Kibble/Bloat Question, Please help

The other stated that you shouldn't allow the dog to drink for awhile after eating.

I'm not going to comment on the bloat studies as there is just too much conflicting advice around. However i think not letting a dog drink after eating is cruel!My dogs go straight to the water bowl after eating and really drink alot,so obviously they are really thirsty and not letting them do this would be terrible [&:] I've never withheld water from them.
They drink just the same no matter what they eat,raw,dry,treat whatever. Even if i wanted to add water in with their kibble i couldnt as they wont eat it with water added,no idea why, but it just puts them off. One thing i very rarely do is feed plain dry kibble,they ALWAYS have something wet added,raw or cooked meat,veggies,cottage cheese,yogurt,perhaps this goes a way to hydrate them,but like i said they drink the same whether there is something added or not.
Personally if i was going to add water to kibble i would let it soak in for a while otherwise i dont see the difference between putting water on and feeding straight away or letting them have a drink afterward,whats the difference?

I don't get it either, Edie.  I don't feed it just plain either she's always got meat added.  So, you think that's good enough??  I never really added the water for any particular reason other than that she's used to eating mostly canned and I thought she'd like it. 

So, you think that's good enough??

I think it is,especially canned which is mostly water anyway.

OK, I see what your saying.  Now, she gets Evanger's, the one that is more like a pot roast, not the loaf type. Do you still think it's enough?  Thanks!

There are so many different opinions on bloat that it is unreal--raise the food pan, not don't raise it.   Add water to the dry, not don't add water.  I don't think they really know what is the best way to go.
 
In the morning mine get plain kibble with a topper (baby food sweet potatoes or other food, cottage cheese, etc, just a tad), but at night I do add water when they get their meat and veggies added. 

There are so many different opinions on bloat that it is unreal--raise the food pan, not don't raise it. Add water to the dry, not don't add water. I don't think they really know what is the best way to go.

 
It's hard to know how to prevent something until you find the "cause". The science on "bloat" (gastric vulvous) has still failed to find a definative answer as to what triggers bloat. There have been studies (in the past) that have said this or that, but they are not conclusive and are mostly speculation based on "skewed" results.
 

You know Lori,,,this is a subject that interests me so much because I have a Dane and they are subject to bloat. In fact, Bubblegum and my picture were on the front page of our local newspaper one day because there was an article about bloat in it.  
I agree with the above comments about what they know and don't know about bloat. 
The first thing I want to say is that we give Bubby AND Ollie probiotics,,to help ward off bloat. I buy DogZymes Liquid Dispersible from Natures Farmacy (you can read about it here [linkhttp://www.naturesfarmacy.com/]http://www.naturesfarmacy.com/[/link]) just for this.    I give it faithfully and if she is under stress,,I up the dose.  Just because!
As far as soaking or not soaking kibble with water,,,,I don't. I DO add water as you do,,,right before I set it down. I had read that when you do that,,,the dog gets water while he is eating and doesn't feel the need to drink tons of water after.  I do watch Bubblegums water intake after she eats..but she doesn't drink a lot after. Ollie on the other hand drinks tons of water after his meal and Mike doesn't put water in his kibble.  I don't soak kibble in water because I have read that soaking destroys nutrients AND causes fermentation.
Lastly, you know I have said thousands of times...Great Dane Ladys website is my "doggy bible!"  She has raised many generations of Great Danes...and other breeds also. BUT she has studied nutrition and bloat in these dogs...and has talked and written a lot about what she feels about bloat, and since she has had so much experience in raising dogs subject to bloat... she is telling us thru her experiences. I don't feel there is anything better then to work on others experience.   She also gives her opinion on the Purdue Bloat Study which seems to have really changed a lot of minds about what to do and what not to do.
Some of the best reading on bloat that I have done comes from her website.
[linkhttp://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/bloat_and_torsion_is_nutrition_a_factor.htm]http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/bloat_and_torsion_is_nutrition_a_factor.htm[/link]
[linkhttp://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/on_my_soap_box_purdue_bloat_study.htm]http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/on_my_soap_box_purdue_bloat_study.htm[/link]
[linkhttp://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/bloat_and_allergies.htm]http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/bloat_and_allergies.htm[/link]
 
Years ago I printed out something else from the Internet,,written by a person that had a dog that bloated a lot.  I went looking to see if the article is still on the Internet,,and I think this is the same lady (because most of what she says is exactly what I have printed) but its a different article.  She did say that since she changed her dog to a meat based diet, her dog no longer bloats. 
Here is the link you might want to take a look athttp://ladyr.danebytes.com/BLOAT-SIMETHICONE.htm
For me,,experience is the best teacher. We do what we can and hope and pray it is the right thing.

I personally think bloat is caused by a combination of stress and genetics more than feeding practices per se. All of the cases of bloat in dogs I've personally known have occurred during or shortly after very stressful events in the dogs' lives: moving to a new house; owner went off on vacation, dog was kenneled for two weeks, dog came home, and promptly bloated. Things like that. I would be very concerned about a dog who won't accept treats or eat during stressful situations or  events-- I think such dogs are telling you "stress affects my digestive system", and you need to expose such dogs to as many weird situations as possible, and help them have fun or at least tolerate the situations, while they are young, to help them learn how to handle stress, or least be under less stress when weird things happen.
 
There was a study on "possible protective factors", and feeding fresh foods in addition to or as a substitute for kibble, particularly chunks of meat and/or RMBs, was highly protective. My own observation is that dogs that fed only dry kibble of the same brand all the time develop very sensitive digestive systems. You can help create a dog with a highly robust digestive system by feeding a wide variety of foods.
 

I agree about the stress factor and bloat...100%. Therefore I try to not let Bubby get too stressed around meal time for one.  And when she is,,that is when I "up" her probiotics.   In fact when I was on vacation last year..I had my son double the DogZymes each meal.
I also had the Rescue Remedy on hand and told him to use it if he felt she was too stressed.

There is one on the doghealth2 group that raises St. Benards.  I had stumbled into an article about a seminar on bloat at one of the universities in Florida (cant remember which one) and it was stated that there was some evidence that bloat can  "run" in a family.  I had posted this and that lady said she was sure of it.  She had lost a dog several years ago to bloat, and then lost a son of his a few years later.  At the time she thought it was just lightning striking twice.  BUT about a year ago, she lost one HIS son's to bloat and she decided three generations of bloat cropping up had to be more than just "lightning strking three times".
 
I have also read a number of places that dogs should not get physical after eating.  Luckily this is one problem I have never had to deal with, so can only go by what I read.  And there is no set, definate answer, but does appear that it can run in a family.  Just one factor.

Lori, are Chows prone to bloat?  I really didn't think they were but what do I know.
 
Odie is broad chested.  I think I read that broad chested dogs are somewhat more prone to bloat.  If I feed him plain kibble, which I will sometimes do, I do put a little warm water in with it.  If I mix Evangers with it, which I USUALLY do, I don't wet it down.  For breakfast, he gets a spoon full of yogurt with his kibble.  I do not add water, in that case, as he doesn't like his yogurt watered down.

They aren't prone to it per se, but quite a few on my chow board have had chows that have had bloat. 

Any dog can get bloat, it is just some breeds are more prone to it than others.  A vet tech on one of my golden retriever forums said that not long ago (when she posted this post) they had treated a shar pei and that was one of the last breeds that  you would see it in.  And a few months before her Mom had also lost her German Shepherd to it. 

Billy, I've heard DEEP chested but not BROAD chested breeds.
 
I rarely put water on kibble, but when Tyler had an abcessed tooth removed he needed the food soft.  I was impressed to see that Innova doesn't swell up with water, no matter how long it sits.