My puppy wont eat dry food

Dyan--Wouldn't it be less likely if the food did  not expand to cause a problem??

Gee, I "get" what your saying Willow, and of course it seems that swelling of food in anyones stomach could/should cause problems.   Problems with bloat though?  I just read the first ten links that came up when I put "bloat in dogs" in search and only one of them they talked about swelling of kibble,,saying to take the "swelling test!"  But they are also saying don't feed too much at a time or drink too much water before or after meals to fill stomachs, that more smaller meals rather than one larger helps.  So is it swelling of kibble or food in general? Wouldn't you think that you would read that in all the studies that they do (which is NOT enough) that they found the canned food dogs bloat less than kibble fed dogs?  And seriously, why do we think that kibble fed dogs are under more stress than canned food dogs?  This is not an argument, this is a question.

Mudpuppy, we do and I'd love to stay in this house in the country forever, BUT, DH accepted another job that is MUCH better for him....no more 70-80 hour weeks, a good deal more money, etc, etc, etc......the catch is that the job is 70 miles away, and on THIS side of the state there are NO interstates, just two lane highways that go through lots of little towns, AND it's right along the lakeshore (Lake Michigan) so in the winter the roads are dangerous and in the summer, packed with tourists.
 
We have a couple leads on similar houses in the country and that's what we're aiming for......will be moving before the end of May.

Dyan--I'm no expert on this by any means, but from what I've heard (from forum chats, reading online and the occasional article in magazines) that there are various reasons dogs can bloat.  One being stress, one being the kibble expanding and I'm sure there are others.  If you're like me you've read to soak the kibble then the next article will say don't.  Raise the bowl, don't raise the bowl.  Don't let them drink water after, water is fine. Honestly, my opinion, is the cause and the things that might help are going to vary from dog to dog. 

I don't think that kibble fed dogs are under any MORE stress, but I think that if they are under stress at all,  the kibble is going to be more of a concern since it changes size in the tummy and I don't THINK ( I might be wrong) that  can or homemade food does.

Yeah, I hear you Willow, I'm no expert either,,,obviously!    But I just spent another half hour going from one website to another...just to read what they say about food.    I went thru one whole page of link and half of the second,, stopping at the one sponsored by PURINA PRO PLAN   go figure.......  it sure isn't going to talk about which foods cause problems I bet...lol!  But I did stop where it said the University of Floridas Study on Bloat has decided that food plays no part in bloat.   
Actually, in all the links that I read so far (will continue later) the only place swelling of food inside their belly was mentioned was when they said "it was once believed that....etc"   but found to not be true.   That was mentioned a few times, along with the fermentation idea also found to not be true.      Last article said that it was AIR that was causing problems, not gas.   Again, there was no mention anywhere so far about canned dog food verses kibble, neither for or against.  It seem that the studies at places like Purdue and Ohio State, are more on the age, sex, make up of the dog and they are not even talking food.    HHHmmm!

 

and on THIS side of the state there are NO interstates, just two lane highways that go through lots of little towns

LOL whats an interstate? i think i've seen them on US movies[8D] The only things we have are the two lane highways that go through lots of little towns,LOL! Glenda do you think you'll ever settle down and stay in a forever home? [sm=happy.gif]

I have to say i've read the that adding water to kibble helps to prevent bloat too.Except i cant remember where [&o] I didnt take much notice of the where's as bloat doesnt affect my little guys.Bonnie has been eating like a hog lately,and on the rare occasions they get 'dry' kibble(no wet additions) she just about chokes herself sucking up the water after her meal,she easily finishes half her bowl of water( a large pasta like bowl),if i had a large dog prone to bloat i would definately be worrying about this! Whatever the concensus i dont agree with serving a dog up a bowl of plain dry kibble for every meal,to me it's akin to a bowl of dry macaroni,it just couldnt be good for them,JMO tho.

I would LOVE to have a forever home.  I'm getting too old for this stuff.

Christine, you said your dog drinks a whole bowl of water after eating a little kibble,,  my Bubblegum almost never touches water after she eats her whole bowl of kibble. Honest!  I DO add meat and yogurt on top of her kibble and a raw egg in the AM, but I also add at least a cup of water which I do NOT soak, just put it on over her probiotic which is water soluble, and put it down for her to eat immediately.  I swear the only time she puts her mouth in her water dish at meal time is when one of her kibbles pop out into the water bowl and she goes "fishing" for it.  She drinks water later, and always after playing but I don't think I ever see her drinking after eating. I suppose adding water to her kibble helps that.   

Dyan i'de say that cup of water,raw egg and the moisture content of the meat would make a huge difference. You should try giving bubblegum a plain bowl of dry kibble with NO additions,and see what happens.I would be interested to see. Emma isnt quite the water guzzler as bonnie is,different dogs,different habits i guess.

Someone mentioned stress/bloat and moving house. I may be wrong but i would have thought moving to a new place would be exciting and stimulating for dogs,new smells,sights and environment etc etc.,as long as their owners were there i wouldnt think it would stress them out too much???

Mine drink like drunker sailors, but not especially so after eating kibble.  I guess this is to be expected from BIG dogs tho.
 
Any change can be stressful to dogs.  And, when you think about it, moving can be pretty darned stressful to us HUMANS, so that does carry over to the dogs as well.

Actually Christine, Bubblegum used to eat Diamond Kibble and ONLY Diamond Kibble, no water,. no meat. no nothing,  don't know how much water she drank then. I COULD try a bowl of dry kibble with nothing but I want her to have the other stuff,,,she would eat without, she did  before.  I always say "don't fix what ain't broke!!!  LOL!
 

Just a little experiment that I do - I soak the amount of dry kibble I feed my puppy in some warm water and just let it sit for a couple of hours.  Then I look at it and feel the kibble to see how much water absorbtion there is and if the kibble "grows."  I found that my mixture of Cloud Star Holistic Kibble, Artemis Fresh Puppy Kibble and Nutura Lamb  & Rice Puppy formula - doesn't really expand at all.  I didn't associate this with "bloating" or anything, but I think it would be a good way to see if the food does cause bloating.  

  I've read that the best way to prevent bloat is to divide the amount of food you give the dog for one day into two feedings; one in the morning and one in the evening. 
    Jessie loves her kibble and eats it with relish, as do many other dogs.
   Canned food has more protein than kibble when compared on a dry matter basis and fewer carbs if the first ingredient is meat, but because it is 70 to 80 percent water you have to feed a lot more for your dog to receive all the nutrients they need; it's usually three fourths to one can per 15 pounds of weight.
   About kibble swelling in the stomach; have you ever heard the story that when you eat bread it turns into a lump of dough in your stomach and sits there? Does anyone know if the story about kibble swelling is a proven fact? A dog's stomach is supposed to be acidic enough to digest bones so it seems as though the kibble would break down quickly instead of swelling.

Does anyone know if the story about kibble swelling is a proven fact? A dog's stomach is supposed to be acidic enough to digest bones so it seems as though the kibble would break down quickly instead of swelling.

This definatley wouldn't happen with the regular amount of kibble. However, if the dog were to gorge themselves with an equal amount of kibble to their stomach, the small amount of expansion could cause bloat.

    Thanks papillon, I didn't think it was true. I never believed the story about bread when I was a kid either. I'm a little older than you; my youngest is a junior in college, so the bread story may not be familair to younger folk.