How do you pill the hard to pill dogs?

This may have been asked before, sorry if it has.

Zeke is really hard to get to swollow pills. I can't put it in his food, or in PB, hotdogs, cheese any of that as he eats around it. I try to get him to swollow but it takes forever and he often tries to trick me into thinking he swollows it but he doesn't really :rolleyes:

Any ideas at all? He chews his food so putting it in something won't work D:

Josie is so easy. She needs pills everyday and I just put it in her food and she doesn't notice it when she eats.

Have you tried something like these?

Pill Popper for dogs:
http://www.amazon.com/Pill-Popper-ai.../dp/B0009IODV0

Pill Pro for dogs:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cus...4507&s=kitchen


I've always just shoved to the back of their throat, tilted their head up, and rubbed their necks.

If the pills are crushable, and it won't make them less effective you could always crush them and just sprinkle it over the food. Then he can't eat around or lick off. I hope that's an idea that might work.

Always done the

1. "Sit"
2. Pry dogs mouth open
3. Throw pill to the back of the throat
4. Clamp mouth shut with one hand and point the nose skyward while
5. Other hand strokes the throat until you know she's swallowed.
6. Pet dog and say "good girl!!!!!!"
7. Get glared at.

The above method was adopted in our house as kids, because Freckles, the St Bernard, could pick a pill out of ANYTHING. Soft cheese, Baloney, supper, didn't matter. You'd think you got the pill down her throat and a few minutes later (When she THOUGHT no one was looking) the pill would fall out of the jowls and onto the floor.

I use Teddy's unsalted Old Fashioned Peanut Butter. Make 2 small "meatballs." Hide the pill in the first one. Offer teh second one while the first is still in the mouth; so it has to be swallowed as the dog is after the second.

Does not work for Clavamox. Clavamox has an odor which they detect. For that, I do what Karen listed.

I tried pill pockets, and pretty much every other thing you could even try to think of, it fools Ginger for about 2-3 tries, then she figures it out and won't eat it. I just open, say ahhhh, and push it down her throat. Good thing she loves me or she'd bite my hand off while its in her throat.

I just do the open mouth and shove done throat trick ;). We are pretty lucky with our guys though and they just eat their pills or put them into some cheese and they are gone.

Like Kfarmer said. And if that doesn't work, I'd roll it in cheese, or a egg

With my old dog he would clamp him mouth shut. Ever tried to open a Lab/rottie/pitties mouth before? HA not gonna happen ;)

SO I got sneaky ina couple ways.. I'd have a bunch of cheese rolled up.. I'd get him doing all sorts of tricks & tossing the treat into the air.. he'd get them quickly & knowing there was more, he'd swallow fast to get the rest I was tossing into the air. With his larger pills I crushed them.. I'd put them in a baggie & smash it with a happer, till it was powder.. then I'd mix it up with Jam & plop it onto his food.

For Bear, I use pill poppers, but shes easy to pill. If I'm in a hurry & don't have time to get the pill poppers, I'll get her to sit, open her mouth pointing to the sky, push her tongue down with my thumb & drop the pill in.. it insures the pill goes back far enough so she cannot spit it out...

Hope that helps some

If you are doing the "Back of the throat" method, it's important to squirt some water in there after the pill. First, it makes them have to swallow more quickly. Second, it prevents them from damaging their throat by swallowing it dry.

With hard to pill dogs I usually have one person restrain the dog and pry their mouth open. Then, fast as I can, I shove the pill over the back of their tongue and squirt water into their mouth with a syringe. Clamp shut, and wait for the swallow.

Buddy takes his pills in cheese. He never chews when it's Yummy Cheese!! :D
However... the Princess Sierra :rolleyes: she knows I (try to) hide pills in cheese, hot dogs... etc. If she hears a pill bottle, she won't eat ANYTHING I give her! :mad:
So with her I use the method Karen posted, or as I call it, the P.T.C.P.
Pry, Throw, Close and Pray! :D
Oh and how Sierra HATES it! :p

I don't bother messing about putting pills in food anymore. I just pop them straight down the dogs throats.

I used my fingers and thumb and push inwards just behind the canines to open the mouth then I place my thumb on the roof of the mouth about an inch behind the front incisors and fingers on the top of the muzzle (Same hand). They won't close their mouth whilst you have them like this and you don't need to hold them hard. In fact, if you use your other hand to gently push the lower jaw down way from the top jaw whilst you are holding them like this, they leave it lowered and don't try to close their mouth again. Just practise doing this a few times a day without popping a pill and end with a treat and praise so they get used to you doing it.

When popping the pill, I just push it as far back as I can get it on the tongue with the free hand then quickly take the free hand and my thumb of the other hand out of the mouth and close the muzzle. I'm careful to put the dogs head back in it's normal position at this point and just stroke the throat. Don't keep the head tilted up. Reason being, if you look upwards towards the ceiling yourself and then try to swallow, you'll find you can't. Same with dogs. They need their head in it's normal position, just use your hands to keep their mouth closed. You'll feel them swallow and if you pushed the pill far enough back, they have no choice but the swallow it anyway. Give plenty of praise afterwards. I often give them pills before being fed so they have their food to look forward to and see the pill taking as a prelude to that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kfamr

I've always just shoved to the back of their throat, tilted their head up, and rubbed their necks.

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This is exactly what I always do as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cloverfdx

I just do the open mouth and shove done throat trick ;). We are pretty lucky with our guys though and they just eat their pills or put them into some cheese and they are gone.

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same here, i know in one of my other threads someone got mad at me for saying i shove my hand down the dogs throat but it's not like that...
just pry the mouth open...hold it open with one hand and i throw it back...as far as i can which most of the time their tongue throws it back at me, so i steer it with my finger and push it just far enough back so they can swallow it...then i let them shut their mouth and i massage their throat just incase it wasnt swallowed before...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Karen

Always done the

1. "Sit"
2. Pry dogs mouth open
3. Throw pill to the back of the throat
4. Clamp mouth shut with one hand and point the nose skyward while
5. Other hand strokes the throat until you know she's swallowed.
6. Pet dog and say "good girl!!!!!!"
7. Get glared at.

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That's what I do (only I say good boy instead of girl ;D) but it takes him FOREVER to swollow it.

just hold his head up and rub his throat to provoke gulping (swallowing) it shouldn´t take too long.......

I´ve read some others blow into their face so they have to lick and therefore swallow while trying to do that.......

For all those that point their dogs noses up when they are trying to get them to swallow.

Point your face skyward so you are looking at the ceiling/sky whatever and then try to swallow. You'll find you can't. This is what happens to the dogs when you point their noses skywards. Thats why they might take ages to swallow...simply because they are unable to.

I also want to reiterate that it is IMPORTANT to squirt a little water in there with the pill!! Ever try to swallow a pill without water? It can be very painful, and it can damage your esophagus.

I've been having to give Keva pills because of the infection or whatever it is she has. First I tried bread, that worked once, but the next time she tasted the pill and spit it out. So I tried putting it down at the back of her throat to get her to swallow, she did eventually swallow it but she took forever. I had some of the Nutro Desserts and I tried sticking it in some of that, she loves them so much that she doesn't even taste it I swear...down the throat it goes in one second. I just put it on a spoon and give it to her, I don't know if that would work for Zeke. What does he have to take pills for? I hope he's ok, good luck giving them to him!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Canis-Lupess

Point your face skyward so you are looking at the ceiling/sky whatever and then try to swallow. You'll find you can't.

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Yes I can! No problem!

If you properly stretched your neck so that your face front is horizontal rather than just using your eye movement to look upwards the swallowing mechanism cannot technically work. The neck has to be more in it's normal position otherwise the muscles that are used cannot do what they normally do during the swallowing action. I just asked everyone in our house if they can do it and they can't....unless they don't lift their head up enough. I found that my dogs had great difficulty swallowing if I held their heads up. Thats why I hold their heads in normal position now.

The only other way to do it is if you life your chest and shoulders to hunch them whilst looking upwards because this puts the throat back into it's more usual position but, if not, it can't be done.