{"id":44117,"date":"2026-02-24T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/?p=44117"},"modified":"2026-03-24T20:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T20:42:12","slug":"new-studies-from-the-farmers-dog-reveal-hydration-advantages-in-fresh-human-grade-dog-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/new-studies-from-the-farmers-dog-reveal-hydration-advantages-in-fresh-human-grade-dog-food\/","title":{"rendered":"New Studies From The Farmer\u2019s Dog Reveal Hydration Advantages in Fresh, Human-Grade Dog Food"},"content":{"rendered":"<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><p><strong>In this article:<\/strong><\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#why-does-hydration-from-dog-food-matter\">Why does hydration from dog food matter?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#the-farmer-s-dog-is-clinically-shown-to-hydrate-more-than-dry-food\">The Farmer&rsquo;s Dog is clinically shown to help dogs stay more hydrated than traditional dry food<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#the-farmer-s-dog-may-benefit-urinary-health-in-dogs\">The Farmer&rsquo;s Dog may benefit urinary health in dogs<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"><div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div><p><em>This article was originally published in November of 2025, and has been updated with a video.<\/em><\/p><p>For humans and dogs, water&rsquo;s importance can&rsquo;t be overstated. And drinking isn&rsquo;t the only way for dogs to get water&mdash;a fresh diet can also provide significant hydration.&nbsp;<\/p><p>And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/journals\/veterinary-science\/articles\/10.3389\/fvets.2025.1675990\/abstract\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new peer-reviewed research<\/a> published on November 6 in the journal <em>Frontiers in Veterinary Research<\/em> demonstrates that dogs eating fresh, human-grade food take in more water than those eating dry kibble, even when kibble-fed dogs lap up water all day long. The findings are among the first to directly measure dogs&rsquo; water intake from fresh food.<\/p><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"why-does-hydration-from-dog-food-matter\"><strong>Why does hydration from dog food matter?<\/strong><\/h4><p>To advance scientific understanding of how diet contributes to dogs&rsquo; overall hydration, The Farmer&rsquo;s Dog conducted a series of studies, each involving 10 healthy dogs. One study compared total water intake in dogs who ate a fresh-food diet to those who ate dry food, while another assessed how the same fresh food impacted the potential for urinary stone formation.<\/p><div class=\"responsive-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pTO4iCaIQSc?si=VgcZjTOhnvVgdG4N\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-farmer-s-dog-is-clinically-shown-to-hydrate-more-than-dry-food\"><strong>The Farmer&rsquo;s Dog is clinically shown to hydrate more than dry food<\/strong><\/h4><p>The results: Dogs who ate fresh food consumed more water overall than those who ate kibble. The dogs who ate fresh food consumed 20% more total water than dogs in the kibble group despite drinking less from their bowls.&nbsp;<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"630\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-1024x630.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-44133\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-1024x630.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-768x472.png 768w, https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image.png 1164w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dogs consuming the fresh-food diet consumed significantly more total water daily on average (+88 grams) with 71.8% water intake from food. Courtesy Ryan Yamka.<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>&ldquo;These are the first ever datasets we have that quantify the total water intake from fresh food&mdash;which is important research to better understand fresh feeding and its implications on urinary tract health and well being,&rdquo; said Dr. Joseph Wakshlag, DVM, Ph.D., Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Nutrition), ACVSMR, one of the Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionists<sup>&#9415;<\/sup> who was involved in the study. &ldquo;The average dog in the common household is a reactive drinker rather than a proactive drinker&mdash;meaning they must reach a mild level of dehydration before they have a thirst response. This research shows that feeding a fresh food is a moisture-rich, proactive way to support hydration.&rdquo;<\/p><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-farmer-s-dog-may-benefit-urinary-health-in-dogs\"><strong>The Farmer&rsquo;s Dog may benefit urinary health in dogs<\/strong><\/h4><p>As supporting data, researchers also published the results from an existing study of urinary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/why-the-farmers-dog-does-relative-supersaturation-rss-testing-on-all-of-its-ready-to-eat-recipes-and-why-it-matters-for-dogs-urinary-health\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">relative supersaturation (RSS)<\/a> in dogs fed one of The Farmer&rsquo;s Dog&rsquo;s recipes. RSS studies are often done to help evaluate the risk of urinary stone formation in healthy dogs, by analyzing if the values fall into desired, targeted zones. The study showed RSS values consistent with the targeted undersaturated zone for struvite stones. Calcium oxalate stone formation was in the lower end of the targeted metastable zone.&nbsp;<\/p><p>The research shows that feeding fresh, human-grade food&mdash;compared to feeding kibble&mdash;increases total water intake, supports hydration, and may benefit urinary health in dogs.&nbsp;Taken together, the studies offer scientific support for a notion that many veterinarians consider common sense. &ldquo;The results confirm what many of us in the veterinary community have long suspected: Moisture in food directly impacts overall daily hydration in dogs,&rdquo; Dr. Wakshlag said.<\/p><p><em>Are you a veterinary professional? Sign up for our <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/vets.thefarmersdog.com\/signup?utm_source=UTdigest&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_content=portal&amp;utm_term=vet&amp;utm_campaign=2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Vet Pro Portal <\/em><\/a><em>to get RSS information about each of our recipes, complete nutritional profiles, exclusive discounts, and more.<\/em><br><\/p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n\n{\n    \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n    \"@type\": \"FAQPage\",\n    \"mainEntity\": [\n      {\n        \"@type\": \"Question\",\n        \"name\": \"Why is hydration from dog food important?\",\n        \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n          \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n          \"text\": \"Hydration is crucial for both humans and dogs, and fresh diets can provide a significant source of water for dogs, complementing drinking water.\"\n        }\n      },\n      {\n        \"@type\": \"Question\",\n        \"name\": \"Does fresh dog food hydrate dogs more than dry food?\",\n        \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n          \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n          \"text\": \"Yes, new peer-reviewed research shows that dogs eating fresh, human-grade food consume 20% more total water than dogs eating dry kibble, even if the kibble-fed dogs drink more water from their bowls. Fresh food provides a moisture-rich, proactive way to support hydration.\"\n        }\n      },\n      {\n        \"@type\": \"Question\",\n        \"name\": \"Can The Farmer's Dog food benefit a dog's urinary health?\",\n        \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n          \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n          \"text\": \"Studies indicate that feeding The Farmer's Dog's recipes may benefit urinary health. The research showed RSS values consistent with the targeted undersaturated zone for struvite stones and values in the lower end of the targeted metastable zone for calcium oxalate stones.\"\n        }\n      },\n      {\n        \"@type\": \"Question\",\n        \"name\": \"How much water intake comes from fresh food for dogs?\",\n        \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n          \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n          \"text\": \"In one study, dogs consuming the fresh-food diet had 71.8% of their total water intake coming directly from the food.\"\n        }\n      },\n      {\n        \"@type\": \"Question\",\n        \"name\": \"Does fresh dog food help dogs hydrate proactively?\",\n        \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n          \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n          \"text\": \"Yes, feeding a fresh food diet is a moisture-rich, proactive way to support hydration in dogs, as many dogs are reactive drinkers who only drink when they reach a mild state of dehydration.\"\n        }\n      }\n    ]\n}\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dogs on fresh food drink less, but get more water. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":44187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[416,418],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-wellness","category-science-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44117"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45726,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44117\/revisions\/45726"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}