whitedobelover, you might want to read up on canine nutrition and review literature by authors not connected to the pet food industry.
if you want a long answer, backed by years of research, read dr. lonsdale's book "raw meaty bones". the ISBN number is 0646396242 and it'll cost you about 20 bucks. since i doubt you'll make that investment, i'll give you a short outline here. i'm basing all this on the condition of both foods in question, dry and wet, being of good quality. there is no doubt that poor quality canned food is just as bad as poor quality dry food.
* dogs teeth are made for ripping, tearing and shredding,
not for chewing. thus, a prolonged chewing process is unnatural and will not clean teeth as well as the pet food industry has you believe. few dogs will even bother to thoroughly chew kibble.
* canned food is less processed than dry food, so less nutrients are destroyed and it is easier to digest for the dog. the natural moisture content also puts less stress on the kidneys.
* the canning process creates a sterile environment, so preservatives are not necessary. vitamins and nutrients are better preserved in a can and don't deteriorate as quickly.
* canned food has a taste dogs like, it does not need a variety of artificial or natural flavoring agents to create a food the dog will actually eat.
* canned food has a lower grain content than dry food. your average kibble contains around 60 to 80% grains. due to this, even the more "middle of the road" canned food varieties offer better nutrition than their dry counterparts. for example, i wouldn't feed my dog any dry food made by nutro, but their natural choice canned food is actually decent. also, grains = carbs, which tend to stick to teeth much worse than canned food.
* coming back to the teeth, due to their shape, they are most efficiently cleaned when the dog eats large chunks of raw meat and bones that he has to work on vigorously - as nature intended. the second best thing to this isn't dry food that sticks to the teeth, but canned food that doesn't stay in the mouth for long but is "wolfed down" fairly quickly, with much less residue on the teeth.
now show me that "science" you were talking about?
