The bag promised complete nutrition. The reviews were stellar. Your vet said it was fine. Yet here you are at 2 AM, googling "why is my dog's poop like concrete" while your poor pup strains in the garden for the third time tonight. Or maybe you're watching your dog walk past their bowl for the fourth meal in a row, choosing to nap instead of eat, while that expensive "premium" kibble slowly goes stale.
These aren't isolated incidents. They're your dog's body trying to tell you something important: what's in that bowl might not be working for them. And in the UAE's demanding climate, these signs become even more critical to recognise and address.
Sign #1: Dry, Hard Stools (Or the Opposite Problem)
Watch your dog after meals. Do they rush to the water bowl, gulping desperately? Research shows dogs on dry food need 2.2-2.5 times their food weight in water daily, compared to 0.5-1 times for moisture-rich diets. That's because kibble contains only 8-12% moisture compared to 65-80% in fresh foods.
Now let's talk about poop. Because if you're a dog owner, you're already spending more time thinking about it than you ever imagined you would.
Healthy dog stool should be firm but not hard, segmented, and easy to pick up. Think Play-Doh consistency. But if your dog is eating kibble, their body must pull water from their own tissues just to process it. The result? Stools that look like little rocks, requiring genuine effort to pass.
Those rock-hard stools are not normal and your dog's digestive system has to work overtime to process food that's fundamentally harder to break down. A 2017 study found kibble-fed dogs had lower faecal dry matter (31-36%) but produced 1.5-2.8 times larger stool volumes compared to raw-fed dogs.
Watch for straining, crying during defecation, or producing tiny amounts of liquid that squeeze around the blockage. This isn't just uncomfortable; it can lead to megacolon and require veterinary intervention.
On the flip side, kibble's high carbohydrate content (typically 40-60%) can trigger the opposite problem. Dogs' digestive systems aren't designed for that much starch. The result? Chronic soft stools or full-blown diarrhoea as their gut struggles to process ingredients it wasn't meant to handle.
Sign #2: Excessive Thirst After Meals
Picture this: your dog finishes their kibble and immediately rushes to the water bowl, gulping frantically like they've crossed a desert. This isn't normal eating behaviour; it's desperation.
Also, this isn't just about thirst – it's about your dog's kidneys working overtime. In fact, research showed dogs with chronic kidney disease fed moisture-appropriate diets survived 13 months longer on average than those on standard kibble, with a three-fold reduction in uremic crises.
The bottom-line? When dogs eat dry food, their bodies must supply moisture for digestion by drawing from their own tissues. This creates immediate, intense thirst. You might notice your dog drinking 3-4 times their normal amount after meals, then needing frequent bathroom trips.
In the UAE heat, this becomes particularly dangerous. Your dog is already fighting dehydration from the climate, and kibble makes it worse. The kidneys and liver, already stressed from heat, now work overtime processing concentrated food without adequate moisture.
Chronic low-grade dehydration affects every system: digestion, circulation, joint health, even cognitive function. That "senior slowdown" you're attributing to age might actually be chronic dehydration from years of moisture-deficient food.
Sign #3: Dull Coat, Excessive Shedding, or Flaky Skin (Despite "Complete Nutrition" on the Label)
Your dog's coat is their health report card, and right now it might be failing.
Run your hand through your dog's coat. Does it feel dry, brittle, or lack that healthy shine? While kibble manufacturers add omega fatty acids to their formulas, the high-heat processing (140-165°C) destroys these delicate nutrients. What's listed on the bag isn't what your dog's body can actually use.
Here's the problem: dogs need a balanced ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids – ideally around 5:1. But most commercial kibbles have ratios exceeding 20:1, heavily skewed toward inflammatory omega-6s from corn and grain. The result? Itchy skin, excessive shedding, and that dull, lifeless coat that no amount of brushing improves.
It's your dog's body saying it's not getting what it needs from that "complete and balanced" kibble. When essential fatty acids are missing, you'll notice:
To make matters worse, those minimal omega-3s that survive processing continue degrading in storage. Research analysing over 200 commercial kibbles found many had oxidation levels far exceeding safe ranges. By the time your dog eats it, those "guaranteed" fatty acids may be rancid.
Sign #4: Picky Eating (Or the "My Dog Won't Eat" Drama)
Your dog loved their kibble... until they didn't. Now mealtime is a negotiation. You've tried different brands, added toppers, even hand-fed them. Sound familiar?
Here's the truth: dogs have smell receptors that are 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than ours. They can detect things we can't – the rancid fats in kibble that's been open for weeks, the staleness setting in despite your best storage efforts, the chemical undertones of artificial flavouring.
To compensate for kibble's lack of natural aroma, manufacturers spray "palatability enhancers" on the pellets after processing. These artificial flavours are designed to trick your dog into eating. But your dog knows the difference between real food and chemistry. Plus, once you open that kibble bag, fats begin oxidising rapidly – within 14 days in warm conditions, the already minimal aroma that drives appetite is gone.
The bigger issue? Kibble takes 7-8 hours to fully leave your dog's stomach, compared to 4-6 hours for fresh food. That means your dog might still feel full from breakfast when dinner rolls around. No wonder they're not excited about eating.
Sign #5: The 3 PM Energy Crash and That "Old Before Their Time" Look
Your dog eats breakfast at 7 AM and by mid-afternoon, they're sluggish, uninterested in play, maybe even irritable. This isn't age or laziness; it's blood sugar instability from processed carbohydrates.
Kibble typically contains 40-60% carbohydrates, mostly from corn, wheat, and potatoes. These high-glycaemic ingredients cause blood sugar spikes followed by crashes. Your dog gets a burst of energy post-meal, then plummets into lethargy hours later.
Compare this to fresh food with complex carbohydrates from vegetables and appropriate amounts of protein and fat. These provide steady energy throughout the day, no peaks and valleys, just consistent fuel for activity and metabolism.
The high-heat processing of kibble also reduces protein quality through the Maillard reaction, meaning even the protein that should provide sustained energy isn't fully available to your dog's body.
It's Not About Perfection, It's About Progress
You don't have to throw out the kibble tomorrow and start from scratch. But you do need to acknowledge what your dog is telling you through these signs.
Every day you delay is another day of:
- Unnecessary kidney stress from chronic mild dehydration
- Inflammatory damage from imbalanced fatty acids
- Digestive strain from food that takes 8 hours to process
- Missing out on the vitality your dog could have
Start by documenting reality. Take photos of your dog's coat today. Note their energy at different times. Track how much water they're gulping after meals. This isn't about making you feel guilty, it's about establishing a baseline so you can see the transformation when it happens.
The Band-Aid Phase (Days 1-7)
Add moisture to every kibble meal. Use our Bone Broth topper or even just warm water. This single change can reduce post-meal water consumption by 30% and improve stool quality within days. It's a temporary fix, but it provides immediate relief while you plan bigger changes.
The Bridge Phase (Week 2-3)
Introduce real nutrition alongside the kibble. Our Taster Pack lets you test two recipes for just AED 75. Start with 20% fresh food, 80% kibble. Even this small ratio can reduce cancer risk by 70% according to Purdue University research. Your dog gets variety, better nutrition, and you get to see how they respond to real food.
For dogs showing multiple signs like digestive issues, dull coat, and low energy, our targeted bundles address everything systematically:
The Transformation Phase (Week 4 and beyond)
By now, you'll have seen changes. Maybe it's the shine returning to their coat. The solid, smaller stools. The enthusiasm at mealtime. The sustained energy throughout the day. Let these improvements guide your next steps.
Some dogs thrive on 50/50 kibble and fresh. Others do best on fully fresh diets. The point isn't to follow a rigid formula; it's to find what makes YOUR dog thrive, because they deserve more than surviving on processed pellets. They deserve to thrive on real nutrition.
