How do you give medicine or pills to your dog?

[Dianna]

I got this little tip today, sure wished I had it 3 weeks back for our girl who didn't take to much to the taste of Glyco-flex.

For the golden that hates the taste of his meds (Pill form), put it in his treats bag or jar for a bit.

Dianna

[Daisy and Me]

I always use Peanut butter. I just goop up the pill with it and she will scarf it right down. :)

[melissanecz]

Crean cheese works too!

[goldenjack]

Very interesting topic.

You can also use small marshmellows (put the pill inside the marshmellow). But think all of the above ideas are good ones!

[Daisy and Me]

Wow, never thought of the marshmallow! What a good idea!!

[slclancy]

coat it in peanut butter. give your dog a taste off of your finger and then stuff the PB coated pill in his mouth. they swallow without chewing.

[Duke's Mom]

Morning!

Since Duke had been sick, he is being VERY finicky about taking his meds. I used to be able to just shove them into a Velveeta cheese ball, but he's not eating that now so I'm a little baffled.

He takes 8 am and 8 pm. 4 are small pills, 2 small capsules and 1 1000 mg vit. E and 1 fish oil. So............ as you can see, there are quite a few to do by mouth and I don't want him running everythime he sees me approach in the fear that I'm going to stick my fingers down his throat.

What I've been doing is putting the capsules and pills into the cheese ball and manually do those all at once. Then, individually do the e & fish oil in cheese because they are so slick. This morning I tried peanut butter balls and he didn't touch those (which before he would have gobbled them up)

Any other ideas? I'm at my wits end. Thank you!

[goldenretrieverdad]

With my current golden retriever, I have to use the "chaser" method.:laugh2 Meaning that if the pill is to big, I break it up into smaller pieces. I then get his favorite biscuit treat and break it up into pill size pieces. I first give a piece of the biscuit and the dog of course swallows it easily. I then put one piece of the pill all the way in the back of the mouth, along with one piece of the biscuit. You know something? It works! jugglex1

My father used to surround pills in a little bit of wet dog food, and that also works, especially if the dog tends to swallow things immediately.

[Andi]

I would use a piece of cheese and just wrap it around it but since Porter was so sick and not eating....I just had to take the pills and put them in the back of his throat, hold his mouth shut, and rub his neck. That works too.

[Snowball]

I use canned dog food - its the only time they get canned so it's a treat. All I have to do is say "time for your pills' and they come running. They wait patiently watching me get the pills out to put in the food - then I give them each litttle bites. They share a half of one of the small cans every night. They like it so much that if I don't get it for them around 10:30 (I usually give pills between 10 and 11 at night) our big dog comes and finds me and starts growling to get my attention. This has worked much better than any human food did.

[mom23guys]

Goldens are usually easier to give a pill to. We owned a golden for almost twelve years before she passed. We now have a Westie who takes a few medications daily. She had the uncanny ability to hold a pill in her mouth whether it was hidden in cheese, peanut butter or chopped meat. I'd find hidden pills everytime I vacuumed. Anyway, we have a pharmacy (really it's about 50 minutes away) that will compound any medicine in treat form. She loves taking her medicine now. It's a little more expensive but her allergies are really under control now since she's getting the meds she needs on a regular basis. Ask your vet about this. We used to have to send to Texas to a place who does the same thing. for meds but now it's more convenient.

[Jenmomto2]

This is how my mum used to do it. She would put the pill right at the back of the tongue, hold our dogs mouth closed (gently), and gently stroke her throat. She would then swallow it. Pretty painless!

Jenny :003

[maine-girl]

A schnoodle that we owned for 19 years used to need a pill, I tried cheese, peanut butter, liverwurst, etc. She got to the point that if she saw the pill container she would run. I started making a half of a peanut butter sandwich and I WOULD HAVE TO EAT SOME!!for her to take part. One day I was in a rush and she needed her pill. I found much to my horror that I had taken the wrong half and eaten it. Imagine my shame at having to call poison control and explain the situation to them. the officer I talked to (after he found out the pill was not poisonous) had a few jokes to tell me. lol and rotflmbo banana banana banana banana rofl3

[OwnedbymyGolden]

I mix Izzy's pills in with her morning dog food.She gets a fish oil capsule and a Ester C vitamin.I mix 2 tablespoons of lowfat organic yogurt with her pills and dry food.She eats them without even knowing she's taking them.She is such a picky eater I wasn't sure if it would work, but it does.

[Duke's Mom]

Johnwa, I'm sorry - I should have done a search first.

Thank you so much for everyone's ideas. You know, with the junk he eats, you wouldn't think that these would be a big deal! I've tried mixing the fish oil & vit. E with his dry food and he won't touch it! That was even before he got sick. I would have thought that the fish oil especially he would scarf down.

This morning I put them in a bit of the canned food and he ate them. The problem is, what works this morning may very well not work tonight! Then, I've wasted a pill or two trying to figure out what to give them to him with. I hate cramming that many down his throat morning and night. He got to where he was clenching his teeth shut TIGHT! (They are so smart!)

I think I may try the marshmallow trick. He's now tired of the cheese and peanut butter as I said in my first post. Thanks again, everyone. :woofpup

[CaGolden]

With my older golden I will just put it on the same hand as a treat, he doesn't even notice what he ate. He will eat anything. With my younger one, it was a bit more difficult. She somehow manages to eat everything and the pill is left behind. I finally just gave it to her in canned food. I take one of the chunks of meat and just stuff the pill inside. If I don't have any I will just wrap it up on some bread or mix it with some banana. This is a little messy but they love it, since they usually don't get bananas.

[Twogoldens]

My dog is being a turkey when it comes to taking his pills twice a day...we have put them in peanut butter, meatballs, sanwiches, pasta, even peeps!! he takes them walks away and spits it out and disects it...sneaky :cool:
I have tried to just put them down his throat by the back of the tounge and he gagged and choked then threw up...
does anyone have a new trick for me?
anything will do, he has one more week to go! banana
Thank you!

[Jo Ellen]

hmmm...i think you exhausted all my methods! Maybe dipping the pill in honey? dogs have a very strong sweet tooth. Just a thought, I really don't know!

Or maybe sardine oil? Yuck, but dogs love it!

[Tailer'sFolks]

Maybe try a small chunk of hot dog? :204 We did yogurt, a favorite, till that didn't work anymore. Hot Dogs were irresistible.

[soccermom]

Does your vet have pill shooters? Before I got a pill shooter (for my cat) I would get scratched and mauled by him. A friend of mine also recommended putting the pill in the back of the throat, holding the mouth closed and blowing in the nose. This is supposed to make the dog swallow. I just could not do this because I would get the giggles trying to blow in teh dog's nose. Hope this helps, if not hope it gives you a funny mental image. beth, moose & sandy. :reddogx

[GldnParis]

I buy the "pill pockets" from my vet. As soon as I get the bag down my two start going wild. They think they are getting a treat but little do they know! ; - ) I think you can also get these at the usual chain pet stores or over the net.

[Duke's Mom]

Well, Duke takes more pills that Carter has liver pills (I guess I'm aging myself!)

It used to be such a chore, but I was making it way to hard. All I do now is mix them all up in his pumpkin and then put his hard food in and mix it all together. He must lick the spool, though. Part of the ritual.

No more a problem. Easy as can be. If he happens to miss one which rarely happens, I simply get a little yogurt on the spoon and pick up the pill with it and he licks it right up.


And, let me tell you I tried everything. Good luck!

[Tom]

I read somewhere a long time ago that dogs don't have the same sensitive gag reflex that we humans do. This helps with administering medication in pill form and this method has always served me well. After opening the dog's mouth wide, I slip the pill well toward the back of the tongue (kind of over the hump of the tongue) which they will extend when you slip your fingers back on it. I then just gently close the dogs mouth (which causes the dog to retract its tongue, drawing the pill in toward the throat), lift the snout up to extend the throat and stroke the throat a couple of times. You'll feel the dog swallow and down the pill goes. Quick and easy for both of you: It takes all of about 5 seconds to do once you've got it figured out.

[Daniela (UK)]

I use minced meat for Molly. And I tend to break the pills up to very small pieces so even if she did have the need to bite into a little mince ball she wouldn't probably feel it.

Reading your post Duke's Mom it seems like Duke is expecting it in certain kinds of food. So maybe variaty will help? Experimenting with something different every day? It's a pain .. I know!

[konabear]

We call our Golden crack baby sometimes because she has been on some sort of medication (for allergies) since a baby. We would just shake the bottle and she would come over and sit. We just opened her mouth a little and popped it in and she would swallow, no problems. Doubt any other dog is this easy. Right now we just put her pill in her food and she eats it. That probably wasn't much help huh? Our other pup, we use cheese or peanut butter. Anything they think is people food goes down the pipe easy!

[ChicagoCanine]

With my Golden I usually just put the pill into the back of her mouth, hold her mouth closed and then rub her nose a little. When dogs lick, they usually swallow and rubbing her nose usually causes her to lick it, and at the same time swallow the pill...

For my terrier I usually wrap it in something. I found this product called "Sneak A Pill" which comes in a tube, you put the pill at the end of the tube and turn a dial, and a pocket of soft tasty stuff forms around the pill, then you just pinch the ends and feed it to the dog.

If I don't have that I either use a piece of cheese or bread-- I give him a plain piece, then give him a piece with the pill in it, then quickly give him another plain piece to trick him into swallowing the piece with the pill in it! (he can be very tricky!)

And if you think medicating a dog is hard, try medicating a rat! :p

[CaynCher]

If I had to pill, I would probably wrap it in peanut butter. For liquids, I would make a pouch at the side of the dog's mouth and pour it in.

:dogbark :reddogx

[Moe]

Our Golden Retriever, Kelly, was spayed recently. She had been chewing at her incision and it was beginning to get infected. The vet put her on a pill for 10 days that looked like it would choke a horse. I couldn't imagine how I was going to get her to swallow them. The liverwurst trick worked for us. I would just put it into a ball of liverwurst, she would chew maybe twice, and then swallow - it was gone in seconds. :029 Pretty easy.

[ruxpin60]

When my dog Murphy was sick I feed him all his pills by pushing them into a piece of Banana. They were gone in one bite.

[missinbeau]

My beau took pills daily for most of his life, I used the canned cheese, the stuff that comes out like whipped cream. It is much neater, peanut butter used to get under my nails . I just put the pills in the palm of my hand squirted some cheese on them and they were gone. Another thing to try is if you have two dogs give the other one some plain cheese from your plam first 'cause you know a golden just can't be left out of anything!! :woofpup

[Daniela (UK)]

Hi Everyone,

just wanted to share this great idea a friend of mine told me about... Our Molly is on quite a bit of medication and to try to feed it to her is getting more and more difficult each day.. she finds it in nearly everything except milk and biscuits which I don't really want her to be eating in the first place.

A friend of mine came with this new tip and it works!!! I just crush the pills and mix them with a bit of liver pate and then spread it on a small piece of bread. Molly doesn't even know it's there coz the liver pate smells strong enough to disguise the horrible smell of nasty antibiotics etc.

Try it and let me know if it works for your dog?! Or maybe you have some other great tip for us?

Looking forward to hear
Daniela and Molly

[KATERINA & TSOUFI]

I never use any kind of food for the pills. I just open their mouth and put the tablet deep in their throat on the right side . Then i just hold the muzzle closed for seconds and they just swallow it,it doesnt hurt or anything. After they swallow the pill i just give them a litle treat for "Good boy".

Furry hugs from Greece..

Katerina & Tsoufi & Keagan

[Daniela (UK)]

I used to do it but when I tried last time Molly nearly bit me, well she growled and bared her teeth.. it was a little scary.

She didn't mind with her small pills but these new ones she has are so big that even when you break them in half they are still massive.. and they stink of penicilin.. yuk.

[JsMom]

Hide the pill in a bit of cream cheese, feed a little without the pill first, then the one with the pill - works like a charm!