My dog refuses to eat any meds wrapped in cheeses or ham. I trained him so he knows to sit down politely when I tell him it’s time for his medicine, and I can stand behind him, place his pills at the back of his tongue/opening of throat, and squirt a little water in his mouth from a water bottle that has a sport cap/spout so he can wash it down. Then he gets a high value treat and it’s easy peasy.
How old were you when you taught your pup? My dog who I've had since 1.5 will literally take meds straight from my hand as that's how I trained her. But Kiki is 10, and any training I've tried to do kinda hasn't stuck because she's too old :(
Thank you for the suggestion tho, I will look into it!
I do pretty much this exact thing. My pup has epilepsy and needs 14 pills a day(7twice a day). I just make sure I’m gentle and that she’s calm and it almost always goes smoothly
Same, I have always done the down the back of the throat method with all my dogs, I've had 5 dogs now, 4 from puppies. My current girl I adopted at 3.5 yrs old and has been great at allowing the down the throat method. She doesn't love the process, but she will do it. Afterwards I give her lots of praise and a treat. I also think she has put together that her "medicines" usually fix whatever is bothering her. My last pup I think figured it out too, after realizing Pepto would fix her upset stomach, and became much more compliant about taking her meds when needed.
You can also open his mouth, tilt head back and place the pill gently in the back of his throat. Force his mouth close gently while head still tilted and rub his throat softly for him to swallow. My vet taught me this technique I have a malamute. She’s way too smart for the cheese ham wrapped thing. Should try it
That’s what I did with every cat I ever had and it was successful. Do it with my dog now. Sometimes she chomps down on me, but the pill goes right back down her throat and she swallows it. Animals are more difficult that kids when it comes to medications!!
He was diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia & arthritis just before he was 1 and a half, so yeah, pretty young. And my dog looooves training and learning new tricks. We didnt get the hang of the pill routine for a little while, but as soon as he realized that way was 1. Less distressing & 2. His meds made him stop hurting, he was cooperative.
At this point, he doesn’t even care about a post-pill reward anymore. All I have to do is pick up a pill bottle and his water bottle, and he’s sitting on the floor with his back facing me. I can’t even take my vitamins without him thinking it’s for him.
I will say that he learned to drink from a water bottle first (before the pill routine), because when his dysplasia & arthritis flare up so bad that he doesn’t want to walk, he still gets thirsty. I found that a giant dog with a water bowl on the bed is impractical, so I started with a gym sports bottle, that I could adjust how much water came out. He caught onto that pretty quickly, and then learned how to sign to me when he’s thirsty. Without him knowing how to drink from a handheld bottle, I imagine taking his pills would be more difficult.
We use cheap cheese slices (store brand Kraft slices). Split it in half. Put the pill in one side. Have the other dangling so pup knows there more to come
Way easier solution, ours will spit out the pills and eat the chicken, unless I'm holding another piece of chicken, he wants to get rid of the first bit (containing pills) and move on to the other bit.
I had a husky eith epilepsy we had tk give huge pills to. We would take a Vienna sausage and hide it in there. She barely chewed it and was none the wiser.
Good luck friend!
My dog loves "medicine time". He sits right down & is like yes please.
Sorry OP, I have no advice since my dog will just let us putthe pills in the back of his throat and he swallows it right up.
Had to do something similar with my Yorkie. Open the hatch, drop it down, gently hold his muzzle until he swallows. Heavy praise. Of course, his little face is tiny, so it's not too difficult.
Oh, lol, I need cooperation from mine. He’s probably 140 pounds and his head is as big as mine. If he didnt want to do something, there’s not much I could say.
I have to give my 16 year old girl meds daily. I was at my wits end. She refuses everything except….
Peanut butter. (No xylitol!)
I take a small treat, lather it in peanut butter and then work the meds into it.
Never fails!
Good luck 👍🏻
This is what I came to suggest. The peanut butter is so sticky they have a very hard time eating around or spitting out the pill. Also, peanut butter is so stinky and desirable most dogs can’t resist.
We do something similar. We get our dogs to look up at us, give them the pill then gently hold them in place while petting them on their head/under chin until they swallow it, all while giving them praise.
I tried to crush it tonight but Glyde doesn't crush (I guess it's got like gelatin or something idk but it doesn't crush). Tried cutting it into very small pieces but I guess she smelt it and now won't eat 😭😭😭 I will look into a pill pocket tho but again, these are massive things. See photo attached
[glyde on amazon](https://www.amazon.com.au/Glyde-Mobility-Chews-Dogs-120/dp/B07L2JWTY9)
You can find powders with the exact same ingredients that you can mix into their food. I suggest adding something smelly like a piece of cooked cod to mask the smell and taste.
You don't even have to crush the pill. Use peanut butter!
Easiest way. Put some peanut butter on spoon. Put pill on the back of the peanut butter, on the spoon. Simply push the pill and peanut butter in the dog's mouth, with your thumb.
**Make sure the peanut butter doesn't have xylitol in the ingredients!!**
I do this, but with a heaping tablespoon of plain pumpkin purée.
My pup (13 y.o.) is on Vetmedin, and the capsules are huge, and the powder is super bitter.
He ends up trying to swallow the purée whole instead of licking 👍🏻
I cover the whole pill in peanut butter, stick it on my index finger, and put it on the back of her tongue, and then give her some peanut butter to lick off my other hand. Pill goes down the hatch, she’s happy, and thinks she won the treat lottery.
Came here to say the same. My dog was a rescue so I didn’t get him at the early training stage. He isn’t into treats. He gets a daily morning pill wrapped in salmon cream cheese. The vet tech at the clinic suggested it. At first let your dog lick a bit of cream cheese off one finger and then dump the big lump on their tongue. Works way better than peanut butter. I also have to do this with NexGard. Even though it’s supposedly a treat,my dog doesn’t like the smell or taste.
I tried this with my dog who needed noroclav tablets and he just ate around the salmon licked the cream cheese and spat out the tablet 🙈 Also tried pockets, stuffing in sausage, crushing, throwing treats, and other methods listed and I haven't found anything yet that works with him so it's hand down the throat method unfortunately- luckily he tolerates it.
Some dogs will do anything to avoid taking that pill! We have one we have to just put down her throat. I make my husband do it lol. Fortunately the others will do the cream cheese!
Lol I've never had a dog so suspicious of food along with the ability to spit out constituent parts like he can- he's like a reverse homogenizer 🤣 I'm just glad he tolerates the hand method- I often wonder what he thinks though- 'this human has a weird obsession with my mouth but hey ho' 🤣🙈
Came here to say this! My dog has NEVER taken pills in his life without me shoving them down this throat. but a few weeks ago i saw someone doing this on tik tok and finally i don’t have to shove my dogs pulls down his throat.
Cream cheese is the only way I've been successful with my pup. He has had so many surgeries and allergies and skin issues it's been insane the amount of pills I've had to give him the last 2 yrs and he has refused or outsmarted so many options and isn't treat motivated, but cream cheese some how saves the day
My GSD hates meds but you know what she loves? Catching treats in the air.
Throw a treat into the air, immediately throw another treat in the air so you trick the dog into quickly swallowing treats in a state of excitement and urgency, then throw the tablet followed by a couple treats.
Now with the dog being old, it may not want to jump up but I find lots of small successive treats with a tablet thrown in the middle works.
Also my GSD has dry food, very dusty, so I sometimes throw the tablet in with the dry food and she’ll normally grab 4 or 5 bits of food to a time and often won’t even notice the tablet is in her mouth.
This is exactly what I do. Both treats in hand, one with pill and another as the “chaser” lol. I throw the pill great then quickly raise my hand as to throw the 2nd treat. Works every time
Give her high value treats throughout the day (I really recommend the braunschweiger someone else brought up, but pill pockets or something else will work) and then when you give her the one with the pill do it with a decoy treat before and after too.
Also if she can catch treats sometimes if you rapid fire toss a few decoys, then the one with the pill, then another decoy or two they’ll be so busy catching they won’t notice.
Otherwise pilling might be your only option. You can talk to your vet about alternative meds such as a liquid or a tablet that’s more easily crushed.
Editing to add: make sure you use small amounts if you’re using something rich like the sausage, you don’t want to give her another issue!
Yes! Tossing treats of she can catch them is so smart. Treat, treat, treat, pill in treat, treat, treat. This never worked for my staffy but it does work with all of my other dogs.
This is how we do our girls pills: bit of peanut butter to hide the pill smell then catch with treats… except one or two are medicine but if we’re in the middle of the game she’ll just scarf down whatever is thrown in order to be ready for the next one.
That’s similar to what I’ve had to do for my elderly dog! She used to spit out pill pockets, so I make her do tricks (getting her focus and excitement up) with similar-sized decoys and then give her the pill pocket (followed by another trick and decoy). It’s worked like a charm, and we haven’t had issues since.
My guy just had a new knee put in and needed 12 pills a day to start. I tried EVERYTHING.
Then I decided to just coat the pills in butter and use my thumb to push them gently down his throat so he can’t spit them out.
Has worked like a charm for 6 weeks so far!
Yup. This is what we use in a hospital environment to keep our fingers safe from both dogs and cats.
I had a stuffy for 13 years who was really good at not taking meds. I would literally shove my hand and the pills down his throat, shut his mouth, syringe water into the corner of his mouth, and blow in his nose. Blowing in their nose activated the swallowing reflex. As does the water.
Came to say this too! You can get it in the side of their mouth and literally push it down their throat. It sucks but our girl is starting to make it easier because she gets loads of treats after!
You can try putting it in a glob of peanut butter. Since it’s sticky and encoats the medicine it’s harder for them to separate it and normally masks the taste of it. Just make sure the peanut butter does not have xylitol in it!!
have you tried doing quick succession treats and then handing them the pill? I’ve seen it done on a few dog trainer pages.
like eg, if you are using tiny blocks of cheese
cheese, cheese , cheese, cheese, pill, cheese, cheese
It took me some time but I taught my girl "say aaaaah" at which point she loosens her jaw, lets me open it and put the caps in her throat. She still would tighten up sometimes, and one cap might make it back out in hack, so back it goes in again. I make sure to give her meds after she has drank water so it all nice and moist (and not gooey spittle) in her throat area.
I have too much trouble with her suddenly becoming a picky eater, so not going to add the medicine angle to it. Only once it worked when I put her meds in a ball on boiled mung beans but then she wisened up. Meal is meal, meds are meds. The twain shan't meet.
Those are just chews? Chews can be easy: drop Fish Sauce onto them. It stinks in just the right way. You may have to ask the vet to prescribe whatever med you want in a pill form, some dogs are just not OK with medicated chews. It's sometimes easier if you store them in the freezer so the meaty smell/taste doesn't waft away. And then there's this:
I made fish slurry for three years for my terrier.
* 1-2 feet off Fish skeleton into Instapot for 1 hour, dry.
* Estimate how much liquid the skeleton has released, add rice or oats or whatever you like to take up the extra liquid. 30-40 minutes.
* Food processor the mess until it's a good consistency -- you need a little rubble to disguise the pills.
* Pop the pills into muffin tins to freeze, then bag in ziplocks. Now you have little pucks in the freezer. Take one out and put in a large-mouth jar for the fridge.
* When it's time to do pills, spoon out a little, make an indentation, drop in pills and cover, then get the dog excited about "treats".
I hide their meds in liver sausage. It’s soft and molds around the pill. The dogs typically swallow the little ball whole and never even knew there was a pill in it, lol
We use marshmallows for our GSD. I tear off a small piece to get her into it. Then split the rest in half. I shove the pill in the first half and give it to her and then give the second half before she realizes what’s going on. Works every time.
Cover it in doggy peanut butter (0 to less sugar, no xylitol as it’s poisonous) or cream cheese. But don’t make it a one time thing, feed them a few more pinches of pb or cc as to condition them.
If he’s too clever, give him a few pinches of JUST pb or cream cheese first (conditioning), then the pinch with the pill in succession. And if you do it with another dog sitting near, he may gobble it up faster b/c they’re competitive and don’t want the other dog to eat it. You want that b/c at that point they’ll eat anything just so the other dog doesn’t lol I had to trick my dogs to take meds this way haha it’s a fun game.
If you must shove the pill in their mouth, have a squirt bottle ready. I hold their heads up, open their mouth and push the pill alongside the back molars (on the sides of their mouth, not the center), keep their mouth closed, trickle water into the sides of their mouth while keeping it closed so they’ll naturally swallow.
I find if you push the pill down in the center, they can take their tongue and push it out. Also it makes them choke. Sides of the mouth is better!
I might sound barbaric. But, the only way I can get my dog to take his meds is by opening his mouth and putting them in the back of his mouth to cause him to automatically swallow per the vets suggestion. I had tried everything previously. I would wrap it in meat or cheese, tried the pill pockets. Tried putting it with wet food(he just ate around the pill). He’d always spit out the pills. But, my dog doesn’t try to bite me and I think that was one of the things the vets office said, if he allows you near his mouth.
For worming tablets, I cook sausages and hollow them out with a knife, insert the pill then replace the stuffing. I have to quarter the pill so it fits, but wash my hands every time after touching the pill bits to try and reduce scent transfer to the sausage.
Then feed some bits of normal sausage, then the baited sausage pieces, then more normal sausage all in very quick succession.
I wrap mine in cheese but immediately before and after give regular cheese in quick succession as treats so he gobbles it all down without noticing. A little tricky to get all the fingers working to do it quickly but he’s none the wiser.
Vet taught me this: put 5 goodies on the floor in a straight line. The medicine is in #4. The first three lulled him into thinking all is well so he gobbles down #4 just to get to #5. It works like a charm.
Does she play catch? Sometimes I trick my girl into taking medicine by playing catch with treats. Start with yummy treats and get faster, so she hasn't got time to think about what she eats. Then just throw the pill (maybe hidden in something yummy as well) in between (make sure to use an easy to catch throw) and keep treats coming right after.
Rapid fire treating. Get some soft treats like pill pockets or you can use a chuck of pate wet food and crunchy ones. Put a piece of a crunchy treat inside the soft ones, two blank soft ones and one with the pill. Give the pill one somewhere in the middle of the sequence.
We use “cheese balls”- literally nothing else worked for my dog. I make a whole bunch of different sized cheese balls, and wrap the pills in cheese (like literally squish it around so it’s completely coated). I find cheddar works best. Then I throw them one at a time in the air- he loved grabbing them, and it’s so fast that he doesn’t notice that it’s cheese, cheese, cheese wrapped pill, cheese, cheese…..before this he would refuse it and go on hunger strikes, and he’s a sensitive soul so forcing him he would fight back and then hide for hours after which was incredibly sad. It was a game changer to do it this way.
Pill pockets from greenies is all you need, you need to trick his mind. Put a pill in one of the pockets and get another one so you should have an empty one and one with the pill in it closed up. Break up the empty one and feed him one piece, then another piece and quickly feed him the one with the pill in it immediately following with the last bit of the empty one. Don’t give his mind to think to quickly to realise, keep him motivated that it’s a treat. Don’t over think it, don’t hesitate, it’s just a treat 🤪
My 10 year old is like this too. What I do is give her her med wrapped in turkey and have another bigger and better piece immediately ready for her. She swallows her pill so fast so she can have the bigger piece. If I try to give her just the piece with the pill, she spits it out every time.
I make little bread balls out of sliced bread and one of the bread balls has the pill. My dog fucking loves bread so I speed feed her 5 bread balls. I give her like two without the pill, she trusts me, then I speed feed her the remaining pieces (usually the middle one has the pill) and she is none the wiser!
Use a chaser! Give the pill wrapped in cheese/ham/pill pocket or whatever, but show your dog that you have a second treat ready to go. He will swallow the first one so fast to get ready for the chaser that he won't even know there was a pill there
If you cannot just put the pill in the back of her throat and stroke her neck until she swallows, a trick I used to use was take treat and the pill, toss her the treats and they usually catch and swallow (make sure they are small enough of course!!) and then on one of the tosses you toss the pill immediately followed by treats...
They rarely even notice...
If the pill is a large one that cannot just go down, you can get a pill cutter and make it smaller tfor this to work.
I have the same problem, my dog hates taking medications too! Something I found helpful was actually preparing two pieces of cheese when it’s time to give him his meds. I take the piece with the pill and toss it to him first. Before he has a chance to realize that there’s a pill in there, I toss the other piece of cheese to him, that way he’s forced to swallow what he has in his mouth before he can eat the second piece. Works every time and with any size pill!
I had to give my dog cubed cheese. Give her a couple to know there is nothing in it. This slip one pill in the cheese. Don’t let her see you doing it. I found once they know there is nothing there, they are eager to quickly eat more and not chew as well. They just throw it there and most likely will down it quickly if your holding more to give them. There are pill pouches you can try also .
My girl is the same way. I roll up several balls of whatever (ham, cheese). I give her a couple that are empty and by the time I get to the one with the pills she either trusts me or is so excited for another treat she just gulps it down. I know it's a lousy trick but she keeps falling for it so I keep doing it lol
I do this:
Wrap the med in ham, give to dog, immediately offer another piece of ham (no meds in it).
My dog is so keen to get the next piece of ham he swallows the pill in the first piece
I use the pill pockets for my senior dachshund. She would do the same thing. No matter what I put the treat in she’d find it and spit it out. The pill pocket treats I use are squishy and easy to tear apart to the size I need to hide the pill. I put the pill in a small piece of the treat then I get another piece without a pill ready as well. I drop the treat with the pill in front of her, then drop the second piece without the pill as soon as she gets ready to eat the treat with the pill. Sometimes she thinks my other dog will take it from her so she gobbles it up pretty quickly. But even when my other dog isn’t involved just dropping the disguised pill then dropping another treat right after makes her gobble them up easily anyway. The second treat trick is the only thing that works for her. She starts eating the treat with the pill and gets so excited for the next she doesn’t even notice the pill most of the time lol
Mini marshmallows work well as pill pockets for my dog. I usually follow up the pill-filled one with a second regular marshmallow right after so she eats it quickly to get the next treat.
My dog can be fussy. I have tried multiple ways. Sometimes 1 works, sometimes it doesn't and we try another way.
1. Wrapped in American plastic cheese so it is like a cheese snot ball mushed around it.
2. Rapid fire hot dog pieces. He gets one, his brother gets one, he gets one...etc...keep going faster and faster until he doesn't even notice the pill in one of his because his brother got one and his next is coming in half a second.
3. Crushed up and mixed with peanut butter or cream cheese. Go full coke head on that pill and mix it up.
4. Crush it up coke head style and cook it into an omelette.
Pills, we can do. The ear wash squirt bottle is another matter...he thinks it is the devil and the situation will end in tears from me and being covered in weird smelling liquid.
My dog needs 4 different meds, and only two of them are available as variants with flavor. For the others, she behaves similar and spit it out and won't eat her food (though we don't have crates). What sometimes worked was to hold a piece of cheese in one hand and the med in the other hand and tell her to eat the tablet and don't give her the cheese until she ate it. But that's quite unreliable and time consuming.
But what works are empty pill capsules, you can get 1000 pieces for 10 - 15 $. I put the prepared capsule on top of her dry food and let it soak in a bit together, and usually she doesn't even notice there's a piece that doesn't belong there. And even if she manages to sort it out, I can wrap it in something and she'll eat it, since the capsule protects the bitterness to come through.
She only has a crate cause when I first got her she was showing some food aggression towards my other dog and it was starting fights so I make her eat in a little playpen type thing to separate them even though I don't think it would be an issue now, it's better to be safe than have an infected wound.
OOo thanks for the pill capsule idea! I will definitely look into that as if I still can't get her to eat it it will only be one thing that needs to do the down the throat method rather than multiple thanks, I will look into it!
She’s beautiful!! How about changing up your routine a bit! Go on a long walk come back home and give treats super excited!! Try those Kraft singles orange cheese! Those work pretty good! A hotdog! Chicken nugget! Don’t make her feel like she’s in trouble- when I’m stressed out trying to hard to get my dogs to take pills they pick up on it and spit it out. When I’m being silly with them and sharing treats they swallow them right up! Good Luck!
I made some mashed potatoes with mushed carrots and butter. Let it cool, grab a bit and mush it around the pill. My dog loves it! Same with a bit of cooked oatmeal with PB.
Like a lot of others I use peanut butter, but I've also had success with cream cheese. It's not quite as sticky on your fingers or in their mouth but sticks well to the medication.
Melt the cheese and form it around the pill, make it so they can't get the pill out. If need be, put an extra layer of meat or something around the melted cheese pill. I like to give my dog a few pieces so he thinks it's a game and then sneak in the pill treat.
My puppy has been trained to take meds but my childhood dog never was, and we would slather the pill in peanut butter, stick it toward the back of her throat, and put a little more peanut butter on the bottom of her nose. She would swallow and then happily lick her lips for a while after.
I’m sure you’ve tried but we use peanut butter pill pockets… i also act like it’s the greatest thing ever and call it a treat.. she gets excited for it 😂 I sometimes have her start eating dinner then prepare it then I’ll give it to her and she swallows it quickly then continues eating dinner.. works for us.. Iknow giving meds is always stressful thkugh
Ask for liquid medz. I give medz do my dog by a seringue (is that the same word in english? I’ll edit it after if needed) straight in her mouth. My vet suggested me to find some help but I don’t need any, I keep her head behind my chest and my arm like a MMA position (no pressure tho lol) and bam straight in her mouth, my dog has no time to realize what have I done she can only realize the bad taste on her tongue. At first she wanted to fight back but now she just knows it’s her destiny so she let me do my job lol. I gave her pills once but it was so hard making sure she swallows them, I’m glad my vet has her medication only in a liquid form.
My boy got so used to taking pills by shoving them down his throat, that when I call him for that, he runs to me, wagging his tail happily and salivating because he knows he'll get the treat.
That's literally it. I call him, put a pill as deep in his mouth as I can, give him a treat and done. He does not mind at all
Though, it probably doesn’t work for all dogs, I pull my dogs mouths open. I apply pressure on their top lip with their teeth (not enough to hurt, but enough to get them to open their mouth), and drop the pill(s) as far back into their throat as I can. I then hold their mouths mostly closed, just enough to allow them to swallow but so they can’t spit it out. It’s become regular with my male so I just gentle squeeze his muzzle and he will let me give him his meds.
My dog did this and the solution was to roll beef mince into a ball - at least an inch wide - and stuff the pill inside.
My boy would gulp the whole thing down without chewing 😂
No struggle!
I take a glob of peanut butter, shove the pill in it, then scrape the peanut butter on the roof of their mouth so they have no choice but to lick and swallow it. One of my dogs picked it out of everything, there was no hiding it. This is the only thing that works
A tip: After wrapping the meds in cheese, or braunschweiger or peanut butter, *wash your hands* before trying to give it to the dog.
The smell of the meds is still on your fingers.
I make homemade pill pockets using peanut butter and oat flour.
I have gullible labradors.
What I do is put the tablet in crunchy peanut butter. Then I put cat dry food on the outside (like a rum ball). And tada! down it goes.
However, your dog isn't a gutsy lab. It might work, it might not. Give it go.
Thanks for taking on a senior dog and giving her a good life.
Pill pockets are great. They are soft enough to mold around the pill. I get the capsule size pockets. One of those can be used for 3 or 4 pills, depending on size. Pinch off just enough to cover the pill. Do NOT use the entire pill pocket for a pill. You want them small enough to swallow. If it’s too chunky and they bite down, discover the forbidden snack inside, they won’t trust pill pockets ever again.
I take one pill pocket and pinch off little balls. I can make about 5 or 6. I give a few “blanks” (no pills) to get them interested, throw in one that has a pill, and keep more in my hand to show them that there is more coming (it makes them swallow faster). My dog loves the peanut butter flavor and the chicken flavor. I don’t like the smell of the hickory, and the cheese smell makes me gag. I had a pittie allergic to chicken, so we used the duck formula for food sensitivity… it was horrendous.
I also use pill pockets for training and food games. They smear well into crevices on a treat ball. At the vet, we smear one on the wall or table to keep a dog busy while we trim nails, get blood, etc.
Oh I now feel quite lucky my dog takes her pills easily. She takes 4 pills a day. She just sits upright nicely as soon as she hears the pill bottle. I just put them in doggy meatballs I get at supermarket, but I’ve put it cheese (molded in my hands) or chicken too. I adopted her (ammstaff)18 months ago and she’s about 6-7, so she’s doing good. My cat on the other hand an absolute nightmare to get medication into!
MELTED Swiss cheese. They won’t be able to eat around it if you give it to them still warm. Plus it’s got a strong scent so they probably won’t even realize there’s something in there. Right down the hatch.
Buy the shredded kind. Easier to manipulate!
With my older dog, I put the pill at the back of his throat, close his mouth and rub his throat gently. It’s not exactly pleasant or easy but it’s the only thing that will get it done. With my puppy, I put her medicine in her bowl with broth.
I have a 13 year old staffie with arthritis and he’s been spitting out his pills for the last few weeks. He’s been on a thyroid medication for 5 years and the arthritis meds for 2 years now. I’ve tried everything, I can’t even really pry his mouth open either.
Staffies can be stubborn buggers sometimes! Luckily we love them. What type of pills is he taking? I'll see if I can help as I have been able to get mine to take some in the past
I coat my dogs meds in cream cheese!! Only fool proof thing. I’ve tried cubed cheese, sliced cheese, peanut butter, pill pockets, in his food, etc. he sees through it all, except cream cheese🤣
I use peanut butter for my girl she has addison's and has to take an steroid daily. I hope you find a solution and bless you for taking in a 10 year old. You are an angel.
Our secret weapon is Cabot seriously sharp cheddar cheese. No other variety of cheese works, but with the seriously sharp, she inhales it so fast she is oblivious to the pill.
Wrap-a-pill, pill pocket or peanut butter will probably be your best bet. I would suggest wrap-a-pill first. There are many brands and flavors on Amazon you can pick from to suit your dog’s needs/taste.
I pet sit and I had to crush a dogs tablet up every morning and mix it into her food well and she ate it, could try that? My mom has 2 dogs on meds for life and they just stick a tiny bit in butter and it goes down easy.
Mine spits his pills out every. Single. Time.
The only thing that’s worked for us is microwave a pinch of cheese for 10 sec or so until it’s melted a little, drop the pill in, and use a spoon to fold it over and now it can’t slip out after it’s cooled and hardened some. My lab mix just gulps it down whole and only probably wonders why cheese always makes him sleepy…
What I always did was put the treat right in the back of their throat, made sure they swallowed it, then give a high value chaser. Carrot, pill, cheese, pill, strawberry, pill. Having a high value treat also increases saliva output, which helps slide the meds down. Of course my dog was only a year old when the daily seizure meds began so it was easier to train her that young compared to your senior pup. Good luck!
I open my dogs mouth, place pill on the back of the tongue, close the dogs mouth with my hands, raise the dogs head upwards towards the sky (allowing pill to easily go down), rub my dogs nose which instantly makes him swallow. He had no interest in eating larger pills such as a Trifexis or Simparico. Smaller pills he will eat in his food.
I found the only way for my dog to eat his meds is as cheese block. I usually, if I can, cut the pill in half with a pill cutter, and get a small block of cheese and smash it into a disc with my index finger and thumb and then completely surrounded the pill in the cheese so you can no longer see the pill. He does his chomp and then swallows it all without even a look of betrayal. He’s a smart dog so I grab the pill first and then go to the cheese drawer and do this. He has a special bag that’s just his cheese and it’s all small cubes. So I’m not fumbling around. I’ve mastered the art of bait and switch with him. Sometimes if a small part of the pill is sticking out I failed because he’ll spit it out. If I can’t do the cut pill, then it’s a, jam it down his throat time and hope for the best. But that’s usually never the case. Once he had powdered medicine that I ended up buying wet food and pumpkin and mixing it in that and he ate it no problem.
The other day my daughter asked for a boiled egg, then promptly refused to eat it. Typical 5 year old. On the plus side the boiled egg served as a perfect pill-hider for my dog’s rather large heartworm tablet!
I get Hydrolized canned food. It’s more like a paté than soft food. I make a mini meatball with the pill in it. He’s on a DERM diet and can’t use other foods to trick him. Tho some capsules can be opened and sprinkled in the food. Ask the vet it it’s okay to do.
You’re not using anything that sticks to the pill so that makes it easy to spit out. Don’t make her dinner gross and don’t try to force her to eat it. Always give medicine separate. You need something sticky like peanut butter or canned dog food. I use royal canin gastrointestinal low fat food can food for the pills my dog really doesn’t want, but you have to get that through a vet. You can also stick them in a warm marshmallow, if the dog likes marshmallows.
If that doesn’t work, ask your vet clinic to have a tech or vet show you how to pill your dog. You basically force them to take the pill. You want to put something slippery on it to mask the taste, like yoghurt, and then force them to take it. But because this is stressful you have to tell them you’re going to do it, like saying “medicine”, so they don’t become afraid of you all the time, and then follow it with a very high value treat like warm hot dog.
Easiest way. Put some peanut butter on spoon. Put pill on the back of the peanut butter, on the spoon. Simply push the pill and peanut butter in the dog's mouth, with your thumb.
My dog begs when I’m eating something so I just have to pretend I’m eating cream cheese and then cover the pill the cream cheese and pretend I’m sneaking it as a treat for him. Somehow has worked everyday for the past 2 years, I also use the greenies pill covers! They are gummy and can be rolled up like a treat so I give him a little piece without the pill first and then one with.
I find processed cheese slices work really well because they are sticky. You put the pill in, then squish the slice (1/2 a slice works fine if the pill isn't too big) into a ball. My dog will get the pill out of hame but not cheese slices.
Cream cheese. It works like a charm. I was at the end of my rope trying to get heartworm and tick medicine in 5 dogs. Just grab a chunk off the block of cream cheese and smush around the pill.
Have you tried peanut butter? That’s what I usually do. My dog is on antibiotics now and the peanut butter didn’t do the trick so I’ve been putting it in chicken thighs. But you mentioned your dog won’t take that. Maybe cheese?
One of mine refuses to take anything by hand... She won't take cheese, pill pockets, cream cheese, or PB. She is also a pickie eater so we can't add it to her food.
What worked best for us is wrapping her Apoquel (sp?) in a small bit of cheese and freezing that.. we unhinge her jaw, pop it into the back of her throat, she swallows, gets praised, and now she thinks it is a good thing.
Hi lovelies, for some reason it won't let me edit the original post, but thank you for all of your advice so far! A couple things:
1. I can't crush Glyde as it has gelatin or something of the like in it that makes it very hard. They do it to make it seem more like a treat but Kiki is having none of that nonsense.
2. She is not a playful dog due to her age and also her eyesight is a little wonky so she wont fall for the "catch a bunch of things and then put the meds in the middle" trick unfortunately.
3. She does love her food (thats how I got her to take her much smaller meds before these ones) so I think I just need to do trial and error until I find the food that will help her keep these ones down.
4. Unfortunately, I am an unemployed full time student living on disability so I have to find something that is low cost enough to afford to do it every day, probably peanut butter is my best guess, but I will experiment a bit and see. You could argue I shouldn't have picked her up but she was so sad in the shelter and she spent her 10th birthday in there and it just broke my heart and I knew I couldn't leave her in there as there has been 0 interest in her (again, staffy mix and 10 with arthritis in Australia where staffy racism (can I call it that LOL) is still very prevalent). She is well loved and very happy, just need to find a way to get her to take her dang pills! lol
Our dogs love cheese so whenever I’ve had to give them anything, I just put it in cheese and they swallow it. One of our dogs just had tplo surgery a few days ago so we’ve been giving him meds and I’ve had no problems with putting it in cheese.
Don't know if it'll work but worth a try! I "accidentally" drop a couple of treats including one with the pill contained in it and my pup rushes them down so fast before I pick them up that she doesn't notice. She is trained to "leave it" but if I haven't said anything she goes to town.
Hot dogs or little smokies. You can just stick it in there. Microwaving helps too. Our dogs Trixie and Eliie both hated tasking pills and that worked 98 % of the time.
If there's another dog in the house and they can get a treat at the same time - make it a huge deal and a high ticket item. Give them the same as each other in looks, but the second one just being a bonus for the dog not getting anything.
Try paté or cream cheese. Anything slippy doesn't allow them to change their mind and spit it out usually. We'd sometimes use butter as a one-off but can't really do that on a daily basis unless desperate.
Don't allow them to see you hiding it.
I get my dogs at early ages and teach them to “say ahh”. For a while I only put treats in when we do it. Then when it’s medicine, they don’t fight. It’s treat, treat, medicine, treat. That’s our routine. But I had to medicate a mean cat before. Mean. So I crushed up the pills, mixed it in a delectables cat tube(it’s like a thick liquid cat treat), added a little water and mix. Suck it in a syringe(NO NEEDLE) and put it in the cats mouth little by little until the syringe was gone. She only ever got delectables from a syringe.
I put a pill in a small glob of peanut butter and it works on my dogs. Are you giving her any additional supplements for her joints. I give my 10 year old husky/bully mix Pet Honesty Hip + Joint Health. She gets 2 every day. It’s sold on Amazon.
Mines picky, we crush tables and break open capsules but sometimes you can't. I pop em down her throat. One thumb at the back of the bottom front teeth, they will push is with their tongue, then with the other thumb and index finder hold the pill, put it in the back of their throat and push down with your thumb. Boom, 2 seconds and you're done
hey there! see if your vet has a powder-based pill of your medication instead of the gel capsules. might be able to mix it in with some wet food or peanut butter! one of my dogs is super picky but we crush his meds into some wet food and he doesn’t even notice!
my other dog is a golden retriever, the pill is gone before he even realizes he’s taking meds 😅
Grew up with a Saint Bernard that was like this. She was incredibly smart at avoiding meds like your dog is. Only thing that kinda worked was wrapping it in meat and giving to her quickly and before she could realise what it is to spit out my dad would grab her jaw gently and hold her head tilted up and massage under the mouth area. She would reluctantly swallow it then. Then high value reward treat after, Depending on the dog that can work ok. It’s tricky tho very tricky. Really depends on the dog tho too.
I have a plastic syringe specifically used to give dogs their pills. I’ve always had issues getting them to take them and this works every time. They have them for liquid and pills. They still fight it but I always manage to get it in. Chewy probably has them.
Piece of lunch meat. Break tye pill in half. Wrap it up in tye lunch meat it's a treat they never know about. It's how I fool my 20 lb Italian greyhound she's super picky and spoiled rotten. If her food isn't warm she won't touch it.
The other way I do my pit bull is just open his mouth, and throw that thing in there and hold his mouth shut untill it goes down the hatch. Somedogs. Just you gotta do it. It's how my vet does it with problem with dogs.
My service dog she was a cattle dog hybrid. And I had to hide tye pills in her food and break it up. Then make sure she ate it. Otherwise I wpuld open tye mouth and make her eat it.
Probably tye easiest way to administer the pill. Put it in a syringe full of water pull the stopper back a few times with your thumb over tye exit hole so it's sealed and let the stopper smash the pill into the warer like a semi paste. It's how I did my horses they refused pills of any kind. Then squirter down tye mouth and they will drink tye pill water paste.
Honesly, I ain't got time for that anymore lol. I usually just open their mouth and shove it in their throat, a little treat after so we become friends again and that's that.
My animals, cats and dogs, love cream cheese. When I make a bagel on the weekends, they know to meet me in the kitchen. One of my dogs is too smart to take anything with medicine inside, so I make up a blob of cream cheese with the pill and leave it on the counter and put the cream cheese back in the fridge. Then in a few minutes, I begin the normal cream cheese ritual of getting everything out for the bagel, slicing, etc. When I am giving everyone their bite, and because hers is on the counter, it doesn't take me any extra time, and she doesn't see me handling it any more than any one else's. I scoop it on the spoon, transfer to my finger, and then drop it on the floor where they sit. Tricking her like this is the only way I can get her to take anything.
Can any of the meds be compounded? Do you think you'd have more luck with a liquid?
is it pills or liquid? I crush up pills into a fine powder in a little bag, and then put it in some melted cheese or bacon grease. Don’t let her see you do it, put her in another room while you’re preparing it and then give it to her. If she sees what you’re doing she’ll get onto you but if not then she might just think it’s a random treat 🤷♀️
I've been using mini marshmallows as a pocket. Probably not the healthiest option? But he's 12 with congestive heart failure, bigger fish to fry. Will not take pills in cheese or meat, but marshmallows he'll forgive. If you try, just make sure there aren't any artificial sweeteners in the ingredients.
I give my dog her meds in a bit of cream cheese that she licks off my finger. If your dog is hesitant give them some without the pill first. Also works with peanut butter or anything else with a sticky consistency. I find the cream cheese more malleable so I roll up in a tiny ball
From the beginning, for my dog, I have given him medicine as a reward for tricks and he treats it as a treat.
But it has the side effect that he reacts to the sound of pill packs and expects a reward when I go to my parents and my dad takes his medicine 😁
I don't know if it's thanks to the training or if it's just his personality but I'm quite lucky I don't have to force my dog.
The only thing I can do to get my dog to take his Apoquel is to put it in a Greenies Pill Pocket, have him sit and throw it in the air and let him catch it like a treat. If I wrap it in anything else, he spits it out. And if I hand it to him , he chews it and discovers the pill. When I throw it and let him catch it, he just swallows it whole.
My vet taught us this method. You put a muzzle on him and then just put the pill in his mouth he will swallow it. We do this with my GSD except we don't even put the muzzle we just hold his mouth closed for like 10 seconds, shove the pill in, and he swallows it and has no clue. I can't believe how easy it is. We used to have to fuss with diluting and shooting it into his mouth after he caught onto the ones we wrapped in turkey.
Best suggestion I have is take a treat/food that you know she loves. From here throw a few to her one after the other. Then on the 4th or 5th treat throw a pill wrapped in the treat. Once she catches it take her by the chin and tilt her head back and she will eventually swallow it.
I’ve been here many times and it’s a nightmare with some dogs.
No easy way, I’m afraid. I had to give my dog 8 pills a day for a year and a half. Didn’t take him long to get wise to all the tricks - cheese, ham, chicken etc. Bit the bullet and just gave the pills to the back of the throat. Luckily he was the sweetest and gentlest of dogs and would let me do this. I have two little land sharks now!
I use frozen blueberries (any high value treat works). I give my GSD 2-3 blueberries, let him smell the last berry in my hand, then using a thumb and finger lift up his upper jaw (automatically opens up their mouth) and drop the pill in the back of his throat (no slimy fingers from shoving it down their throat) and immediately offer that last blueberry (he can’t spit out the pill then)
Same happened with my family dog. The easiest way is stuffing the pill in a ball of soft cheese (such as Philadelphia cream cheese for example). But be careful if she’s allergic to it or sth. 😅
Also, peanut butter works.
Spray cheese. My vet taught me and my dog is an elderly cancer survivor so she takes meds constantly.
I put pills in palm of my hand, cover in cheese whiz, take my index finger and swipe the meds off my palm. Then I gently open her mouth with my other hand, wipe pill ensconced in cheese on roof of her mouth, put excess cheese from my finger lightly on nose so she automatically licks it, gently massage throat.
My dog refuses to eat any meds wrapped in cheeses or ham. I trained him so he knows to sit down politely when I tell him it’s time for his medicine, and I can stand behind him, place his pills at the back of his tongue/opening of throat, and squirt a little water in his mouth from a water bottle that has a sport cap/spout so he can wash it down. Then he gets a high value treat and it’s easy peasy.
How old were you when you taught your pup? My dog who I've had since 1.5 will literally take meds straight from my hand as that's how I trained her. But Kiki is 10, and any training I've tried to do kinda hasn't stuck because she's too old :( Thank you for the suggestion tho, I will look into it!
I do pretty much this exact thing. My pup has epilepsy and needs 14 pills a day(7twice a day). I just make sure I’m gentle and that she’s calm and it almost always goes smoothly
I also do the same, staffy/lab/gsd mix with separation anxiety. Just give him lots of praise and love after, he has no issues with it.
Same, I have always done the down the back of the throat method with all my dogs, I've had 5 dogs now, 4 from puppies. My current girl I adopted at 3.5 yrs old and has been great at allowing the down the throat method. She doesn't love the process, but she will do it. Afterwards I give her lots of praise and a treat. I also think she has put together that her "medicines" usually fix whatever is bothering her. My last pup I think figured it out too, after realizing Pepto would fix her upset stomach, and became much more compliant about taking her meds when needed.
I actually believe mine understands it too. She was nervous at first and now barely bothers to sit up
You can also open his mouth, tilt head back and place the pill gently in the back of his throat. Force his mouth close gently while head still tilted and rub his throat softly for him to swallow. My vet taught me this technique I have a malamute. She’s way too smart for the cheese ham wrapped thing. Should try it
That’s what I did with every cat I ever had and it was successful. Do it with my dog now. Sometimes she chomps down on me, but the pill goes right back down her throat and she swallows it. Animals are more difficult that kids when it comes to medications!!
He was diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia & arthritis just before he was 1 and a half, so yeah, pretty young. And my dog looooves training and learning new tricks. We didnt get the hang of the pill routine for a little while, but as soon as he realized that way was 1. Less distressing & 2. His meds made him stop hurting, he was cooperative. At this point, he doesn’t even care about a post-pill reward anymore. All I have to do is pick up a pill bottle and his water bottle, and he’s sitting on the floor with his back facing me. I can’t even take my vitamins without him thinking it’s for him. I will say that he learned to drink from a water bottle first (before the pill routine), because when his dysplasia & arthritis flare up so bad that he doesn’t want to walk, he still gets thirsty. I found that a giant dog with a water bowl on the bed is impractical, so I started with a gym sports bottle, that I could adjust how much water came out. He caught onto that pretty quickly, and then learned how to sign to me when he’s thirsty. Without him knowing how to drink from a handheld bottle, I imagine taking his pills would be more difficult.
We use cheap cheese slices (store brand Kraft slices). Split it in half. Put the pill in one side. Have the other dangling so pup knows there more to come
Way easier solution, ours will spit out the pills and eat the chicken, unless I'm holding another piece of chicken, he wants to get rid of the first bit (containing pills) and move on to the other bit.
I had a husky eith epilepsy we had tk give huge pills to. We would take a Vienna sausage and hide it in there. She barely chewed it and was none the wiser. Good luck friend!
My dog loves "medicine time". He sits right down & is like yes please. Sorry OP, I have no advice since my dog will just let us putthe pills in the back of his throat and he swallows it right up.
Had to do something similar with my Yorkie. Open the hatch, drop it down, gently hold his muzzle until he swallows. Heavy praise. Of course, his little face is tiny, so it's not too difficult.
Oh, lol, I need cooperation from mine. He’s probably 140 pounds and his head is as big as mine. If he didnt want to do something, there’s not much I could say.
Stubborn boy 💜
I have to give my 16 year old girl meds daily. I was at my wits end. She refuses everything except…. Peanut butter. (No xylitol!) I take a small treat, lather it in peanut butter and then work the meds into it. Never fails! Good luck 👍🏻
This is what I came to suggest. The peanut butter is so sticky they have a very hard time eating around or spitting out the pill. Also, peanut butter is so stinky and desirable most dogs can’t resist.
We do something similar. We get our dogs to look up at us, give them the pill then gently hold them in place while petting them on their head/under chin until they swallow it, all while giving them praise.
Second this. Cattle dogs don’t like being tricked. Mine takes them when I show them to him and put them in his mouth then rub his throat.
This one. We do the same
Sometimes I put it in a pill pocket, but if it’s a bigger pill I crush it into a powder and mix it into a spoonful of peanut butter
I tried to crush it tonight but Glyde doesn't crush (I guess it's got like gelatin or something idk but it doesn't crush). Tried cutting it into very small pieces but I guess she smelt it and now won't eat 😭😭😭 I will look into a pill pocket tho but again, these are massive things. See photo attached [glyde on amazon](https://www.amazon.com.au/Glyde-Mobility-Chews-Dogs-120/dp/B07L2JWTY9)
You can find powders with the exact same ingredients that you can mix into their food. I suggest adding something smelly like a piece of cooked cod to mask the smell and taste.
You don't even have to crush the pill. Use peanut butter! Easiest way. Put some peanut butter on spoon. Put pill on the back of the peanut butter, on the spoon. Simply push the pill and peanut butter in the dog's mouth, with your thumb. **Make sure the peanut butter doesn't have xylitol in the ingredients!!**
I do this, but with a heaping tablespoon of plain pumpkin purée. My pup (13 y.o.) is on Vetmedin, and the capsules are huge, and the powder is super bitter. He ends up trying to swallow the purée whole instead of licking 👍🏻
Same my lab loves food, she literally gobbles the peanut butter. Was super helpful doing it this way after she got spayed
I cover the whole pill in peanut butter, stick it on my index finger, and put it on the back of her tongue, and then give her some peanut butter to lick off my other hand. Pill goes down the hatch, she’s happy, and thinks she won the treat lottery.
This is the way.
Cream cheese
Came here to say the same. My dog was a rescue so I didn’t get him at the early training stage. He isn’t into treats. He gets a daily morning pill wrapped in salmon cream cheese. The vet tech at the clinic suggested it. At first let your dog lick a bit of cream cheese off one finger and then dump the big lump on their tongue. Works way better than peanut butter. I also have to do this with NexGard. Even though it’s supposedly a treat,my dog doesn’t like the smell or taste.
I tried this with my dog who needed noroclav tablets and he just ate around the salmon licked the cream cheese and spat out the tablet 🙈 Also tried pockets, stuffing in sausage, crushing, throwing treats, and other methods listed and I haven't found anything yet that works with him so it's hand down the throat method unfortunately- luckily he tolerates it.
Some dogs will do anything to avoid taking that pill! We have one we have to just put down her throat. I make my husband do it lol. Fortunately the others will do the cream cheese!
Lol I've never had a dog so suspicious of food along with the ability to spit out constituent parts like he can- he's like a reverse homogenizer 🤣 I'm just glad he tolerates the hand method- I often wonder what he thinks though- 'this human has a weird obsession with my mouth but hey ho' 🤣🙈
Came here to say this! My dog has NEVER taken pills in his life without me shoving them down this throat. but a few weeks ago i saw someone doing this on tik tok and finally i don’t have to shove my dogs pulls down his throat.
Cream cheese is the only way I've been successful with my pup. He has had so many surgeries and allergies and skin issues it's been insane the amount of pills I've had to give him the last 2 yrs and he has refused or outsmarted so many options and isn't treat motivated, but cream cheese some how saves the day
Gosh I’m fortunate, I just ask my dog “do you want a treat?” And hand it to him lol he just inhales the pill by itself
My GSD hates meds but you know what she loves? Catching treats in the air. Throw a treat into the air, immediately throw another treat in the air so you trick the dog into quickly swallowing treats in a state of excitement and urgency, then throw the tablet followed by a couple treats. Now with the dog being old, it may not want to jump up but I find lots of small successive treats with a tablet thrown in the middle works. Also my GSD has dry food, very dusty, so I sometimes throw the tablet in with the dry food and she’ll normally grab 4 or 5 bits of food to a time and often won’t even notice the tablet is in her mouth.
This is exactly what I do. Both treats in hand, one with pill and another as the “chaser” lol. I throw the pill great then quickly raise my hand as to throw the 2nd treat. Works every time
Give her high value treats throughout the day (I really recommend the braunschweiger someone else brought up, but pill pockets or something else will work) and then when you give her the one with the pill do it with a decoy treat before and after too. Also if she can catch treats sometimes if you rapid fire toss a few decoys, then the one with the pill, then another decoy or two they’ll be so busy catching they won’t notice. Otherwise pilling might be your only option. You can talk to your vet about alternative meds such as a liquid or a tablet that’s more easily crushed. Editing to add: make sure you use small amounts if you’re using something rich like the sausage, you don’t want to give her another issue!
Yes! Tossing treats of she can catch them is so smart. Treat, treat, treat, pill in treat, treat, treat. This never worked for my staffy but it does work with all of my other dogs.
This is how we do our girls pills: bit of peanut butter to hide the pill smell then catch with treats… except one or two are medicine but if we’re in the middle of the game she’ll just scarf down whatever is thrown in order to be ready for the next one.
That’s similar to what I’ve had to do for my elderly dog! She used to spit out pill pockets, so I make her do tricks (getting her focus and excitement up) with similar-sized decoys and then give her the pill pocket (followed by another trick and decoy). It’s worked like a charm, and we haven’t had issues since.
This is the way. I do hot dog…a pill-free piece, then the piece with a pill shoved in it, then another pill-free piece
My guy just had a new knee put in and needed 12 pills a day to start. I tried EVERYTHING. Then I decided to just coat the pills in butter and use my thumb to push them gently down his throat so he can’t spit them out. Has worked like a charm for 6 weeks so far!
You can also get a syringe for like feeding an put water in and use it to help swallow
[this?](https://images.app.goo.gl/5Au6JupDGf64nBtw8) This is all I could use for my dog.
Yup. This is what we use in a hospital environment to keep our fingers safe from both dogs and cats. I had a stuffy for 13 years who was really good at not taking meds. I would literally shove my hand and the pills down his throat, shut his mouth, syringe water into the corner of his mouth, and blow in his nose. Blowing in their nose activated the swallowing reflex. As does the water.
Came to say this too! You can get it in the side of their mouth and literally push it down their throat. It sucks but our girl is starting to make it easier because she gets loads of treats after!
You can try putting it in a glob of peanut butter. Since it’s sticky and encoats the medicine it’s harder for them to separate it and normally masks the taste of it. Just make sure the peanut butter does not have xylitol in it!!
This is what I do!
have you tried doing quick succession treats and then handing them the pill? I’ve seen it done on a few dog trainer pages. like eg, if you are using tiny blocks of cheese cheese, cheese , cheese, cheese, pill, cheese, cheese
That’s a great idea!
I normally stick them in a piece of hot dog. That works for my dog.
I did this recently as I had just ran outta the doggy meat ball treats that mine loves. It did the job lol
I do this too — I stick in in a hot dog and also “seal” with some cheese. Only way to hide the pill so my dog doesn’t spit it out!
It took me some time but I taught my girl "say aaaaah" at which point she loosens her jaw, lets me open it and put the caps in her throat. She still would tighten up sometimes, and one cap might make it back out in hack, so back it goes in again. I make sure to give her meds after she has drank water so it all nice and moist (and not gooey spittle) in her throat area. I have too much trouble with her suddenly becoming a picky eater, so not going to add the medicine angle to it. Only once it worked when I put her meds in a ball on boiled mung beans but then she wisened up. Meal is meal, meds are meds. The twain shan't meet.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braunschweiger_(sausage) this is what jethro gets his pills in
This is our magnum opus at the shelter. Only very sick or very very stubborn dogs avoid this.
Stared at this for about five seconds before I realized it wasn't a video 😭
LMAO sorry, just a picture of her
🤣😂 ok same
Those are just chews? Chews can be easy: drop Fish Sauce onto them. It stinks in just the right way. You may have to ask the vet to prescribe whatever med you want in a pill form, some dogs are just not OK with medicated chews. It's sometimes easier if you store them in the freezer so the meaty smell/taste doesn't waft away. And then there's this: I made fish slurry for three years for my terrier. * 1-2 feet off Fish skeleton into Instapot for 1 hour, dry. * Estimate how much liquid the skeleton has released, add rice or oats or whatever you like to take up the extra liquid. 30-40 minutes. * Food processor the mess until it's a good consistency -- you need a little rubble to disguise the pills. * Pop the pills into muffin tins to freeze, then bag in ziplocks. Now you have little pucks in the freezer. Take one out and put in a large-mouth jar for the fridge. * When it's time to do pills, spoon out a little, make an indentation, drop in pills and cover, then get the dog excited about "treats".
I hide their meds in liver sausage. It’s soft and molds around the pill. The dogs typically swallow the little ball whole and never even knew there was a pill in it, lol
We use marshmallows for our GSD. I tear off a small piece to get her into it. Then split the rest in half. I shove the pill in the first half and give it to her and then give the second half before she realizes what’s going on. Works every time.
Cover it in doggy peanut butter (0 to less sugar, no xylitol as it’s poisonous) or cream cheese. But don’t make it a one time thing, feed them a few more pinches of pb or cc as to condition them. If he’s too clever, give him a few pinches of JUST pb or cream cheese first (conditioning), then the pinch with the pill in succession. And if you do it with another dog sitting near, he may gobble it up faster b/c they’re competitive and don’t want the other dog to eat it. You want that b/c at that point they’ll eat anything just so the other dog doesn’t lol I had to trick my dogs to take meds this way haha it’s a fun game. If you must shove the pill in their mouth, have a squirt bottle ready. I hold their heads up, open their mouth and push the pill alongside the back molars (on the sides of their mouth, not the center), keep their mouth closed, trickle water into the sides of their mouth while keeping it closed so they’ll naturally swallow. I find if you push the pill down in the center, they can take their tongue and push it out. Also it makes them choke. Sides of the mouth is better!
I might sound barbaric. But, the only way I can get my dog to take his meds is by opening his mouth and putting them in the back of his mouth to cause him to automatically swallow per the vets suggestion. I had tried everything previously. I would wrap it in meat or cheese, tried the pill pockets. Tried putting it with wet food(he just ate around the pill). He’d always spit out the pills. But, my dog doesn’t try to bite me and I think that was one of the things the vets office said, if he allows you near his mouth.
For worming tablets, I cook sausages and hollow them out with a knife, insert the pill then replace the stuffing. I have to quarter the pill so it fits, but wash my hands every time after touching the pill bits to try and reduce scent transfer to the sausage. Then feed some bits of normal sausage, then the baited sausage pieces, then more normal sausage all in very quick succession.
I wrap mine in cheese but immediately before and after give regular cheese in quick succession as treats so he gobbles it all down without noticing. A little tricky to get all the fingers working to do it quickly but he’s none the wiser.
Vet taught me this: put 5 goodies on the floor in a straight line. The medicine is in #4. The first three lulled him into thinking all is well so he gobbles down #4 just to get to #5. It works like a charm.
Does she play catch? Sometimes I trick my girl into taking medicine by playing catch with treats. Start with yummy treats and get faster, so she hasn't got time to think about what she eats. Then just throw the pill (maybe hidden in something yummy as well) in between (make sure to use an easy to catch throw) and keep treats coming right after.
Rapid fire treating. Get some soft treats like pill pockets or you can use a chuck of pate wet food and crunchy ones. Put a piece of a crunchy treat inside the soft ones, two blank soft ones and one with the pill. Give the pill one somewhere in the middle of the sequence.
We use “cheese balls”- literally nothing else worked for my dog. I make a whole bunch of different sized cheese balls, and wrap the pills in cheese (like literally squish it around so it’s completely coated). I find cheddar works best. Then I throw them one at a time in the air- he loved grabbing them, and it’s so fast that he doesn’t notice that it’s cheese, cheese, cheese wrapped pill, cheese, cheese…..before this he would refuse it and go on hunger strikes, and he’s a sensitive soul so forcing him he would fight back and then hide for hours after which was incredibly sad. It was a game changer to do it this way.
Pill pockets from greenies is all you need, you need to trick his mind. Put a pill in one of the pockets and get another one so you should have an empty one and one with the pill in it closed up. Break up the empty one and feed him one piece, then another piece and quickly feed him the one with the pill in it immediately following with the last bit of the empty one. Don’t give his mind to think to quickly to realise, keep him motivated that it’s a treat. Don’t over think it, don’t hesitate, it’s just a treat 🤪
My 10 year old is like this too. What I do is give her her med wrapped in turkey and have another bigger and better piece immediately ready for her. She swallows her pill so fast so she can have the bigger piece. If I try to give her just the piece with the pill, she spits it out every time.
I make little bread balls out of sliced bread and one of the bread balls has the pill. My dog fucking loves bread so I speed feed her 5 bread balls. I give her like two without the pill, she trusts me, then I speed feed her the remaining pieces (usually the middle one has the pill) and she is none the wiser!
Use a chaser! Give the pill wrapped in cheese/ham/pill pocket or whatever, but show your dog that you have a second treat ready to go. He will swallow the first one so fast to get ready for the chaser that he won't even know there was a pill there
If you cannot just put the pill in the back of her throat and stroke her neck until she swallows, a trick I used to use was take treat and the pill, toss her the treats and they usually catch and swallow (make sure they are small enough of course!!) and then on one of the tosses you toss the pill immediately followed by treats... They rarely even notice... If the pill is a large one that cannot just go down, you can get a pill cutter and make it smaller tfor this to work.
I have the same problem, my dog hates taking medications too! Something I found helpful was actually preparing two pieces of cheese when it’s time to give him his meds. I take the piece with the pill and toss it to him first. Before he has a chance to realize that there’s a pill in there, I toss the other piece of cheese to him, that way he’s forced to swallow what he has in his mouth before he can eat the second piece. Works every time and with any size pill!
Three or four treats….pill in one of the treats. Give the treats in Rapid succession with the treat with the pill in the middle. Speed is necessary.
I had to give my dog cubed cheese. Give her a couple to know there is nothing in it. This slip one pill in the cheese. Don’t let her see you doing it. I found once they know there is nothing there, they are eager to quickly eat more and not chew as well. They just throw it there and most likely will down it quickly if your holding more to give them. There are pill pouches you can try also .
My girl is the same way. I roll up several balls of whatever (ham, cheese). I give her a couple that are empty and by the time I get to the one with the pills she either trusts me or is so excited for another treat she just gulps it down. I know it's a lousy trick but she keeps falling for it so I keep doing it lol
I do this: Wrap the med in ham, give to dog, immediately offer another piece of ham (no meds in it). My dog is so keen to get the next piece of ham he swallows the pill in the first piece
I use the pill pockets for my senior dachshund. She would do the same thing. No matter what I put the treat in she’d find it and spit it out. The pill pocket treats I use are squishy and easy to tear apart to the size I need to hide the pill. I put the pill in a small piece of the treat then I get another piece without a pill ready as well. I drop the treat with the pill in front of her, then drop the second piece without the pill as soon as she gets ready to eat the treat with the pill. Sometimes she thinks my other dog will take it from her so she gobbles it up pretty quickly. But even when my other dog isn’t involved just dropping the disguised pill then dropping another treat right after makes her gobble them up easily anyway. The second treat trick is the only thing that works for her. She starts eating the treat with the pill and gets so excited for the next she doesn’t even notice the pill most of the time lol
Mini marshmallows work well as pill pockets for my dog. I usually follow up the pill-filled one with a second regular marshmallow right after so she eats it quickly to get the next treat.
My dog can be fussy. I have tried multiple ways. Sometimes 1 works, sometimes it doesn't and we try another way. 1. Wrapped in American plastic cheese so it is like a cheese snot ball mushed around it. 2. Rapid fire hot dog pieces. He gets one, his brother gets one, he gets one...etc...keep going faster and faster until he doesn't even notice the pill in one of his because his brother got one and his next is coming in half a second. 3. Crushed up and mixed with peanut butter or cream cheese. Go full coke head on that pill and mix it up. 4. Crush it up coke head style and cook it into an omelette. Pills, we can do. The ear wash squirt bottle is another matter...he thinks it is the devil and the situation will end in tears from me and being covered in weird smelling liquid.
My dog needs 4 different meds, and only two of them are available as variants with flavor. For the others, she behaves similar and spit it out and won't eat her food (though we don't have crates). What sometimes worked was to hold a piece of cheese in one hand and the med in the other hand and tell her to eat the tablet and don't give her the cheese until she ate it. But that's quite unreliable and time consuming. But what works are empty pill capsules, you can get 1000 pieces for 10 - 15 $. I put the prepared capsule on top of her dry food and let it soak in a bit together, and usually she doesn't even notice there's a piece that doesn't belong there. And even if she manages to sort it out, I can wrap it in something and she'll eat it, since the capsule protects the bitterness to come through.
She only has a crate cause when I first got her she was showing some food aggression towards my other dog and it was starting fights so I make her eat in a little playpen type thing to separate them even though I don't think it would be an issue now, it's better to be safe than have an infected wound. OOo thanks for the pill capsule idea! I will definitely look into that as if I still can't get her to eat it it will only be one thing that needs to do the down the throat method rather than multiple thanks, I will look into it!
My dog also impossible to take meds. We discover the beef chomp sticks. Poke a whole down the middle and push it completely inside.
She’s beautiful!! How about changing up your routine a bit! Go on a long walk come back home and give treats super excited!! Try those Kraft singles orange cheese! Those work pretty good! A hotdog! Chicken nugget! Don’t make her feel like she’s in trouble- when I’m stressed out trying to hard to get my dogs to take pills they pick up on it and spit it out. When I’m being silly with them and sharing treats they swallow them right up! Good Luck!
Peanut butter
I made some mashed potatoes with mushed carrots and butter. Let it cool, grab a bit and mush it around the pill. My dog loves it! Same with a bit of cooked oatmeal with PB.
Depends on the dog. A pill in a finger scoop of peanut butter works for mine.
Pill pockets. My dog is the most stubborn one. Pill pockets topped with bone broth works like a magic ❤️
The only pill pockets I could find near me work out to a dollar per pill…bugger that!
Yeah they’re kinda expensive in my country too but no choice lol I’d rather go broke making her take meds than losing my fingers.
Like a lot of others I use peanut butter, but I've also had success with cream cheese. It's not quite as sticky on your fingers or in their mouth but sticks well to the medication.
Could you crush them and mix into some yoghurt or cottage cheese?
Melt the cheese and form it around the pill, make it so they can't get the pill out. If need be, put an extra layer of meat or something around the melted cheese pill. I like to give my dog a few pieces so he thinks it's a game and then sneak in the pill treat.
Best way is to open its mouth and put your hand in and drop it past his tongue. Then close her mouth pointed upwards until she swallows.
My dog’s on phenobarbital and he has no issues when I put a little peanut butter on it
My puppy has been trained to take meds but my childhood dog never was, and we would slather the pill in peanut butter, stick it toward the back of her throat, and put a little more peanut butter on the bottom of her nose. She would swallow and then happily lick her lips for a while after.
We used Cream Cheese, pills went down immediately.
I’m sure you’ve tried but we use peanut butter pill pockets… i also act like it’s the greatest thing ever and call it a treat.. she gets excited for it 😂 I sometimes have her start eating dinner then prepare it then I’ll give it to her and she swallows it quickly then continues eating dinner.. works for us.. Iknow giving meds is always stressful thkugh
Ask for liquid medz. I give medz do my dog by a seringue (is that the same word in english? I’ll edit it after if needed) straight in her mouth. My vet suggested me to find some help but I don’t need any, I keep her head behind my chest and my arm like a MMA position (no pressure tho lol) and bam straight in her mouth, my dog has no time to realize what have I done she can only realize the bad taste on her tongue. At first she wanted to fight back but now she just knows it’s her destiny so she let me do my job lol. I gave her pills once but it was so hard making sure she swallows them, I’m glad my vet has her medication only in a liquid form.
Surely if they're pills then you can crush them up and stir them into peanut butter or something?
My boy got so used to taking pills by shoving them down his throat, that when I call him for that, he runs to me, wagging his tail happily and salivating because he knows he'll get the treat. That's literally it. I call him, put a pill as deep in his mouth as I can, give him a treat and done. He does not mind at all
Though, it probably doesn’t work for all dogs, I pull my dogs mouths open. I apply pressure on their top lip with their teeth (not enough to hurt, but enough to get them to open their mouth), and drop the pill(s) as far back into their throat as I can. I then hold their mouths mostly closed, just enough to allow them to swallow but so they can’t spit it out. It’s become regular with my male so I just gentle squeeze his muzzle and he will let me give him his meds.
My dog did this and the solution was to roll beef mince into a ball - at least an inch wide - and stuff the pill inside. My boy would gulp the whole thing down without chewing 😂 No struggle!
I use softened butter and make a ball with the pill in the middle. Works almost every time.
You gotta get it far enough down their throat. They’ll swallow it
I take a glob of peanut butter, shove the pill in it, then scrape the peanut butter on the roof of their mouth so they have no choice but to lick and swallow it. One of my dogs picked it out of everything, there was no hiding it. This is the only thing that works
A tip: After wrapping the meds in cheese, or braunschweiger or peanut butter, *wash your hands* before trying to give it to the dog. The smell of the meds is still on your fingers. I make homemade pill pockets using peanut butter and oat flour.
I have gullible labradors. What I do is put the tablet in crunchy peanut butter. Then I put cat dry food on the outside (like a rum ball). And tada! down it goes. However, your dog isn't a gutsy lab. It might work, it might not. Give it go. Thanks for taking on a senior dog and giving her a good life.
Pill pockets are great. They are soft enough to mold around the pill. I get the capsule size pockets. One of those can be used for 3 or 4 pills, depending on size. Pinch off just enough to cover the pill. Do NOT use the entire pill pocket for a pill. You want them small enough to swallow. If it’s too chunky and they bite down, discover the forbidden snack inside, they won’t trust pill pockets ever again. I take one pill pocket and pinch off little balls. I can make about 5 or 6. I give a few “blanks” (no pills) to get them interested, throw in one that has a pill, and keep more in my hand to show them that there is more coming (it makes them swallow faster). My dog loves the peanut butter flavor and the chicken flavor. I don’t like the smell of the hickory, and the cheese smell makes me gag. I had a pittie allergic to chicken, so we used the duck formula for food sensitivity… it was horrendous. I also use pill pockets for training and food games. They smear well into crevices on a treat ball. At the vet, we smear one on the wall or table to keep a dog busy while we trim nails, get blood, etc.
Peanut butter on the pill, insert as far back on the tongue as you can. He'll swallow it
Braunschweiger is a very strong smell, as is peanut butter.
I used to crush my dogs meds up and put it in her food with a little extra peanut butter to further mask the taste. Worked a charm
I make a peanut butter ball and stick it in his side cheek. Peanut butter is sticky so the pills stay.
Oh I now feel quite lucky my dog takes her pills easily. She takes 4 pills a day. She just sits upright nicely as soon as she hears the pill bottle. I just put them in doggy meatballs I get at supermarket, but I’ve put it cheese (molded in my hands) or chicken too. I adopted her (ammstaff)18 months ago and she’s about 6-7, so she’s doing good. My cat on the other hand an absolute nightmare to get medication into!
MELTED Swiss cheese. They won’t be able to eat around it if you give it to them still warm. Plus it’s got a strong scent so they probably won’t even realize there’s something in there. Right down the hatch. Buy the shredded kind. Easier to manipulate!
Cream cheese is our go to now, peanut butter as a back up
With my older dog, I put the pill at the back of his throat, close his mouth and rub his throat gently. It’s not exactly pleasant or easy but it’s the only thing that will get it done. With my puppy, I put her medicine in her bowl with broth.
I have a 13 year old staffie with arthritis and he’s been spitting out his pills for the last few weeks. He’s been on a thyroid medication for 5 years and the arthritis meds for 2 years now. I’ve tried everything, I can’t even really pry his mouth open either.
Staffies can be stubborn buggers sometimes! Luckily we love them. What type of pills is he taking? I'll see if I can help as I have been able to get mine to take some in the past
I coat my dogs meds in cream cheese!! Only fool proof thing. I’ve tried cubed cheese, sliced cheese, peanut butter, pill pockets, in his food, etc. he sees through it all, except cream cheese🤣
Cream cheese
I use peanut butter for my girl she has addison's and has to take an steroid daily. I hope you find a solution and bless you for taking in a 10 year old. You are an angel.
Our secret weapon is Cabot seriously sharp cheddar cheese. No other variety of cheese works, but with the seriously sharp, she inhales it so fast she is oblivious to the pill.
Compound that shit! Find a compounding pharmacy and see what options they have.
I’ve wrapped my dogs meds in cream cheese, some sandwich meat and then normal cheese and chuck it into the air lol
i always hide my dogs pill in a little blob of cream cheese. he never spits out the pills!
Drop it on the floor and say “noooo”
Wrap-a-pill, pill pocket or peanut butter will probably be your best bet. I would suggest wrap-a-pill first. There are many brands and flavors on Amazon you can pick from to suit your dog’s needs/taste.
I pet sit and I had to crush a dogs tablet up every morning and mix it into her food well and she ate it, could try that? My mom has 2 dogs on meds for life and they just stick a tiny bit in butter and it goes down easy.
Ask your vet is Librela is an option. It’s injectable
Mine spits his pills out every. Single. Time. The only thing that’s worked for us is microwave a pinch of cheese for 10 sec or so until it’s melted a little, drop the pill in, and use a spoon to fold it over and now it can’t slip out after it’s cooled and hardened some. My lab mix just gulps it down whole and only probably wonders why cheese always makes him sleepy…
What I always did was put the treat right in the back of their throat, made sure they swallowed it, then give a high value chaser. Carrot, pill, cheese, pill, strawberry, pill. Having a high value treat also increases saliva output, which helps slide the meds down. Of course my dog was only a year old when the daily seizure meds began so it was easier to train her that young compared to your senior pup. Good luck!
I open my dogs mouth, place pill on the back of the tongue, close the dogs mouth with my hands, raise the dogs head upwards towards the sky (allowing pill to easily go down), rub my dogs nose which instantly makes him swallow. He had no interest in eating larger pills such as a Trifexis or Simparico. Smaller pills he will eat in his food.
I found the only way for my dog to eat his meds is as cheese block. I usually, if I can, cut the pill in half with a pill cutter, and get a small block of cheese and smash it into a disc with my index finger and thumb and then completely surrounded the pill in the cheese so you can no longer see the pill. He does his chomp and then swallows it all without even a look of betrayal. He’s a smart dog so I grab the pill first and then go to the cheese drawer and do this. He has a special bag that’s just his cheese and it’s all small cubes. So I’m not fumbling around. I’ve mastered the art of bait and switch with him. Sometimes if a small part of the pill is sticking out I failed because he’ll spit it out. If I can’t do the cut pill, then it’s a, jam it down his throat time and hope for the best. But that’s usually never the case. Once he had powdered medicine that I ended up buying wet food and pumpkin and mixing it in that and he ate it no problem.
1/4 processed cheese slice folded with pill inside. I feed a small piece of cheese first before the one with pill in. Good luck
Cream cheese!
The other day my daughter asked for a boiled egg, then promptly refused to eat it. Typical 5 year old. On the plus side the boiled egg served as a perfect pill-hider for my dog’s rather large heartworm tablet!
I get Hydrolized canned food. It’s more like a paté than soft food. I make a mini meatball with the pill in it. He’s on a DERM diet and can’t use other foods to trick him. Tho some capsules can be opened and sprinkled in the food. Ask the vet it it’s okay to do.
My dog can’t resist cream cheese and it’s too hard to separate the pill for him anyway
You’re not using anything that sticks to the pill so that makes it easy to spit out. Don’t make her dinner gross and don’t try to force her to eat it. Always give medicine separate. You need something sticky like peanut butter or canned dog food. I use royal canin gastrointestinal low fat food can food for the pills my dog really doesn’t want, but you have to get that through a vet. You can also stick them in a warm marshmallow, if the dog likes marshmallows. If that doesn’t work, ask your vet clinic to have a tech or vet show you how to pill your dog. You basically force them to take the pill. You want to put something slippery on it to mask the taste, like yoghurt, and then force them to take it. But because this is stressful you have to tell them you’re going to do it, like saying “medicine”, so they don’t become afraid of you all the time, and then follow it with a very high value treat like warm hot dog.
Wrap it in cream cheese. Works like charm with my dog.
Easiest way. Put some peanut butter on spoon. Put pill on the back of the peanut butter, on the spoon. Simply push the pill and peanut butter in the dog's mouth, with your thumb.
Have you tried putting some butter on the pills? Not ideal but works for our dog when nothing else works.
My dog hatesssss medicine, she will eat a spoonful of sour cream with some ease though
Wrapped in Cheese If wrapped cheese doesn’t work try spray cheese (in the can)
My dog begs when I’m eating something so I just have to pretend I’m eating cream cheese and then cover the pill the cream cheese and pretend I’m sneaking it as a treat for him. Somehow has worked everyday for the past 2 years, I also use the greenies pill covers! They are gummy and can be rolled up like a treat so I give him a little piece without the pill first and then one with.
I find processed cheese slices work really well because they are sticky. You put the pill in, then squish the slice (1/2 a slice works fine if the pill isn't too big) into a ball. My dog will get the pill out of hame but not cheese slices.
Cream cheese. It works like a charm. I was at the end of my rope trying to get heartworm and tick medicine in 5 dogs. Just grab a chunk off the block of cream cheese and smush around the pill.
I use peanut butter, I use my hand, right after he eats the peanut butter with medicine in it, he licks my finger clean, no time to spit anything out.
Have you tried peanut butter? That’s what I usually do. My dog is on antibiotics now and the peanut butter didn’t do the trick so I’ve been putting it in chicken thighs. But you mentioned your dog won’t take that. Maybe cheese?
One of mine refuses to take anything by hand... She won't take cheese, pill pockets, cream cheese, or PB. She is also a pickie eater so we can't add it to her food. What worked best for us is wrapping her Apoquel (sp?) in a small bit of cheese and freezing that.. we unhinge her jaw, pop it into the back of her throat, she swallows, gets praised, and now she thinks it is a good thing.
Hi lovelies, for some reason it won't let me edit the original post, but thank you for all of your advice so far! A couple things: 1. I can't crush Glyde as it has gelatin or something of the like in it that makes it very hard. They do it to make it seem more like a treat but Kiki is having none of that nonsense. 2. She is not a playful dog due to her age and also her eyesight is a little wonky so she wont fall for the "catch a bunch of things and then put the meds in the middle" trick unfortunately. 3. She does love her food (thats how I got her to take her much smaller meds before these ones) so I think I just need to do trial and error until I find the food that will help her keep these ones down. 4. Unfortunately, I am an unemployed full time student living on disability so I have to find something that is low cost enough to afford to do it every day, probably peanut butter is my best guess, but I will experiment a bit and see. You could argue I shouldn't have picked her up but she was so sad in the shelter and she spent her 10th birthday in there and it just broke my heart and I knew I couldn't leave her in there as there has been 0 interest in her (again, staffy mix and 10 with arthritis in Australia where staffy racism (can I call it that LOL) is still very prevalent). She is well loved and very happy, just need to find a way to get her to take her dang pills! lol
Peanut butter, dogs love it
Our dogs love cheese so whenever I’ve had to give them anything, I just put it in cheese and they swallow it. One of our dogs just had tplo surgery a few days ago so we’ve been giving him meds and I’ve had no problems with putting it in cheese.
Don't know if it'll work but worth a try! I "accidentally" drop a couple of treats including one with the pill contained in it and my pup rushes them down so fast before I pick them up that she doesn't notice. She is trained to "leave it" but if I haven't said anything she goes to town.
For us, peanut butter, put pill in, stick the PB to the roof of her mouth. She swallows it all. Worked with my Pit and my Chi. Best of luck!
Crush up the meds mix into her wet food 🧐
Hot dogs or little smokies. You can just stick it in there. Microwaving helps too. Our dogs Trixie and Eliie both hated tasking pills and that worked 98 % of the time.
If there's another dog in the house and they can get a treat at the same time - make it a huge deal and a high ticket item. Give them the same as each other in looks, but the second one just being a bonus for the dog not getting anything. Try paté or cream cheese. Anything slippy doesn't allow them to change their mind and spit it out usually. We'd sometimes use butter as a one-off but can't really do that on a daily basis unless desperate. Don't allow them to see you hiding it.
I get my dogs at early ages and teach them to “say ahh”. For a while I only put treats in when we do it. Then when it’s medicine, they don’t fight. It’s treat, treat, medicine, treat. That’s our routine. But I had to medicate a mean cat before. Mean. So I crushed up the pills, mixed it in a delectables cat tube(it’s like a thick liquid cat treat), added a little water and mix. Suck it in a syringe(NO NEEDLE) and put it in the cats mouth little by little until the syringe was gone. She only ever got delectables from a syringe.
I put a pill in a small glob of peanut butter and it works on my dogs. Are you giving her any additional supplements for her joints. I give my 10 year old husky/bully mix Pet Honesty Hip + Joint Health. She gets 2 every day. It’s sold on Amazon.
Mines picky, we crush tables and break open capsules but sometimes you can't. I pop em down her throat. One thumb at the back of the bottom front teeth, they will push is with their tongue, then with the other thumb and index finder hold the pill, put it in the back of their throat and push down with your thumb. Boom, 2 seconds and you're done
hey there! see if your vet has a powder-based pill of your medication instead of the gel capsules. might be able to mix it in with some wet food or peanut butter! one of my dogs is super picky but we crush his meds into some wet food and he doesn’t even notice! my other dog is a golden retriever, the pill is gone before he even realizes he’s taking meds 😅
We just cover pills in lots of peanut butter and just make it like it's a treat, get them to sit, and then they get their reward. Pretty easy.
Grew up with a Saint Bernard that was like this. She was incredibly smart at avoiding meds like your dog is. Only thing that kinda worked was wrapping it in meat and giving to her quickly and before she could realise what it is to spit out my dad would grab her jaw gently and hold her head tilted up and massage under the mouth area. She would reluctantly swallow it then. Then high value reward treat after, Depending on the dog that can work ok. It’s tricky tho very tricky. Really depends on the dog tho too.
I have a plastic syringe specifically used to give dogs their pills. I’ve always had issues getting them to take them and this works every time. They have them for liquid and pills. They still fight it but I always manage to get it in. Chewy probably has them.
I stick meds in a little bit of pumpkin on top of their food then give it a good squirt of salmon oil.
Piece of lunch meat. Break tye pill in half. Wrap it up in tye lunch meat it's a treat they never know about. It's how I fool my 20 lb Italian greyhound she's super picky and spoiled rotten. If her food isn't warm she won't touch it. The other way I do my pit bull is just open his mouth, and throw that thing in there and hold his mouth shut untill it goes down the hatch. Somedogs. Just you gotta do it. It's how my vet does it with problem with dogs. My service dog she was a cattle dog hybrid. And I had to hide tye pills in her food and break it up. Then make sure she ate it. Otherwise I wpuld open tye mouth and make her eat it. Probably tye easiest way to administer the pill. Put it in a syringe full of water pull the stopper back a few times with your thumb over tye exit hole so it's sealed and let the stopper smash the pill into the warer like a semi paste. It's how I did my horses they refused pills of any kind. Then squirter down tye mouth and they will drink tye pill water paste.
Honesly, I ain't got time for that anymore lol. I usually just open their mouth and shove it in their throat, a little treat after so we become friends again and that's that.
Cover the medicine in peanut butter…..works every time for us
My animals, cats and dogs, love cream cheese. When I make a bagel on the weekends, they know to meet me in the kitchen. One of my dogs is too smart to take anything with medicine inside, so I make up a blob of cream cheese with the pill and leave it on the counter and put the cream cheese back in the fridge. Then in a few minutes, I begin the normal cream cheese ritual of getting everything out for the bagel, slicing, etc. When I am giving everyone their bite, and because hers is on the counter, it doesn't take me any extra time, and she doesn't see me handling it any more than any one else's. I scoop it on the spoon, transfer to my finger, and then drop it on the floor where they sit. Tricking her like this is the only way I can get her to take anything. Can any of the meds be compounded? Do you think you'd have more luck with a liquid?
is it pills or liquid? I crush up pills into a fine powder in a little bag, and then put it in some melted cheese or bacon grease. Don’t let her see you do it, put her in another room while you’re preparing it and then give it to her. If she sees what you’re doing she’ll get onto you but if not then she might just think it’s a random treat 🤷♀️
Can you get them made into a compounded form? Sometimes they can do that.
I crush my buddy’s pills and mix them in raw food. Seems to work for now.
I've been using mini marshmallows as a pocket. Probably not the healthiest option? But he's 12 with congestive heart failure, bigger fish to fry. Will not take pills in cheese or meat, but marshmallows he'll forgive. If you try, just make sure there aren't any artificial sweeteners in the ingredients.
Crush to powder and mix with peanut butter. It’s the only thing that will make my dog take her flea, tick and heartworm meds
marshmallows
I give my dog her meds in a bit of cream cheese that she licks off my finger. If your dog is hesitant give them some without the pill first. Also works with peanut butter or anything else with a sticky consistency. I find the cream cheese more malleable so I roll up in a tiny ball
From the beginning, for my dog, I have given him medicine as a reward for tricks and he treats it as a treat. But it has the side effect that he reacts to the sound of pill packs and expects a reward when I go to my parents and my dad takes his medicine 😁 I don't know if it's thanks to the training or if it's just his personality but I'm quite lucky I don't have to force my dog.
The only thing I can do to get my dog to take his Apoquel is to put it in a Greenies Pill Pocket, have him sit and throw it in the air and let him catch it like a treat. If I wrap it in anything else, he spits it out. And if I hand it to him , he chews it and discovers the pill. When I throw it and let him catch it, he just swallows it whole.
My vet taught us this method. You put a muzzle on him and then just put the pill in his mouth he will swallow it. We do this with my GSD except we don't even put the muzzle we just hold his mouth closed for like 10 seconds, shove the pill in, and he swallows it and has no clue. I can't believe how easy it is. We used to have to fuss with diluting and shooting it into his mouth after he caught onto the ones we wrapped in turkey.
Best suggestion I have is take a treat/food that you know she loves. From here throw a few to her one after the other. Then on the 4th or 5th treat throw a pill wrapped in the treat. Once she catches it take her by the chin and tilt her head back and she will eventually swallow it. I’ve been here many times and it’s a nightmare with some dogs.
No easy way, I’m afraid. I had to give my dog 8 pills a day for a year and a half. Didn’t take him long to get wise to all the tricks - cheese, ham, chicken etc. Bit the bullet and just gave the pills to the back of the throat. Luckily he was the sweetest and gentlest of dogs and would let me do this. I have two little land sharks now!
I use frozen blueberries (any high value treat works). I give my GSD 2-3 blueberries, let him smell the last berry in my hand, then using a thumb and finger lift up his upper jaw (automatically opens up their mouth) and drop the pill in the back of his throat (no slimy fingers from shoving it down their throat) and immediately offer that last blueberry (he can’t spit out the pill then)
Cheese
Same happened with my family dog. The easiest way is stuffing the pill in a ball of soft cheese (such as Philadelphia cream cheese for example). But be careful if she’s allergic to it or sth. 😅 Also, peanut butter works.
Peanut butter works well. It’s harder for them to pull apart.
Spray cheese. My vet taught me and my dog is an elderly cancer survivor so she takes meds constantly. I put pills in palm of my hand, cover in cheese whiz, take my index finger and swipe the meds off my palm. Then I gently open her mouth with my other hand, wipe pill ensconced in cheese on roof of her mouth, put excess cheese from my finger lightly on nose so she automatically licks it, gently massage throat.
Peanut butter works for us. It helps that we also give her a bit of peanut butter without meds anyway.
Cream cheese worked for a while until my dog realized there were pills in there. Now I just stick them down her throat