Are you opposed to giving the pills with food for any reason?
I've found that that's the easiest way. Get 3 little pieces of cheese (or whatever you want to use), put the pill in one of them, then in rapid succession you give the cheese to the dog in this order: no pill, pill, no pill. The idea is that the dog sees the next treat coming and quickly swallows the one you just gave it. Hope that helps, and hope Precious gets better soon!