The Role of Hydration in Your Dog’s Diet: How Raw Dog Food Helps

18 August 2025
4 min read

While we’re reaching the tail-end of summer now, we are still enjoying some pretty warm days. While as much as we all enjoy the longer daylight hours, anything above 20 degrees can feel hot for your dog, especially if your pooch has a thick coat!

Importance of Moisture in Food

In the wild, animals get most of their daily moisture from eating prey. Depending on the species, the meat and organs of the prey are typically made up of around 60–75% water. For dogs’ wild ancestors, this high water content naturally helped prevent dehydration, avoiding knock-on health issues such as kidney problems, digestive troubles, and more.

Let’s take a closer look at why adequate moisture content is so important.

Improved Digestion

Hydration plays a vital role in healthy digestion. Adequate water intake helps the body absorb nutrients and produce firm, well-formed stools. Without enough moisture in their diet, dogs can experience stomach discomfort and constipation.

When your dog is properly hydrated, you should see consistent, firm, medium-brown stools that are easy to pick up. This is one of the clearest signs their digestive system is working exactly as it should.

Weight Management

While water doesn’t count to any extra calories, it can create a feeling of fullness. Animals can have mistaken signals of feeling hungry when dehydrated. Moreover, a high moisture content meal supports weight management through helping them feel full and satisfied quicker.

A Shinier Coat

Moving on, sufficient moisture content doesn’t just support your dog from the inside. Being well hydrated helps restore essential vitamins and oils to your dog’s coat, making their fur softer, shinier, and healthier-looking.

The Problem with Dried Dog Foods

As mentioned, dogs in the wild naturally get 60–75% moisture from their prey—providing all the hydration their bodies need. In comparison, most dry dog foods contain only around 10% moisture.

This is because these small brown biscuits go through extreme cooking processes that remove much of the natural nutrition and water content. Combined with high carbohydrate levels, this lack of moisture can increase the risk of dehydration, digestive issues, and kidney problems, especially in warmer weather.

Why Raw Food?

At Rude Dog Food, we follow the principles of a species-appropriate diet. Our meals are made from high-quality, fresh ingredients, including meat, offal, bone, and a small percentage of fruit and vegetables.

Transparency is also one of our core values. Every recipe comes with a full ingredient list and nutritional breakdown, including the exact moisture content. While the levels do vary slightly by meal, they all land within the range of what dogs would naturally be consuming from their prey in the wild.

Because our raw meals provide natural hydration, you may notice your dog drinks less water compared to when they eat dry food.

Further Signs Of Dehydration

As dog parents, we tend to be pretty good at picking up visible signs of dehydration in our dogs. However, some signs are less obvious than others.

One of the most well-recognised signs that a dog is dehydrated is through excessive panting. Dehydration causes oxygen circulation to be less effective; panting helps to increase oxygen intake.

Another way you can examine for signs of dehydration is by checking the colour of their gums.

Their gums should be pink. If they’re looking pale and dry, that is a big indicator that they’re not receiving enough water intake. Similarly, dogs’ noses should be relatively moist, not dry.

Lastly, there are some behavioural signs to look out for, such as lethargy and loss of appetite. You know what is and isn’t normal for your dog. If they seem more sluggish and sleepy compared to normal, or they aren’t getting excited over their food, these can be signs that they are dehydrated and are in need of a meal which is higher in moisture content.

Key Takeaway

If you’ve ever thought that a meal with 60–75% moisture meant poor quality, hopefully this has shown just how essential moisture content is for meeting your dog’s hydration needs and supporting overall health.

If you’re considering making the switch from kibble to Rude Dog Food’s raw meals, head over to our shop page. Not sure how much your dog needs per day? Check out our feeding guide, and if you have any questions, one of our friendly team is always happy to help.