Tricking a dog to take pills

 I'm going to try teaching her this chew and swallow thing. Will she definitely swallow a gob of pate? What if she wants to lick it up instead?

I will also talk to the vet. We have been in there three times in the last month with her and last week we were in there buying medication for her without her anyway. That girl is being a big drain on my finances! And I got retrenched a month ago. I'll have to get a new full-time job to fund her vet addiction.

Our dogs are crazy.  They love bananas so I just stick their pills in there if they refuse to take them. 

 Any chance she's nauseated (It can be a side effect or caused by pain)? I know that some dogs will go off thei rfood if they are. Maybe the meds need to be adjusted, or the timing?

My suggestion is whipped cream cheese. 

 It kind of sounds like the pill is making her ill, possibly. Try offering a vitamin B (look for a "50" complex formula) - the B spectrum supports the liver, helps with nausea, and stimulates the appetite.

I had a dog that Would. Not. Take. Anything from my hand by the time he was about eight years old. Two strategies:

One, I had a vet show me this one. It's better for short term courses of meds since it's kind of mean, I think. But it's good for getting down big pills that you aren't allowed to split. Or for meds you have to feed separate from a meal

Get a syringe of milk, cream, or broth. Not much, just a few mils or so is fine. Stick the pill in as far back as possible, follow it with a squirt of the liquid and shut the dog's mouth. They've got to swallow - swallowing liquid is too strong of a reflex. If you find something tasty enough, you might even get your pupper (LOL) to feel better when they see the pills coming. This happened with Ben - his favorite was a concoction of beef broth with a touch of instant cheddar cheese sauce. 

Most of Ben's meds I simply fed with his meals. He got ground (minced) green tripe with his food. Tripe is tremendously stinky, attractive, gristly, chunky. It needs to be 100% tripe, not "pet mince" mixed with meat. Lamb tripe is the nicest and most attractive of all the varieties I can get here. The tripe works so well because the texture is uneven - dogs can't find the pills as there are many hard lumps that are yummy.

 Emma LOVES peppermint, so much that I have to read labels before I buy any gum or mints, to make sure it doesn't have xylitol in it.

Maybe Penny likes peppermint, too? Try a peice of peppermint candy. The candy won't kill her, and if she likes it, you can try the peppermint medicine. 

Re: the gob of pate -- the trick is to have her in a 'sit' and hold the gob so when she licks you plop the whole thing IN her mouth (if that means you have to roll it in balls do that) -- I don't know pate well enough to know how stiff consistency it is - liverwurst is smushy but you can 'cut' it.  But you want her to tip her head up nose to the sky and literally drop the blob into her mouth (she'll catch it the 2d time). 

But I seriously think it may be the med itself -- older dogs may be grumpy but they also can be way more sensitive and sensible to knowing when something is bothering them.

Any time the vet has given me pills for the dogs, I stop at the store on the way home and grab a roll of braunschweiger.  It's a pasty, meaty sandwhich spread that apparently I liked a whole lot as a kid, but now you couldn't pay me to eat -- but the dogs L*O*V*E it.  I make a meatball of it around the pill and it goes straight down the hatch without chewing.  I give them a plain bit before and after the piece with the pill, too, just to get them excited.  And the dog that doesn't get a pill also gets some, to create a "competition" over who can eat it the fasest.  They don't even know there is a pill inside.

 I do the hunk of bread with some peanut butter and roll it in a ball. Lies, Kaiser is also on Flagyl, so he gets that big thing, a keflex and a metacam all in one. Yikes.

And the dog that doesn't get a pill also gets some, to create a "competition" over who can eat it the fasest.  They don't even know there is a pill inside.

I totally do this with all the rest of the puppers. No dog ever gets a treat that the others don't share. So when pills are mixed in no one knows who is being singled out. 

 The salmon pate worked this morning. I'm having more trouble teaching Pen "swallow" because she won't let me touch her when she's trying to get some pate down her gullet. On the other hand, Penny has been in excellent spirits this morning for some reason and managed to get all the way around the block without running out of energy, so I have to wonder if she isn't actually doing better without the pain killers. Then again, she's back in "don't touch me anywhere but on my head" mode, and she hadn't been for a walk in 4 days. She always does better after a day or two of no walks.

I shall investigate further and see how she is today after definitely getting her full dose. 

KarissaKS

Any time the vet has given me pills for the dogs, I stop at the store on the way home and grab a roll of braunschweiger.  It's a pasty, meaty sandwhich spread that apparently I liked a whole lot as a kid, but now you couldn't pay me to eat -- but the dogs L*O*V*E it. 

braunschweiger = liverwurst (same thing -- depends on who makes it)

KarissaKS

I give them a plain bit before and after the piece with the pill, too, just to get them excited.  And the dog that doesn't get a pill also gets some, to create a "competition" over who can eat it the fasest.  They don't even know there is a pill inside.

I do that as well, but I didn't mention it because Penny's been so snarky with Kivi and I didn't want Corvus to have to deal with it.  But yeah -- at my house meds happen after a meal and EVERYONE gets the 'goodie' even tho I make a big deal that Billys and Tink's have the meds IN them.  But I never EVER have a problem with meds (and those two take TONS of meds). 

**and p.s. -- braunschweiger/liverwurst + mayo and some diced up green olives spread on fresh bread -- I have to be in the mood for it but I DO still love it.  But it's one of those things that has to be 'fixed right' LOL and I think everyone who eats it has their own particular way of eating it LOL.  When you're part German it can come under the heading of "old-timey comfort food" LOL**

 In this house dogs get to lick plates and spoons and the likes, but who gets to lick is usually a bit random and it's not uncommon for one dog to miss out. So if I hold a spoon out to someone they make the most of it, but the other dog will be waiting patiently in case there's another spoon to lick. If I start doling things out and create any anticipation, though, Penny is likely to throw herself at Kivi. Her response to any sense of elevated emotions is to throw herself at Kivi these days. So Penny gets her pate and Kivi gets to lick the spoon. That way we can all be happy and Kivi can keep his ruff (what's left of it after the shedding fest).

And such is the way a wise woman keeps peace in her household .... *smile*

Timmy had to take pills for a week or two because he had an infection on his leg.  He was very funny with them though.  At first I just stuck the pill in a slice of meat for him and he ate that, then after probably three days he started disecting the meat - he licked it and took TINY bites off until he had uncovered the whole pill - he started at the pill for a moment then ate it!  He turned to me and had this super proud look on his face, I started laughing at him and praised the heck outta him!  It continued this way for the rest of the pills.

Sadie - she eats anything you give her without worry. haha.