Best Canned Dog Food to Offer Your Pup Plenty of Variety

Your dog has never missed a meal. Usually, they dive head-first into their bowl without hesitation. But today, they don’t seem as interested. And it isn’t due to an illness. That kibble simply doesn’t seem as appealing to them as it has in the past. They need to eat so they can run around as usual. You don’t want to reach for treats that may go heavy on the calories or salt, though. Instead, you can try adding in canned dog food to spark their interest. Wet food is often all you need to rekindle your pup’s love affair with their food.

Dog Diets

Some canines will eat anything you put in front of them – no questions asked. Others have a more delicate palate, turning up their nose at every diet you bring home. (Maybe they learned the habit from cats in the house) And then you’ll find shades of gray that cover options in between.

As long as you’re meeting the proper nutritional balance, there’s no WRONG way to feed your dog. And plenty of owners choose to combine dry and canned dog foods to keep their furry friends happy.

Canned foods cost more, on average, due to the packaging process. But they’re lower in fat. For dogs with a few extra pounds, that’s important. However, they may have more protein than your dog needs. And while “high protein” sounds impressive, it’s not actually safe – particularly in adult dogs. (Puppies get away with it as they’re still growing) It’s a careful balance of deciding what nutrients your dog needs, what they’ll eat, AND what protects their health.

Pros and Cons of Canned Dog Food

Dogs usually LOVE canned dog food. It has a stronger smell that attracts their noses. And with a wider variety of textures than you find with kibble, they can’t wait to dive in. For picky eaters, that irresistibility is key. And while plenty of people feed strictly canned dog food, it’s important to look at both sides of the coin.

Pros of Canned Dog Food

Hydration is key to keeping your dog healthy. You already make sure they have fresh, clean water available at all times. But canned dog foods are PACKED with moisture. This means your dog will stay hydrated, courtesy of their regular meals. And if you sneak some extra water in to make more gravy? You’re golden.

You’ll also find fewer fillers in wet food. They simply aren’t needed the way they are in kibbles. That means quality carbohydrates your dog can turn into energy. And the fiber choices rank higher on the nutrition scale. You’re less likely to spot corn on the ingredient label than you will with dry food.

Cons of Canned Dog Food

Unfortunately, the fresher aspect of that canned dog food means you can’t keep it in a storage container on the shelf for weeks at a time. Once you pop the top, you have a maximum of SEVENTY-TWO hours before you need to throw any remaining portion in the trash. And, between scooping portions, you should seal the can and store it in the refrigerator to prevent spoilage.

And while the wet food sits out, it DRIES out. Dogs may not want to eat it as it loses that moisture to evaporation.

People like canned dog foods as the meats and vegetables remain in their “true” form. However, they’re soft diets. And they WON’T scrape your dog’s teeth the way kibble does. This can lead to severe dental problems. You’ll need to step up your toothbrushing to compensate.

Types of Canned Dog Food

Originally, canned dog food came in one form: a loaf of pate. Now, you’ll find plenty of texture varieties that cater to the interests of every pup:

• Chunks: Large pieces of meat swim in broth, gravy, or jelly. And this canned dog food has the highest water content – and the lowest calories.
• Ground: Like the ground meats you’d make into burgers, this wet food has a soft, meaty texture. There’s not as much gravy, so you get higher calories.
• Minced: These canned dog foods look like strands of meat in gravy. The water content is a little shy of the chunk diets.
• Pate: You can still find the old stand-by of the loaf of wet food. It holds its shape out of the can and doesn’t have much water.
• Stew: One of the newest canned dog foods, you can pick out and recognize individual meat chunks and veggies in the gravy. Calories go up due to the addition of the extra ingredients.

No one type is better than another. You’ll need to figure out what your dog likes. And it’s okay to change the texture. Plenty of dog food brands make more than one variety.

Choosing a Canned Dog Food

With all of the dog food choices that exist on the shelves, you’ll find at least that many canned dog foods. And trying to pick one can get tricky. Those ingredient labels are even SMALLER and more challenging to read. You may need to start your research online to read the information clearly and find the nutrition breakdown you need to make an informed decision. Because you want to look for these important features:

• Meat: The first ingredient should be the meat, not a by-product. Now, there’s an exception with canned dog foods. Often, WATER comes first. This doesn’t make the food bad. Simply check what comes next and make sure it’s the meat the food’s supposed to contain.
• Carbohydrates: Rice often shows up as the carb of choice. And that’s a good choice. So are other whole grains.
• Vegetables: Stews, in particular, like to throw in veggies. And considering many are superfoods, you can’t go wrong. Just make sure they’re not dominating the diet. This means they shouldn’t appear in the first three ingredients.
• Fillers: This is one of the few times you won’t hear me tell you to avoid grain-free diets (to a certain extent). And that’s because most canned dog foods skip those pesky fillers of potatoes and legumes in the first place. However, you still don’t want to see excess fillers like corn or soy.
• Additives: Canned dog foods don’t need artificial colors any more than kibbles do. You shouldn’t see anything other than meat, carbs, vitamins, and minerals.

The Best Canned Dog Foods

Dogs – like cats or even humans – can grow tired of the same diet over and over every day. You don’t want to compromise their health by introducing table food or increasing their snacks, though. Instead, you can start offering canned dog food. Your pup will get the same nutrition they will with their kibble in a new fun texture and smell they’ll enjoy. You may want to consider keeping that dry food on hand, though. Wet diets aren’t perfect. And you never know when your little canine may change their mind AGAIN.

Our Greyhound loved having wet food mixed with her kibble. Then, out of the blue, she stopped finishing her bowl. When we took out the canned dog food (which was the same brand as the dry), she happily devoured her meals again. Dogs can get every bit as picky as cats.