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OT: Does anyone have a foolproof method to feed a dog pills?

A

atomarc

Diamond
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Location
Eureka, CA
My dog 'Bella' can find a single pill in the center of a hunk of roast beef and promptly spit only the pill out. I've tried pill pockets and they don't fool her either. Does anyone have a tried and true method of getting a pill into a pet?::cryin:


Stuart


Copy of lapdog.jpg
 
A dog bites with the bottom jaw. I grab the bottom jaw with my thumb under the tongue, they naturally open their mouth then just push the pill past the tongue.

Brent
 
Having had 20+ dogs over the last 25 years that needed meds given I found peanut butter works well.Also try liverwurst . But give the dog the PB without anything in it a few times to get her use to the treat sans pill.And use a fairly large gob so she will be busy licking and swallowing to not notice the pill.
 

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Greenies "Pill Pockets"

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The method we used with our large dogs was to have them sit, tilt their head back, pull their jaw down, and poke the pill into the back of their throat, past the tongue.

This of course, relies upon that you and your dog are on pretty good terms.

We have had good luck with process cheese slices and peanut butter as carriers too. Having another dog waiting to get it seems to help convince the dog to gulp it down too.

Good Luck!

Cheers
Trev
 
My dog was very sick last year and required multiple pills a day. They were impossible to get the dog to take them no matter what you hid them in. Hidden in a big chunk of meat he could detect them and spit them out. My wife and I tried everything. The only thing that finally worked to was to grind the pills up in a mortar and pestle and to mix it with food so it was so little the dog had nothing to spit out and had a much harder time tasting them. What ever is your dogs most favorite treat is what to try. This became a big pain in the ass doing this multiple times a day, but the dog survived and still with us today. Cheese was what we found worked best. The pill pockets were a waste of money.
 
My dog (pit bull) will not eat her heartworm pill, even if crushed up and mixed with ham, rice, chicken, etc. I have to push it down her throat with my index and middle finger, then hold her mouth shut until she swallows it.

If I don't get it partway down her gullet, she will slosh it around in her mouth until its a foamy mess and leaks out of her mouth, which I'm holding shut.

There is just no other way with the heartworm pill, she hates it and knows the taste. She is extremely stubborn. Thank goodness it's only once a month.
 
I've seen some dogs do that.
My dog would take pulls pressed into the middle of cheese.
I kept cheese as a treat for nail trimming only so it was "special"


Ask the vet if it can be crushed some pills can, some can't.

If yes, then mix it up with peanut butter, or yogurt, cheese wiz...whatever.
 
If you go with cheese Munster is what I use. It is nice and soft so you can make a cheese ball with the pill inside. If just poking it down her through is not an option then try all of the ideas above and rotate the ones that work. We have used Munster cheese, peanut butter, tortillas, and sliced turkey. Use whatever you are using for the pill as treats when they are given to get her used to it, and imprint on her brain that she likes getting whatever treat it is. Also if possible give before feeding instead of after.
 
Peanut butter can work if you insist on coating it.

Otherwise lift their jowl up and then shove your hand into the side gap of their jaw forcing them to open their mouth, then just shove it into the rear of their mouth. If they're a spitter, then immediately follow it up with a cookie in their mouth, that way it forces them to swallow if they want that treat.

It's a good ideal when they're younger to teach them to gently take placebo pills. That way when they do need pills, it's not such an ordeal.
 
JohnEvans said:
Having had 20+ dogs over the last 25 years that needed meds given I found peanut butter works well.Also try liverwurst . But give the dog the PB without anything in it a few times to get her use to the treat sans pill.And use a fairly large gob so she will be busy licking and swallowing to not notice the pill.
Click to expand...

This is the only method we've been successfully with on all of our dogs. The smell of peanut butter seems to overwhelm their senses. You can hide the most awful tasting foul smelling pill in a gob of peanut butter and it'll disappear in seconds.

The opening of the mouth and pushing the pill past the tongue only works some of the time. Other times you get an unhappy dog and a mouth full of teeth wrapped around your finger.

We had a Cocker Spaniel that hated pills. We tried everything in the book. One day we were at the vet and explained the situation. He wanted to "show us how a professional does it". The Cocker let him open her mouth and get his fingers in perfect position. Then she promptly chomped on his fingers. While the vet was shaking off the pain the pill landed on the floor. That concluded the professional demonstration.

The peanut butter always worked. I tried liverwurst one time. It was a success sorta. Everything went well until I tried to have a little myself. My wife said it wasn't a pretty picture when she came in the door and the dog and I were wrestling for the last little morsel.
 
Pretty much the same as everybody else. Hold their bottom jaw open stick the pill down their throat and smear a little mayonnaise on ther nose to lick off. Good luck, hope he gets better. Jonathan
 
I use a ball of raw hamburger, small enough for the dog to swallow whole. It helps that I give my dogs raw hamburger balls regularly as a treat.
 
I had a dog who loved popcorn, especially the cheddar cheese flavor. We would toss pieces to her, and she would snatch them out of the air and swallow. Three or four pieces of popcorn, and then the pill. Gone!
 
No more pill pushing down the throat.
Small balls of bread tossed like a treat in quick succession. Last one has the pill
as the dog can't wait for the next one.
Our dogs are Labs and fed once a day in the morning.
When it is pill time in the evening there is no hesitation.
If the pill is found then reboot.
John
 
Dog treating is easy...you say "hey, catch"...and they take it

Quit calling it a pill.

For stubborn or anorexic dogs, sit on counter, grab top of mouth immediately behind two k9 teeth from the top, quickly stretch head back opening mouth. With pill in other hand, between thumb and forefinger, insert in mouth such that your hand is slimy and index finger is used such that it actually pushes pill further down throat.

It should all be done prior to the dog realizing it's on the counter.

If your dog bites your hand, shoot yourself...cause you raised a dog that doesn't understand where it's food comes from.
 
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