his horrible dental problems.

I add warm water to both Mardi's and Archie's kibble. Mardi inhales, don't think a single piece of kibble touches her teeth. Archie eats slower but still there is no real chewing. After meals activity is limited to going potty and then back in for a quiet time. By the time I clean up the kitchen, do a few chores, it's easily close to an hour and walks can be done.

Attachment 3110this is my 3rd lab in 25 years,I have yet to meet a Lab that doesn't inhale their food,I'm not really obsessing over it,just when they are so young they are non stop and want to run right from eating so now I put water on the dry and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving it to him