You can feed Loyal Saints straight from the bag. It is complete and balanced as it is, plenty of dogs prefer the texture dry, and nothing about the nutrition depends on adding water.
But there are four specific situations where the thirty seconds is worth it.
1. A dog who does not drink enough
Dogs eating dry diets often run at the low end of hydration and do not reliably make it up at the bowl. Rehydrating the food is the simplest way to move water into a dog who will not drink it voluntarily.
This matters most for older dogs, for dogs with any history of urinary trouble, and in winter, when thirst drops but the air is drier. If you have ever been told to get more water into your dog, this is the easiest lever there is.
2. Transitioning a suspicious eater
Warm water releases aroma, and aroma is most of what a dog uses to decide whether something counts as food. For a picky dog, or one moving off a heavily flavoured kibble with palatants sprayed on the outside, rehydrating for the first week makes the new food smell far more like a meal.
Most dogs that need this only need it for a few days. You can taper the water off once they are eating readily.
3. A dog who eats too fast
Rehydrated food occupies more room in the bowl and takes longer to get through. For a gulper, that is a slow-feeder bowl's worth of benefit without buying anything.
4. Mixing into an existing bowl
If you are feeding as a quarter of the bowl alongside kibble, rehydrating the Loyal Saints portion first helps it coat and cling to the rest rather than sifting to the bottom. Dogs that pick around a topper usually stop when it is no longer separable.
How to do it
Roughly equal parts warm water to food by volume. Stir, then leave it three to five minutes. Add a little more water if it still looks dry — the exact ratio is not critical and different pieces absorb at different rates.
Warm, not hot. The entire point of freeze-drying is that this food has never been cooked. Boiling water starts undoing that. Comfortable to the touch is right.
Measure the food dry. The feeding chart is calculated on dry volume, so measure first and add water after. Rehydrating does not change how much to feed or how many calories are in it — you are adding water, not food.
What not to do
Do not rehydrate more than you are about to serve.
Once the water is back in, it is raw meat again and it needs to be treated exactly like raw meat: refrigerate any leftovers, use them within a day, and wash the bowl. The only reason the dry bag is shelf-stable is that the water is not in it. Putting the water back also puts back the conditions bacteria need.
Do not leave a rehydrated bowl down all day for a grazer. If your dog grazes, feed that dog dry.
Common questions
Does rehydrating change the nutrition?
No. You are adding water. Protein, fat and micronutrients are unchanged, and so is the calorie count of the portion.
Can I use broth instead of water?
Plain unsalted broth with no onion or garlic is fine and can help a fussy dog. Most supermarket broths contain both onion and a lot of sodium, so read the label — onion and garlic are toxic to dogs.
How long does it keep once rehydrated?
Refrigerated, up to about 24 hours. Treat it as you would raw meat, because that is what it is.
Is dry or rehydrated better for teeth?
Neither does much for dental health, despite what is often claimed about dry food. Brushing and appropriate chews do the work.
My dog prefers it dry. Is that a problem?
Not at all, provided they are drinking normally. Feed it the way your dog will actually eat it.
