Should Golden Retrievers Eat Wet Food?

There are many different forms of food that you can feed to your Golden Retriever. 

There is wet food, dry kibble, frozen and freeze-dried food.

Trying to figure out what you should feed your Golden Retriever should not be hard if you consider these different things. 

Should you feed Golden Retrievers wet food?

Feeding a Golden Retriever wet food is not needed unless your dog is sick or has an underlying health issue. As long as you are using high-quality dog food, there is no benefit to feeding a normal, healthy Golden Retriever wet dog food instead of dry dog food

If your dog is a picky eater, feeding them wet will on top of their dry kibble will help entice them to eat their food right away. 

When your dog is sick, your vet may also recommend that you feed your dog wet food for a few days this will help them want to eat their food and help

Why is dry dog food more often given to Golden Retrievers?

There is no better food to feed your dog but these are some reasons why most people prefer to feed their Golden Retriever dry dog food over wet food. 

Easier to store

Dry kibble is easier to store. This is one of the main reasons that most people feed their dogs dry food. 

Your average Golden Retriever will eat a large bag of dog food every few weeks. 

This can easily be picked up and carried from the pet store to your car, then to your house. 

If your Golden Retriever only eats canned food, you will have to carry multiple cans, which can be bulky and harder to move around. 

Cheaper

Dry kibble is often a cheaper way to feed your Golden Retriever.  

Your Golden Retriever will need to eat about 5 to 6 cans of food a day. 

The average price of a can of dog food is $2 to $5. This could mean that it would cost you $20 to $25 a day to feed your Golden Retriever. 

A large bag of dry dog food costs around $50, and this bag will last your dog for at least a week if not longer. 

This makes dry dog food a much more cost-effective way to feed your dog. 

Dry food is better for your dog’s teeth

Wet food can cause more tartar and plaque to build up on your dog’s teeth. 

Dry dog food will help decrease the amount of tartar build-up on your Golden Retriever’s teeth.

How much wet food should a Golden Retriever eat?

If you want to feed your Golden Retriever only wet food, they will need to eat about 10 ounces per 10 pounds. 

So a 50-pound dog would need to eat 50 oz of food a day. This should be split between two feedings. 

Most dog food cans are about 10 ounces, so your Golden Retriever would need to eat about 5 cans of food a day. 

Most people who want to feed canned food to their Golden Retriever will mix the canned food with their dry food.

If you want to mix the foods, decrease the dry food by ½ of a cup per feeding and add about 1/4^th of a can to the food to your dog’s food. 

It is best to fully mix this with the dry kibble since some dogs will just eat the wet food on the top of their kibble leaving the rest of the dry kibble. 

Is it bad to feed your dog wet food every day?

It is not a bad diet to feed your Golden Retriever. Many wet foods are made with high-quality proteins and contain all the nutrients to meet your dog’s daily requirements. 

There are a few reasons that your Golden Retriever needs to eat a wet food diet such as: 

• They have kidney issues: Most dogs with kidney disease can benefit from a wet food diet. This diet will help increase their water intake and help their kidneys function a little better. Most prescription kidney diets come in a wet form to help increase the moisture in your dog’s diet. 
• They have dental or gum disease: As dogs get older they can lose teeth or have dental disease or gum issues making it harder for them to chew hard kibble. If your Golden Retriever had just had a dental cleaning, they may want to eat wet food for a few days until inflammation and pain in their gums go away. 
• They are sick and not wanting to eat: If your dog is sick and not wanting to eat, wet food can help entice their appetite and make them want to eat their food. Many dogs see canned food as a treat and even when they are sick will eat this food. Canned food can even be syringe fed to a dog who is not willing to eat on their own helping them recover quicker from any illness. 

What else can you do to help entice your dog to eat?

There are many different things that you can try if your dog does not want to eat. 

These are just a few things you can add to your dog food to help entice them to eat.

• Human food: Boiled chicken, white rice, and scrambled egg can be safely fed to your dog if they do not want to eat.
• Meal toppers: Many different dog food companies make a meal topper. This is usually a soft or wet type of food to make your dog want to eat their food. 
• Adding warm water: If you add a little bit of warm water to your dog’s kibble, it will make them want to eat their food a little more. This will create a gravy-like consistency on top of your food and the warm water will give them a warm diet to eat. 

Final Thoughts

Wet food may not be a feasible diet to feed your Golden Retriever as the only source each day due to the cost of the food but wet food can be a great diet if your dog is suffering from an illness. 

If you have a picky eater, adding a small amount of wet food to their kibble can help entice them to eat their dry kibble.