Can my dog eat only dry food, or is a more natural diet better?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Can dogs live only on dry food ? If yes how our food is good for them and more tasty and their nature from many years was not to eat dry food it was hunting and eating like our food
3 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on September 6th, 2017
Yes, dogs can do very well on dry food only. It isn't that dry food is the most ideal food, simply that for most pet owners, it is the most convenient food to store, and the most affordable. There are some people that choose to feed raw dog food, or even cook all their dogs meals. In general, there are many options, what matters is that our dogs are feed a nutritionally balanced diet. If people choose to prepare their own food for their dogs, they should follow recipes from veterinarians, and not just recipes on blogs. I hope this information answers your question.
6Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on March 20th, 2018
The advantage of the dry dog food is that it is formulated to meet the nutritional demands of a dog if fed appropriately. When you start feeding other food there's a chance that he won't get all the necessary nutrients and may end up with a vitamin or mineral deficiency. Feeding cat food is not necessarily bad for them, but does have a very nutrient profile from dog food. The advantage of the diet your feeding is that there is variety, which may help keep him from having any dietary deficiencies; but no one really knows with a diet this diverse. Below is a link to a good article written by a veterinary nutritionist about home-cooked dog foods. http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/07/should-you-make-your-own-pet-food-at-home/ Dogs will often prefer human food to dog food, but that doesn't necessarily mean that its good for them. It also can cause obesity in dogs, which is the biggest nutritional disorder we see with dogs in the developed world. Dog obesity is a big problem in Australia, which means that the average person thinks a fat dog is at ideal weight; and a dog with an ideal body condition, or a lean body condition is thought to be starving. The truth is that the lean dogs are statistically healthier and live longer than overweight dogs. Below is a link to a body condition scoring guide. This is what veterinarians use when assessing whether a dog is overweight or underweight. We prefer them to be at a BCS of 4 or 5. I recommend scoring his body condition and controlling his diet if he is over a BCS of 5. https://www.wsava.org/sites/default/files/Body%20condition%20score%20chart%20dogs.pdf I hope that helps and all is well with Buzz.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on August 11th, 2018
This debate is an ongoing debate, it's true dry diets are the most recommended diets and their advantages over raw diet is still debatable. regarding amino acids this isn't true, you do find all the amino acids your dog needs in dry diets, heart diseases have not been linked to dry diets either but i am not denying that raw food might very well be better for a pet's health. the main reason for recommending dry diet is because those diet are complete (unlike many raw diets) and safe on the pint of view of infectious diseases (which is not always the case with raw feeding). it's also easier for big companies to make dry food cost effective.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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