Mixed Feeding Wet & Dry Food for Dogs & Puppies
Feeding your dog a balanced and nutritious diet is one of the most important ways to support their health, growth, and longevity. Increasingly, pet nutrition and health experts advocate for the benefits of mixed feeding - combining wet and dry foods - for dogs of all life stages.
This approach brings together the convenience and dental benefits of dry kibble1 with the hydration, palatability, and lower energy density, and increased satiety of wet food, which can be useful for weight control.2 In addition, offering different textures may help prevent food boredom. Mixed feeding not only supports nutritional completeness but also helps maintain a dog’s overall wellbeing, from energetic puppyhood through to their senior years.
Why mix Wet & Dry Foods?
Scientific studies show that incorporating wet food into your dog’s diet can support hydration, enhance palatability, and provide nutrients in a highly digestible form.3 Wet foods are particularly beneficial for dogs that naturally drink less water, for fussy eaters, or for those transitioning to softer textures due to dental changes.4
Wet food also allows for more accurate portion control compared with cup measured dry food,5 and its lower energy density makes it a useful option during weight management periods.
Black Hawk’s wet food range comes in three different textures - loaf, pate, and chunks in broth - adding extra excitement and variety to your dog’s meals. You can further enrich their feeding experience by using food toys or lick mats designed for wet food.
Dry kibble, on the other hand, may support oral health while providing concentrated energy and the convenience of a longer open shelf life.6 By combining wet and dry foods, dog owners can create meals that support hydration, stimulate appetite, offer textural variety, and promote long term dental and nutritional health.
Mixed Feeding for Puppies
Puppies have unique nutritional requirements to support rapid growth, muscle development, and skeletal formation.7 Black Hawk offers a range of wet puppy foods made from real meat, including both 85g and 130g pouches, designed to complement their dry puppy kibble. These meals are crafted to provide high-quality protein and essential amino acids, supporting lean muscle, energy levels, and healthy development.
Recommended mixed feeding guidelines for puppies:
- Small breed puppies: Use 85g pouches of Black Hawk wet puppy food. Reduce daily kibble intake by approximately 25g per pouch.
- Medium to large breed puppies: Use 130g pouches, reducing kibble by around 40g per pouch.
Mixing wet and dry food for puppies ensures complete nutrition, helps develop consistent eating habits, encourages hydration, and introduces varied textures and flavours, which is especially helpful during the weaning transition.
Mixed Feeding for Adult Dogs (up to 7 Years)
As dogs reach adulthood, their nutritional needs shift. Adult dogs benefit from diets that support lean muscle maintenance,7 digestive efficiency, and healthy skin and coat. Wet foods continue to provide additional hydration, palatability, and flavour variety, making mealtimes more enjoyable and encouraging consistent food intake.
For adult dogs, mixed feeding is particularly beneficial for:
- Fussy eaters: The aroma, texture, and richness of wet food make meals more appealing.
- Hydration support: Wet foods help increase fluid intake, particularly in warmer climates or less active dogs.
- Portion control: Wet food is lower in calorie density due to its high moisture content. When combined with dry kibble, you can manage energy intake more precisely, helping maintain ideal body condition.
Black Hawk’s adult grain free and original wet foods are suitable for adult dogs, but for older dogs around 7+ years, we recommend the specially formulated Mature 7+ wet food, designed to meet the unique needs of senior dogs.
For mixed feeding Black Hawk kibble with our Original Adult Wet Food pouches:
For mixed feeding Black Hawk Healthy Benefits Sensitive Skin & Gut kibble with Healthy Benefits Sensitive Skin & Gut wet food pouches:
For mixed feeding Black Hawk kibble with wet grain free trays and cans:
**Where feeding Healthy Benefits Weight Management dry dog food, please remove 110g of kibble per can and 23g of kibble per tray.
Strict weighing of kibble is recommended if you have concerns about your dog’s weight.
Mixed Feeding for Mature & Senior Dogs (from 7+ years)
As dogs age, their nutritional requirements evolve again. Senior dogs may benefit from food that supports joint health, lean muscle maintenance,8 and overall vitality. Black Hawk’s Mature Lamb & Rice wet food is specifically formulated to complement the Mature 7+ dry food range.
Each pouch includes:
- Real lamb: High-quality protein and essential amino acids to support muscle maintenance.
- L-carnitine: Helps preserve lean muscle mass and supports metabolism.
- Glucosamine & chondroitin: Supports joint health and mobility.
- Pumpkin & green peas: Provide fibre for digestive support.
- Algae oil: A source of omega fatty acids for overall wellbeing.
While Adult wet dog foods remain suitable for mature dogs, the Mature 7+ wet food is specifically designed to provide additional joint support, muscle preservation, and nutrient adjustments tailored for older dogs. Mixed feeding allows older dogs to enjoy the hydration, taste, and texture of wet food while still receiving the nutritional benefits of Black Hawk’s dry food formulations.
For mixed feeding Black Hawk Mature 7+ kibble with Original Mature Wet Food pouches:
Practical Tips for Mixed Feeding
- Follow feeding guides: Always start with the feeding instructions on packaging or on our online feeding guide. Wet food’s high moisture content means fewer calories per serving, so portions of dry kibble should be adjusted to maintain ideal body weight.
- Transition gradually: Introduce wet food slowly, mixing small amounts with dry kibble so your dog becomes accustomed to new flavours and textures.
- Ensure balance: Black Hawk wet and dry foods meet AAFCO standards for complete and balanced nutrition so we recommend following the feeding guides on packs or use our feeding calculator for more specific amounts.
- Monitor extras: Treats or table scraps should be limited to approximately 10% of daily calories to prevent overfeeding.
Why Mixed Feeding Works
Mixed feeding is not just about taste - it's about hydration, nutritional balance, and variety. Dogs naturally prefer foods with higher moisture content, and combining wet and dry options can stimulate appetite, provide mental enrichment through texture variation, and encourage healthy hydration habits. Whether feeding a puppy, adult, or senior dog, combining wet and dry foods allows pet parents to deliver meals that are nutritious, enjoyable, and scientifically formulated to meet evolving needs throughout a dog’s life.
References
1. Oba PM, Sieja KM, Keating SCJ, Hristova T, Somrak AJ, Swanson KS. Oral microbiota populations of adult dogs consuming wet or dry foods. J Anim Sci. 2022;100(8):skac200. doi:10.1093/jas/skac200.
2.Yasin S, Awais M, Saleem A, Mobashar M, Ullah Z, Ali U, et al. Dog food: Choosing the right food for your dog. In: Nutritional Foundations of Holistic Health: From Supplements to Feed Strategies. Unique Scientific Publishers; 2025. p. 77–82. doi:10.47278/book.HH/2025.248.
3.olinec M, Bíro D, Gálik B, Šimko M, Juráček M, Tvarožková K, Ištoková A. The nutritive value of selected commercial dry dog foods. Acta Fytotechnica et Zootechnica. 2016;19(1):25-28. doi:10.15414/afz.2016.19.01.25-28.
4.Kim KH, Seo K, Cho HW, Jeon JH, Kim CH, Jung J, Chun JL. Age-related digestibility of nutrients depending on the moisture content in aged dogs. J Anim Sci Technol. 2021;63(6):1355–1361. doi:10.5187/jast.2021.e116.
5.German AJ, Holden SL, Mason SL, Bryner C, Bouldoires C, Morris PJ, Deboise M, Biourge V. Imprecision when using measuring cups to weigh out extruded dry kibbled food. J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2011;95(3):368–373. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0396.2010.01063.x.
6.Gautam A, Govil K, Thakur D, Kumar A, Saini KPS. Scientific dog feeding for good health and its preparation: a review. J Entomol Zool Stud. 2018;6(2):1683–1689.
7. Bąkowski M, Garbiec A, Wojtaś J, Kiczorowska B, Klebaniuk R, Karpiński M. Optimization of dogs’ nutrition – an overview of current research. J Elem. 2024;29(2):517–534. doi:10.5601/jelem.2024.29.1.3244.
8.Stockman J. Nutrition and aging in dogs and cats. In: Wu G, editor. Nutrition and Metabolism of Dogs and Cats. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol. 1446. Cham: Springer; 2024. p. 203–215. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-54192-6_9.
Guidelines to keep your Pet’s Meals Balanced
The first and most important rule of thumb is to ensure that the majority of your pet’s diet is a premium food which respects recognised nutritional guidelines (such as AAFCO).
Meeting AAFCO guidelines means that the food must fulfil specific standards in nutrition, to ensure it contains the right nutrients to support everyday life and activity.
The good news is that Black Hawk dry kibble and the wet tins, trays or pouches all fit the guidelines, and most often exceed the standards when certain nutrients are beneficial to your pet’s health. This means we can mix-and-match wet and dry foods with confidence, and relax as long as about 90% of what they eat is from the range.
The additional 10% of their diet might be those ‘extras’ that we add on the side, to treat, reward, entertain, occupy, stimulate their appetite or as an interaction: to share a bit of a moment with each other.
It’s always good to think about not only the amount of these extras we give, but why we give them. If there’s good reason for giving extras above and beyond their ‘complete and balanced meals’, then know you have many options to choose from, and we should do our best to allocate the additional calories they represent appropriately, so as not to overfeed.
When mix-feeding wet and dry foods, don’t forget to look at the feeding guidelines too.
You can have even greater peace-of-mind that you’re delivering what they need to truly thrive if you follow the tables on the packaging. Weighing things out might be an inconvenience the first couple of times, but it will certainly protect their health and wellbeing in the long run.
If there’s any confusion, be sure to reach out and speak with the makers of the diet, as they should be able to give you an individualised recommendation, and take the guess work out of the decisions of how much to feed.
