Well, that depends on a couple of factors such as: frequency, quality, and dog’s sensitivity to wet food to name a few.
Alex will be 11 years old in May of this year and I’ve noticed that the older she got the more flavor she seemed to want in her food so I ended up buying wet food and mixing it with her dry food. How often? Everyday, but, and this part is important, the amount I use is 1 tablespoon that is why once I open the can I freeze it. Why only 1 tablespoon? Because if I give her more than that, she farts so bad that I have to walk out of the room.
There is a great variety of wet food out there, so you need to be careful and not buy wet food just because that particular brand is cheap. Alex loves the above brand, Evanger‘s, and she inhales her food, dry kibble and wet food, and eats fast. Alex usually eats slowly. Sometimes it makes me think that she is asking for permission to eat from some unknown being. Therefore, when she eats fast is because she is really enjoying the food.
You need to pay close attention to the ingredients in wet food. Duck is the first ingredient in this particular brand and no by-products.
The above brand, Nature‘s Recipe, is Alex’s second choice. Again, I only mix 1 tablespoon with her dry food once a day.
Lamb is the second ingredient and I don’t see any by-products. Before you start feeding your dog wet food, make sure that you only add a small portion of it to her dry food. Consult your vet if she has any allergies or sensitive stomach before feeding her wet food.
My girlfriend, Cynthia, went to the supermarket and bought me this brand since she knows that I add wet food to Alex’s food. Yes, I know, she had the best of intentions, and I am glad and grateful that she remembered Alex, but I cannot feed her this. You are probably thinking, “ungrateful person.” Forgive me but Alex’s food needs to be one of good quality if not best quality. I know, I am picky. She told me that. That was a while ago and I don’t plan to use it but rather dispose of it.
The first time I see the word meat is where it says, “meat by-products.” Alex is a pretty healthy dog even now that she is almost 11 years old and I believe that a lot of it has to do with her diet and excercise.
Alex seems to enjoy the mix of dry food, wet food, and my cooking. My girl loves and enjoys variety. Whatever you decide to feed your dog is really up to you. I am not trying to change anybody’s mind, but rather share my experiences, concerns, and perhaps get other pet parents to give me some feedback.
AllMyCanineCompanions 
We do what you do for our dogs too, it is important to make it taste good for them too. We have always had dogs live to be 10 up to 13. They were always happy, healthy and hungry – with good appetites!! 😉
we make our own dog food and add it to dry food, we use ground beef, peas or carrots and rice, with this we add to the dry food. we freeze in small baggies and take it out as needed. by making it our selfs we can regulate what is in it. great article
Thanks. Wow! I am glad I wrote about it because I’ve got a few ideas from other pet parents. Great recipe. I’ll be adding it to my list. One question though, do you use white rice or brown rice? When I cook for her, I also freeze some of the food just like you do:)
Dudley loved Evangers, I still have a few cans left. I started buying that when he had that abscessed tooth. Dudley had allergies that affected his skin. Once I started feeding him food with limited ingredients, he didn’t have any more skin issues. Quality food cost more, but you save the money on vet bills in the end.
Correct. That is one thing I point out to pet parents when they want to go with the cheap brand.
When I came here ten years ago I was told to mix wet (canned) food and dry food. The first guard dog was already here when I moved here. He had no problems with the mixture but yes, I’ve heard that some dogs can get digestion problems if you mix. During the ten years only one of “my” dogs had real digestion problems. I changed his diet and gave only dry food to him. He was the result of accidental inbred though (not our result) and was a bit strange. He moved back to his former home after half a year. And one dog was farting. I tried barfing because of that farting dog, but the results were attacks on our sheep. And thus I returned to mixing. The three dogs I have now get along well with mixing.
I am glad your 3 dogs do well with the food you mix. After pet sitting for a lot of dogs, I’ve realized that it depends on the dog. I had one dog that once the mom stopped feeding him kibble and wet food his allergies went from 100% to 10%. When she brings him over to stay with us, she leaves kibble and human food for me to give to him. He is one happy doggie. Now, about the farting. Most dogs, not all, do fart really bad if you add a lot of wet food, now for me a lot of wet food is anything more than 1 tablespoon. Then, we have those dogs that do not have any problems at all, like your babies. It just depends:) Have a great day.
I’m not a fan of wet or canned food. But as our fox terrier was 10+ our vet suggested to give him special wet senior-food. We were sceptical but we tried it and everything was going perfectly, specially the weight-problem was solved with the wet food.
I am glad. I was not a fan of wet or canned food, but since my picky daughter, Alex, likes a little extra taste in her kibble I had to do it, but what she gets is very little. Also, think quality, quality, quality:)
My older dog started eating better once we got the younger one. He found out that if he didn’t eat it, she would sneak over and steal it for herself. So he would rather eat it than see her get it! There is one in the refrigerated dog food section that I buy to mix into the dry kibble. They go crazy for it!
You know what? It’s interesting what you said about your dog eating better once you introduced a younger one to the pack. Alex seems to eat better when I am pet sitting another dog. It may be that she does not want the other dog to eat her food. Wow! I think you just solved one of the many mysteries of my daughter:)
Yes, they love wet food.
If I had to eat kibble every day, I would welcome the change in taste and texture too!
Just call me Sherlock!
Lol. You are right. I would not want to eat the same food every single day. Thanks Sherlock:)