My Lab Star does the exact same thing! Just like you, I can sit next to her, rubbing my finger into her fur at the exact spot where the medication will go and she's perfectly fine! Go get the tube (hidden in my hand) and the second she feels the tip on her fur she freaks and trys to run and hide! Same thing with ear meds. I can put my finger all the way down into her ear, wiggle it around, but come near her with the tube of medication and she runs. To give her the Frontline, my husband has to stand in front of her, holding her collar in one hand with a treat in the other while I straddle her from behind and do the dirty deed!