i soak my pups food, i have a Great Dane. Shes 4months old now. Right now she likes it because shes losing her baby teeth, and its easier for her to eat. But I also do it to avoid bloat. I mix her food with the same brand of canned food, not a lot of the canned, just about a spoonfull to make it more enticing. i dont think theres a specific amount of time to soak it.. i just put the dry and wet together early so that its ready when shes hungry, then when i give it to her i put in the canned food and kind of mash it all up together, and add a little more water. thats all... she seems to really like it that way. but due to her HOD she has to eat small meals every 4 hours and she has to have a certain amount of calories a day to put on weight but not speed up her bone growth and blah blah blah.. yeah its complicated. but thats what i do! really, the decision is up to you, but i favor soaking so that they dont slurp up so much water after eating and make the food expand then...