DON'T try to hide them -- seriously -- you're lying to your dog and you will flatly hurt your relationship with him by doing so -- he will begin to "suspect" every morsel of food coming from your hands that way.
I've posted this in the IMHA thread -- it's long, but it DOES work. It's training mostly -- and you **can** win this.
This was originally done as part of a post on the big 400 page IMHA
thread. There are SO many meds that have
to be given for that (Billy was, at one time, on almost 40 pills - from small
to HUGE - in one day) you have to be able to **easily** give them meds or they
will die.
Some meds can simply be stirred into food -- non-bitter things like milk
thistle -- you can simply empty the caps in and stir into food. If you feed only kibble you may want to add
a topper -- something a bit wet like baby food or similar to bind the
powder. I home cook (for three) so that
part is easier for me and a lot of what mine take is powder form (Chinese
medicine often uses powders -- it's easier for the body to assimilate). Some things are very bitter -- like Echinacea
-- so that is better left in capsules -- we will deal with that later in this.
********************************************************************************************
The very *first* thing I will tell you is a goal. Often getting a dog trained so they will
take meds literally will save their lives.
Underlying all of it is training. Later in this are a ton of tips & tricks
to use *now*. But the training has to
start today and continue.
Honestly? DON'T **EVER** try to hide anything. Don't try to
"sneak it" by -- their nose is SO highly developed they KNOW when
something is "in" something and you'll wind up with a suspicious dog
who has to examine everything thinking you're gonng "slip" something
in on them. Instead, teach them to TRUST you. Teach her that you
won't be sneaky but you'll TELL her when there is a med, but you'll give it in
a yummy form that's slippery enough to slide down easy. Teach her also
this way that you CAN be trusted to let her know when something is yummy and a
treat.
********************************************************************************************
There are two "commands" that will make your life 1000 times
easier. These are NOT difficult to teach
-- but you must be consistent and you must do them at times when you are NOT
trying to give meds. Do this with
**all** your dogs at the same time -- getting doggie greed to work for you is a
truly wonderful thing. Then, when you
do give meds ALSO line everyone up so they 'compete' for the goodie you are
giving with the meds. It will change the
situation. And if you have to leash the
sick one then leash ALL of them.
For the training, you will need strips of something/anything -- vary what
you use. Strips of steak, hot dog,
string cheese. And I do mean **strips** --
as long as you can fit in the palm of your hand.
Hold the long piece so the length of it is in your palm and a tiny bit is
sticking out between your thumb and finger.
Put the dog in a 'sit' and say "GOOD boy! Here -- chew it
good!" and offer just the tip of the strip. Don't let go -- encourage the dog to nibble
as you s-l-o-w-l-y allow them to pull and nibble the strip from your hand -- Repeating constantly "Chew
good! yes, good job, chew good
.... CHEW .... chew .... good chew"
Now at that point the dog is only responding to the treat. You have to do this repeatedly **with ALL of
them** and any other treat you possily can HOLD IT so they literally begin to
nibble it before it leaves your hand -- they DO generalize this almost
immediately and figure out that it tastes good to chew something and have it in
your mouth. So you repeat a zillion
times "chew it good!!"
Brunschweiger or liverwurst (same thing) -- deli case (I like Kahn's the
best, but Oscare Meyer is good) -- do NOT use the low fat one. It's
animal fat anyway which is far far better tolerated.
But I just take a slice of liverwurst and cut it into sections (maybe
sixths for the Kahns, and for Oscar Meyer I'd take a 1" chunk and cut that
into sixths). Then just moosh a pill or several into the liverwurst (it's
soft).
*********************************************************************************************
OK -- and I do this as the second part to the SAME training session.
Set out next to you little bite sized bits of something very slippery like
liverwurst/braunschweiger, ricotta cheese, or even butter (not margerine - dogs
do fine with animal fat tho). SLIPPERY
stuff. Meat baby food works **very**
well for this (avoid ham, but beef, chicken, turkey, and lamb work incredibly
well)
Again, have everyone sit. Hold up the
strip you used previously and say "THIS is chew it GOOD" ..(hold up
the blop of liverwurst and say:"THIS is JUST SWALLOW" (don't
yell, but put some emphasis on the words)
Hold the first bit of liverwurst high above the dog's nose -- you want the
throat in a straight line. Give that bit
of slippery food and say "Swallow -- no chew ... just swallow" and
you say "GOOD DOG" as it disappears down the throat. Follow it again with another piece -- give
each one TWO pieces and reward with a "good dog! that's Just
Swallow!"
Just the first couple of times you have to link it with "no chew-- just
swallow" --- they DO get it. This
one is slippery and goes down easy. "just swallow". It's a bit on the same theory as teaching a
dog to bark on command in order to teach them NOT to bark except they get these
EASY because they're all yummy.
THEN -- you wind up with dogs you can give things like cantalope and
watermelon (which are both *very* good for them) and they chew it enough so it
doesn't give them gas. At the same time, you can then more easily give
them meds.
I seriously mean for you to do this with ALL your dogs at once. It will help **enormously** when you give ONE
meds. Because they all want what the
other gets and the reluctant one often will snap up an offering JUST so the
next guy doesn't get it. And that works
to your benefit when you're doing meds (I'm getting there!)
********************************************************************************************
NOW I CAN HEAR YOU SAY: "But you don't understand -- I can't hide a
pill in ANYTHING"
Therein
is the point of what I'll now say: NEVER
EVER **HIDE** anything from your dog!!!!
This is a DOG -- mega nose?
Jacobsen's Organ? They can
'smell' things you and I don't even know exist.
If you try to "hide" a pill they KNOW it is there. But by trying to "hide" it they
distrust what's coming from **your** hands!!
Their owner! The ultimate object
of their devotion? We hope!!
Don't do it. Take this back a step
and BE HONEST.
Part of the reason the dog runs and hides is because they think now that
they must **distrust** everything you offer. Rather than do that I'll run
away. THAT IS SAD.
You
ultimately want to build trust back up here -- you want them to trust you --
ULTIMATELY you want the dog to understand that IF IF IF there is something
nasty in there you will tell them
You will TELL them if there is nasty stuff, BUT you're going to protect
them. You're going to **tell** the dog
when you put a pill in something. You're
going to show it to him ... you're going to let him SEE you're putting it n the
slippery "just swallow" stuff.
e-v-e-r-y s-i-n-g-l-e
t-i-m-e!!!!!!!!! yes, he's gotta
take it -- but you're going to make it easy and WARN him so he doesn't inadvertently
bite into something bitter or nasty.
You're going to give him ANOTHER slidey piece right after so it all goes
down and doesn't catch and make him choke.
**YOU** (the ultimate object of his devotion) are going to take care of
him. He can trust you. --- HOW?
We're going to kick "chew it GOOD" and "just swallow!"
game up a notch. Again -- keep the other
dogs there. It's part of what will make
this succeed. EVERYONE gets the
treat/good stuff. only one dog may get
the medicine. That's ok. You're going to make getting meds an
exciting, fun thing -- EVERYONE will want some.
(oh my -- they DO!!!)
You've just taught them that things coming from your hand are yummy -- but
SOME are better chewed (and the taste lasts longer) -- SOME are slippy ...
right down your throat! BUT still yummy!
Take ONE slippery piece (liverwurst or ricotta cheese -- very slippery, but
I like stuff I can mush into a small ball).
Show them how you've cut up pieces for everyone. SHOW THEM. But particularly show the
piece to the dog getting the pill. Tell them
what it is and tell her it's yummy but "JUST SWALLOW". Hold it
well above the nose (have them in a sit) with another plain piece in the other
hand. Show the dog you have TWO pieces.
This is YUM stuff. Then -- show the pill and shove it into the
first piece. "This has your
medicine in it -- this is gonna help -- take THIS and you'll get this other one!"
and again have a second piece in your hand so she gulps the one with the pill
and gets the next one.
Do exactly that. one two -- but have
other lumps there so the other dogs GET the goodie -- but the "sick"
dog has gotten TWO. (Trust me -- dogs
CAN count)
It becomes a wonderful thing to get meds.
Everyone gets a treat. Everyong
races TO you. But they will ALL learn to
trust you in this -- sometimes you gotta get yucky stuff BUT Mom's gonna make
sure you don't taste it. You can TRUST
her.
At this point you'll have to work with this a bit because this one dog has
learned to distrust you -- but if you use the 'group therapy' approach (GRIN --
I mean **GREED**) you'll get it to work.
this helps UNBELIEVABLY Remember -- this article was originally done for a
woman who was dealng with a dog who had IMHA (immune-mediated hemolytic anemia)
-- these dogs take huge mega immune-suppressors like Imuran and cyclosporine --
you can NOT let them bite those capsules and some of them are HUGE. Getting meds down without having to pill them
is critical.
IDEAS:
There are a lot of things you can use like this -- ricotta cheese (very low
in fat anyway), butter (again it's an animal fat -- FAR better tolerated than
something like margerine which is a veggie fat and not digestible for them), yogurt
(try different flavors -- it does NOT have to be plain yogurt. Just don't
use one with nutrasweet in it -- and I prefer an organic yogurt like
Stoneyfield. or Greek yogurt (it's thicker -- some dogs get scared of liquidy
stuff hitting them in the face and the thicker Greek yogurt works better/
Stuff like peanut butter (which is a nut oil and really NOT at all good for
them) and cream cheese -- I don't like them because they are sticky and you
want this to be easy.
Another thing that I have used **extensively** with meds for IMHA is baby
food. I get both meat and veggie babyfood and then I'll take a small Glad
container and combine one jar of meat with one small container of veggie baby
food. It's slippery but a thinner consistency.
Same principle as above -- except use a plastic spoon and let her lick it
off the spoon. Then put a pill IN the stuff and scoop it out with the
spoon (but TELL her "This one has your aza in it!";)
I'm not crazy -- truly .. if you TELL them what you're doing and let them learn
to *trust* you, that you won't try to fool them, this works.
The baby food is good quality and good FOR them. It keeps in the
fridge so I just take it out after a meal and give out meds when I have stuff
that they won't take IN their food.
DON'T LET YOUR FEELINGS AND FEARS SHOW!!!!
Don't apologize to them -- don't act like it' s something bad. Say
"This is gonna help". (we train all our dogs to know that
phrase -- whether at the vet or meds at home -- it means "this may be
unpleasant for a second but you're gonna get a treat AND it's ultimately going
to help you!" The don't understand
all those words -- but if you use it over and over again -- recognizing their
fear AND rewarding or compensating them for the brief fear with something great
-- I t **does** work.
I use that phrase ALL THE TIME with a sick dog. When you go to the vet
"Dr. ____ is gonna HELP you feel better!!" and I always take TREATS
to the vet. High value stuff (pieces of steak or liver -- any mega yummy
thing and I hand the bag TO the vet so they get to play nice and give the dog
treats.)
Vets and techs appreciate this -- and it turns going to the vet into a GOOD
time. THEN the dog associates it with feeling good and feeling better
(even getting a blood stick isn't too bad when a gigglilng tech gets to give
you something yummy). So then, I have that vet's "name" that
emphasizes a command.
"Dr. Bailey says this will help" --- introduces a new med
painlessly
Literally tho -- the vet is "treat time" for my dogs. They go NUTS when we turn onto the vet's
"road". Because everyone knows
going to the vet is GREAT!! I hand bags
of treats to the vet and staff -- they like to be the 'good guys' occasionally
and they LOVE that my dogs like going there.
Holler if I can help.