Giving Your Dog a Pill Should be Easy and Fun. Here’s how

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

Giving Your Dog a Pill Should be Easy and Fun. Here’s how

January 10, 2008 by dianeschuller

Giving pills to my dogs is a breeze and they love it! No kidding. These three are lined up anxiously waiting their turn to get their pill. It should not be necessary with any dog to fight with them or force a pill down their throat.

Only one of the dogs is really getting a pill but all three think, and are, getting a yummy treat. Our Springer Spaniel is hypothyroid so getting her daily thyrotabs needs to be done with the other two canine family members right there. They get blanks! Blanks are exactly the same thing the Springer gets except theirs has no pill embedded. Here’s how we do it.

We usually use liverwurst (it’s a soft pliable type of sausage found in nearly all supermarkets where the luncheon meat is sold). You can also use cream cheese but, since too much of it can cause diarrhea, it’s best to use cream cheese sparingly.

With a spoon or knife take out a small portion of the sausage, enough to completely surround whatever size pill you may be giving. Place the pill in the centre and gently push it down into the liverwurst. Then gently squeeze the meat on the sides so you can cover the exposed part of the pill. Now it’s ready to be given as a treat.

If your dog is used to being forced with pills or is suspicious, there is one more thing you can do to be sure he takes it. This should only be necessary to do once or twice until he figures out he’s getting a treat and not a pill {wink}. Take out another piece of the sausage with your spoon and have it ready with the other piece that has the pill embedded. Now, have your dog sit or do something that you would normally make him do to get a treat. You should also be cheery at this point. The minute he responds, you need to be ready to give the ‘embedded’ treat and when he takes it, offer the other one as well. That way, he’ll quickly swallow the first one (with the pill) so he can get a second treat. Presto! It’s as easy as that.

If you make giving a pill a treat instead of a fight, your dogs too will look forward to and will line up at pill time (like my gang does). Easy Peasy!

Posted in Dog Care, Dog Health Problems, Dogs General | Tagged Alberta dog expert, canine, dog, Dog Care, dog health, dogs, how to, pets | 10 Comments

10 Responses

on January 10, 2008 at 5:28 pm | Reply 4urpets

I use cheese to trick my dogs. Of course, my fat dog, Sissy would probably eat the pill all by itself. She will eat anything. A few days ago, I clipped all three of my dogs nails, and where was Sissy? She was on the floor, eating the nail clippings.

You have some nice doggys. Come by and visit my blog.
on January 10, 2008 at 11:25 pm | Reply hipposkin

thanks for the insight! do you have pet insurance?
i’m adopting a dog and wonder if i should invest there.
thanks for your help!

grizzwhitchick.wordpress.com
on January 13, 2008 at 2:18 pm | Reply Mercedes

Patch loves to take pills or should I say getting bread or cheese. When I open the cabinet to take my pills and he hears my bottles rattling he comes running. I have to tell him these are my pills.

Of course~he is on meds now for the rest of his life. He did have some trouble about two weeks ago~when we put a pill in bread, so we went back to the cheese.

Thanks for all of your helpful info~still gotta write that post about you here!

WOOF!
p.s. Patch has improved tremendously~post is on my blog.
on January 13, 2008 at 2:20 pm | Reply Mercedes

Oh ya~to make sure he gets the pill down I just place my hand under his chin to hold his chin/head up and rub his throat downwards with my other hand. I have always done this and probably don’t have to anymore, but it’s habit now.
on January 19, 2008 at 5:55 pm | Reply Kim

Hi Diane,
I’m happy to say that I finally made it to our blog and my computer likes it! I do too. I’m on my way out the door right now, but I’m so happy that I’m finally able to get into your blog. I will be back!

Kim:)
on January 19, 2008 at 5:57 pm | Reply Kim

Oh! It’s me, cherry red from Blogger (http://todaysbeautifulthing.blogspot.com/) I didn’t realize you were on WordPress now, so you’ll be seeing a different userpic than on Blogger. The cartoon pic and the real pic above are the same person.
on January 21, 2008 at 2:59 am | Reply Kim

Great tips. We used to put our Akita’s pills into a small chunk of hot dog. Now, our Olde English Bulldogge Lulu just eats her daily Benadryl without having to hide it in food. (It’s the oddest thing!) We give Ace our French Bulldog one of those very small training treats at the same time, so he thinks he’s getting a pill too.
on January 22, 2008 at 5:14 pm | Reply Gina

I found you through Mercedes’ blog. The second treat idea is great and I have never thought about it. We use peanut butter but our Chihuahua Mandy (11 years old) is too smart and the pill ends up on the floor after the pb is gone. We’ll try something pliable like liverwurst. Your dogs are adorable.
Gina
on February 20, 2008 at 5:01 am | Reply Aaron

I use organic pet food myself from human grade sources.
on February 20, 2008 at 3:53 pm | Reply dianeschuller

Thanks everyone for your comments. Even though I’ve emailed everyone originally, I simply wanted to acknowledge each of you for your contribution to this conversation!

Diane