For a new dog owner, hitting the market for your dog food can be daunting. Even more overwhelming, is trying to buy your dog food when traveling. Should you choose to go for canned or dry dog food?

While you can simply choose between the two options, the dog food market offers a wide variety of dog food types from gluten-free, hypoallergenic, to gluten-free dog food.

Even so, it’s of utter importance to carry out in-depth research as to whether to choose from dry or canned food. First, you should understand your dog. Is your dog sensitive to dry food? How old is your dog? Is your dog used to uncanned food?

These and many more questions will help you get a definite decision as to whether to buy canned or dry food. The decision you make will determine if you and your dog will enjoy your travel or not.

This article will give you an in-depth analysis of both canned and dry dog food to help you pick the best choice when traveling with your dog.

Which Pet Food is Best – Wet or Dry?

When it comes down to choosing between dry and canned dog food, it’s quite impossible to determine which is the best. More so is the complication when you are traveling with your dog.

Basically, choosing between the two options boils down to a number of different individual considerations.

Some of the aspects to consider include your desired budget, the availability of the food when traveling, your dog’s health status, and food preference and convenience. 

Even so, when considering between the two options, it’s of utter importance to buy a dog good that is marked “complementary”, ” supplemental feeding” or “intended for short use”. These are the dog foods that come in handy when traveling with your dog.

In the long run, your vet is your best resource to determine the best type of food for your dog. Your vet will advise you on your dog’s current nutritional and health status and the most viable food to pick in regards to the age, activity level, breed, and sex of your dog.

Canned Dog Food: Pros and cons

Pros

Unlike dry foods, a vast majority of canned dog foods are packaged with water. Water is essential for a dog’s overall health. Apart from that, having water on the food tends to increase the food’s portability, making it easy and alluring for the dog to chew.

When choosing canned dog food, ensure to pick a brand with the most amount of water. This guarantees that your dog will not only enjoy its meal while travelling, but your dog will always be healthy.

Due to the fact that canned dog foods are easier to chew, you may consider licking it, especially if your dog is a senior.

Additionally, if your dog is more reluctant to drink water, canned food may come handy.

Cons

While canned dog food has many pros, one of the biggest disadvantages is that it requires a comprehensive storage handling technique. This is because once you open a can, it quickly spoils if not stored in a refrigerator.

Also, since canned food contains a lot of water, it tends to be heavier. This can add additional, unwanted weight on you when traveling.

Dry Dog Food: Pros and Cons

Pros

The best thing about dry dog foods is that they can be bought in bulk. The Wellness Core Duck Canned Food is one such dog food product. It is even more appealing if you are traveling.

Unlike canned dog foods, dry dog foods can last for a significant amount of time. This means that you won’t need to carry a refrigerator with you while traveling.

While canned dog foods are soft and easy to chew, dry dog foods are solid. Unless your dog is a senior with dental problems, solid dry foods have immense dental hygiene benefits to your dog.

This is because a wide array of dry dog foods have been designed to clean your dog’s teeth when chewing.

Additionally, experts suggest that dry dog food of a higher quality tends to have a higher protein count per unit as compared to canned foods. So, you can easily feed your dog a lesser amount of food with a higher protein-calorie count when traveling.

Cons

As much as dry dog foods can last for longer periods of time, they still require ample storage. This is to ensure that the food maintains all its flavor and general viability.

When traveling, you should always ensure to store dry dog food in airtight storage devices that can easily keep both air and moisture away.