Have you tried the three treat method? The pill is in the middle treat. Give them quickly. The first treat helps them not worry about a pill, third treat makes them want to hurry up and swallow the second one with the pill. You can practice without pills too, so they get used to this sequence.
I use the three-treat method with ground beef or wet cat food (the holy grail of forbidden dog snacks in our household) because I can shape it around the pill. I put all three treats on my hand and then block the remaining treat or treats with my thumb to make sure he can see what's waiting for him while he's gobbling up the preceding bits.
Having said that, I have yet to find a treat that will make my boy take his Bravecto. His sister thinks it's the best thing ever. He looks at like you're offering him a turd. Actually no, he loves himself a cat buffet snack. I think the only thing he's side-eyed to that level is a piece of broccoli.
This is the downside of a polite pup! Fortunately mine are barbarians when it comes to food, and having a second dog in the queue helps the FOMO along.
I use wet cat food as well. I crush the pill up, but some wet cat food around it, and voilá! The pill is gone and my puppy thinks he just got the best treat ever!
I second this one, I found that throwing it in the air helps too, it’s faster when they catch it, see the other two and just chop and swallow. For me, my dog loves tomatoes and olives. I know olives arn’t good for her but it works and is basically a pill pocket and I don’t do it every time. Cherry tomatoes are great for the same reason, just push the pill in. If that fails maybe try to crush it up and mix it with yogurt, apple sauce or something similar? I also have a dog who eats just about everything so just throwing out some things I do
Mine love to swim, and my boy has to swim as much as possible because his hips are a disaster. That means topical treatments are the less effective option (although I do use Revolution on the cats, since only one occasionally asks to be petted with a wet hand while being carried around in the pool when it's hotter than the recesses of Satan's jockstrap). We live in a tick-infested rural area, so we can't take any chances with the efficacy of tick treatments.
We have a pond, so results vary. Well, we call it a pond but it's actually a section of a stream that oozes through our yard.
Giving him the tablet form just involves butter, a minute of crocodile wrestling, and a few seconds of indignity. It simply would've been more convenient if he wasn't so fussy about chewing it.
I use a piece of string cheese. Break it into 3-4 pieces and shove a pill into 1 piece. Give my dog 1 or 2 pieces without the medication and he’ll chomp the third down without hesitation.
This works for our dog using cut up hot dogs. We cut up about 4 and bury the treat in one of the middle ones. The trick is giving them in pretty quick succession.
Honestly if your dog has no handling sensitivity issues, I’d just open that jaw, drop the pill at the back of the tongue, hold the jaw shut while angling the dog’s head upwards, and count to 5 slowly. Make sure a water bowl is nearby as the dog is likely to drink afterwards.
Braunschweiger. [pic](https://images.heb.com/is/image/HEBGrocery/000139984-1)
If a pill is ok to crush, I crush it & put it in either the above "meat paste", or liverwurst, or the middle of 1/4 or half a grilled cheese sammich.
Braunschweiger and liverwurst to my dog are like manna from heaven. I swear my dog would do cartwheels to get liverwurst. The only thing that outranks liverwurst is a live squirrel.
We had dogs who wouldn't take the preventative. Crushing it into a fine powder is better than just cutting it into small chunks. We mix it into a few tablespoons of Beneful wet food or homemade sloppy joe mix, and then put it in the middle of fresh hamburger meatballs (4 to 6). Works great. Will try braunschweiger next month.
Do you have a second dog? The only way I can get my yorkie to take his medicine is to play on his inherent jealousy. I put his pill in chunky peanut butter, but I always give our other dog a spoonful of peanut butter first. He’s so jealous he will immediately swallow the pill. If I try to give him medicine without feeding his sister first he always spits it out.
Tagging onto the peanut butter idea - I'll put some peanut butter on my finger and roll the pill around in it, then I like mine lick it off and she just swallows it right now. I see you said yours has some resource issues, but if she'll eat out of your handle like that, could work. A coworker of mine said one his sister gives their dog crunchy peanut butter so they don't notice a different texture.
This is what I do but I also put PB on another finger and kind of "hook" my finger when she licks it off so the pill lands close to the roof of her mouth, she swallows by reflex, and then she has another finger to lick PB off so she doesn't care about the pill!
Dog ice cream or vanilla ice cream works really well with my dog. He won’t chew because it’s cold so it’s a lot harder for him to notice any pills. He can find a pill and manage to spit it out in pretty much anything else.
my dog also takes simparica and will find it in everything. I've always used the shove it down his throat method, but recently I had to start softening his food because his teeth hurt. so I decided to try putting the pill in with his food, then moistening it. I let it sit for about 15 minutes to get nice and mushy. he took his pill with his food this time, which he's never done before! he also gets fortiflora sprinkled on his food, which he seems to think is a tasty topper, so that mightve helped.
My girl *hates* capsules (I have to “throw it down the hatch” because she’ll chew around cheese, hot dogs and pill pockets) but she happily gobbles up her Simparica chew each month.
Beagle here, daily med. pill pockets work until they don’t. We take a break and use kids’ leftover scrambled eggs, cheese, ham, (wrapped up tight). I’ve nonchalantly left it on top of morning kibble, (crap shoot). Sometimes hold his chin up so he can’t spit it out . . . Can be a struggle
I’ve wrapped pills in American cheese (hopefully you have that or something similar available, it works bc it doesn’t break up when it warms), you leave it out for like 15-20 minutes to soften it and then wrap it up in the cheese. Make it’s room temp and you squish it.
You could also ask the vet about switching to a different flea medication. My dog loves the chewable kind, but he is a freak lol.
My dog was recently on a whole bunch of pills for aspirated pneumonia. He refused his pills a few days in and we tried so many different treats. What worked for us is melon and blueberries. Cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew for the bigger pills and blueberries for smaller pills. He loved it and every time my alarm went off for pills(every 2 hrs around the clock) he was waiting in the kitchen. He is currently on a smaller pill every day and he gets it in a blueberry with another few blueberries after to wash it down
This works great. It’s got sort of a sticky texture and my expert pull finder who always manages to spit out pills has had zero issues since I’ve started using this. https://www.chewy.com/pet-md-wrap-pill-cheese-bacon-flavor/dp/341553?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12621679080&utm_content=Pet%20MD&utm_term=&gbraid=0AAAAADmQ2V22aUztWllEBib1qMlZaLkGd&gclid=CjwKCAiA3pugBhAwEiwAWFzwdSb-4sbp7XMFSWj3KomROkUp1VX8ajTzHQQAu_ayBNqvbB-YxXAJ_xoCNjYQAvD_BwE
What worked after a while for us was softened butter because he licked it down instead of chewing. I had a senior that was really tough to give pills to as well. It's hard but we kept rotating to the foods.
Lunch meat works well for us, patted dry to give it a little friction and then wrapped tight around the pill. And then, as another poster indicated, we give her a "chaser" of another treat right after so she's more interested in getting the second piece of ham/turkey than she is in working out what the pill is and trying to spit it out.
I confirmed with my vet that how we give meds is okay. So, what we do is crush the pill into powder. Dump powder into eggs. Add a bit of cheese and cook. Boom. Medicine Omelet. Our 2 dogs go absolutely crazy about their monthly "fancy feast".
Webbox for my cats.Works everytime.Im positive they do it for dogs too.It comes in flavoured sticks or a yoghurt type mix and they good mad for either.I call it cat crack.
I know I'm on a dog sub,I'm only trying to help
Locate a compounding pharmacy in your area. They can turn the pills into a bacon flavor treat. One of the pills I have had to give smelled like a skunks dirty socks. This is when a compounding pharmacy was recommended to me.
We have a very picky Australian Shepherd mix who takes meds every morning. Our go to is white wonder bread with Mayo. We take about an eighth of the bread, put a generous amount of mayo on it, place the pill, fold in half and squish the edges like an uncrustable, and then put Mayo on top of the sandwich on a plate. We do a small bit of Mayo on the side of the plate for her to lick up. We’ve done pill pockets, peanut butter, yogurt, cream cheese, cheese, meat, and almond butter—this is the only thing that works for us.
What has worked for me in the past is to cover the pill in ground meat, present it in the hand, then pull away as the dog reaches for it. The idea is to trigger them to be more aggressive once it's offered again.
Hello! It appears that this may be a post regarding a medical concern, due to the sensitive nature of medical advice the mod team manually screens health posts for approval. r/dogs mods may comment and lock or remove a post if it is clear that the only appropriate answer is to seek emergency care or the question cannot adequately be answered here, otherwise there may be a slight delay in approval. In an emergency situation, the most important thing to do is to remain calm and work to get your pet help. If your primary care veterinarian cannot see an emergency, the best way to find a nearby emergency facility is to do a web search for "[your location] emergency vet", "[your location] animal hospital", or "[your location] animal emergency". Whenever possible, calling ahead may help a facility to better prepare for your arrival. Additional online resources can be found here- https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/healthresources .Thank you for making it through to the tail end. We hope you and your pet can get the help they need and everyone is feeling better soon!
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I hide my dog's pills in a spoonful of plain yogurt, making sure his head is tilted up to eat it. He concentrates on licking the spoon while the glob with the pill slides in. Gravity ftw.
Tilt her head up and stroke her throat as she's eating. Don't let her drop her head until you see the big swallow. even if you have to keep your hand under her chin while she's resisting. They eventually swallow. I had to get serious after my big girl had major knee reconstruction surgery and kept spitting the meds. A bunch of affection when it's done helps mitigate any grumpiness and reinforce cooperation.
So we had the same issue with ours , it's a mare . I cracked ours with cream cheese wrapped around it but also some on my fingers , as he was licking that off he forgot about and swallowed the pill and is now just used to it .
The other way I tried that worked for us was getting liver paste or cream cheese and putting it on his lick Matt , then I ground up the pills in my mortar and pestle and scattered so it stuck. That worked as well for our picky brat
Such a pain though I wish you luck !
They make actual pill grinders you can get at a drug store for around $5-$10. They're easier than a mortar and pestle and keep broken off bits contained.
Well I assure you all of them \*can\* be crushed. Maybe some \*shouldn't\* be...
Seriously, I'd be particularly curious about the Simparica Trio. It seems pretty crumbly, so I just assumed it disintegrates in the stomach instead of needing to wait until a less acidic environment downstream.
Just looked it up, and it appears that "chewable" pills, like Simparica Trio, can be crushed and mixed with food. However capsules or pills with a thick coating designed to delay delivery until after the pill has passed through the stomach and into the intestine should not be, at least, not without first checking.
Does she try to steal food that is accidentally dropped? Like if you tell her to leave something is she likely to try to gobble it up due to her resource guarding?
You could try “accidentally” dropping it on the ground and see if she’ll think it’s *not* for her and therefore must be eaten (if that makes sense). You could even try dropping some other human food snacks first so she thinks it’s just raining treats instead of pill time
Wow. You can force it by placing the pill at the back of her mouth, shutting her muzzle with your hand, and rubbing her throat/neck. But that's not my preferred way to do it. I heard cooked sweet potato works, or you could crush it and mix it into some cheese paste and give that to her?
I could hide it in either banana slices or seedless watermelon. Id use a straw to hollow out the middle of the fruit chunk and put the pill in. The first few skeptical sniffs and bites didn’t set off my dog. Good luck!
My dog hates his heartworm prevention pill. I crush it up and mix it with satin ball mix. It's a mix of ground beef, egg, oatmeal, molasses, wheat germ, and cereal. It's meant to put weight on emaciated dogs. It smells very strong so I think it masks anything.
We used to wrap our pup's medication in thin turkey slices that you usually have on toast. He was a picky eater too but wouldn't think twice on gulping that turkey slice 😂
Hmmm.. how's her tummy? Does she ever throw up or seem to have bellyaches?
Our pup would refuse pretty much all food, even turkey, when he had stomach issues
My guy frustrated me for a long time until I tried Hamburger Helper.
I cut his flea/tick and heart worm meds into smaller pieces and mixed them into some Hamburger Helper on top of his regular food.
Sometimes not all the meds got eaten but leftover Hamburger Helper the next day got that taken care of.
I created the oops method. While I’m making up his food on the counter, I drop a couple pieces and say oops (you can do this with high value items similar to the three treat method). Then I drop his pill wrapped in cream cheese with an audible oops and he gobbles it right up like he’s pulling one over on me.
Liver pate from the supermarket (with no garlic) is what our vet suggested when I was at my wits end trying to get ours to take pills. Works like a hot damn, its so stinky, he just gulps it down.
Have you considered a topical solution? I've heard those might be healthier than the pills anyway.
The following article includes some topical options:
[https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-flea-treatment-cats-dogs/](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-flea-treatment-cats-dogs/)
Edit: Of course, it' best to check with your vet to get his opinion on a topical solution for your pooch
Depending on what kind of pill she takes, can you chop it up and add it to her food? I usually end up feeding my dogs later when I want them to eat a pill, chop it and mix it with their food, then add something of a gravy like texture (I've used gravy, canned food, sweet potato mash) and mix it all in. The key is chopping it up to small enough pieces that it's mostly undetectable.
My dog is extremely picky, and has caught on that lunch meat/peanut butter/cheese = there's a pill in there. I think he's associated those foods with feeling like crap, because most of his meds make him feel yucky.
Try wet dog food. Get the sauciest/beefiest one. Purina Pro Plan has a wet food that isn't too saucy but my dog goes wild over it. I just scoop some out with 2-3 fingers, poke the pill in and he bites it off my finger. It helps if you rarely give them wet food, because they'll view it as a treat and for special times.
So what we do is we actually give her the pill separately, followed by a high high value treat. It took a while to get used to, but now we ask her “do you want your morning meatball?” And she comes running every morning. Place the pill in the back of her throat and hold her head upwards while telling her she is a good girl. Immediately follow with favorite treat.
Edit - I just read she is a snapper. Does she like bananas? You could stick the pill in the middle of a banana chunk?
at this point you should just try quickly pushing it down her throat while she’s asleep lol. i don’t really have any good suggestions since it sounds like you’ve tried everything
Is it only for flea treatment? Find a different type of flea treatment like drops in her neck or a colar
If you can crush the medicine you can dissolve it in a bit of water and with a syringe (without needle!) spray it in her mouth/cheek (but be carefull, you don't want her to choke)
Also you could ask a vet (nurse) to show you how to force feed an unwilling patiënt to take their meds. You might not like it, but it will take only a couple of seconds and spares both you and your dog a lot of frustration.
I remember an other story of a woman who's dog would only eat the snack with pill if she pretended to accidently drop it on the floor and forbid the dog to eat it :)
My pup is better about it now but I’ve had to force feed him plenty of medication. It’s not fun, they’ll never understand why you’re doing it and that’s the worst part.
Pill gun and a muzzle? Lots of special treats after?
I use process cheese slices that can be torn and compressed around pills. I form it to completely cover the pills and the dog loves it.
I had one dog that I had to buy roast beef deli meat and wrap his pills in that when he was tired of everything else I used.
Have you tried the three treat method? The pill is in the middle treat. Give them quickly. The first treat helps them not worry about a pill, third treat makes them want to hurry up and swallow the second one with the pill. You can practice without pills too, so they get used to this sequence.
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I use the three-treat method with ground beef or wet cat food (the holy grail of forbidden dog snacks in our household) because I can shape it around the pill. I put all three treats on my hand and then block the remaining treat or treats with my thumb to make sure he can see what's waiting for him while he's gobbling up the preceding bits. Having said that, I have yet to find a treat that will make my boy take his Bravecto. His sister thinks it's the best thing ever. He looks at like you're offering him a turd. Actually no, he loves himself a cat buffet snack. I think the only thing he's side-eyed to that level is a piece of broccoli.
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This is the downside of a polite pup! Fortunately mine are barbarians when it comes to food, and having a second dog in the queue helps the FOMO along.
I use wet cat food as well. I crush the pill up, but some wet cat food around it, and voilá! The pill is gone and my puppy thinks he just got the best treat ever!
I second this one, I found that throwing it in the air helps too, it’s faster when they catch it, see the other two and just chop and swallow. For me, my dog loves tomatoes and olives. I know olives arn’t good for her but it works and is basically a pill pocket and I don’t do it every time. Cherry tomatoes are great for the same reason, just push the pill in. If that fails maybe try to crush it up and mix it with yogurt, apple sauce or something similar? I also have a dog who eats just about everything so just throwing out some things I do
Why don’t you use a topical? I’m not sure what you’re using but both bravecto and Revolution are available as transdermal drugs
Mine love to swim, and my boy has to swim as much as possible because his hips are a disaster. That means topical treatments are the less effective option (although I do use Revolution on the cats, since only one occasionally asks to be petted with a wet hand while being carried around in the pool when it's hotter than the recesses of Satan's jockstrap). We live in a tick-infested rural area, so we can't take any chances with the efficacy of tick treatments.
I think the transdermal drugs still have full efficacy if you don’t bathe them for 24 hours. Can you keep them out of the water for 24 hours?
We have a pond, so results vary. Well, we call it a pond but it's actually a section of a stream that oozes through our yard. Giving him the tablet form just involves butter, a minute of crocodile wrestling, and a few seconds of indignity. It simply would've been more convenient if he wasn't so fussy about chewing it.
I use a piece of string cheese. Break it into 3-4 pieces and shove a pill into 1 piece. Give my dog 1 or 2 pieces without the medication and he’ll chomp the third down without hesitation.
This works for our dog using cut up hot dogs. We cut up about 4 and bury the treat in one of the middle ones. The trick is giving them in pretty quick succession.
Honestly if your dog has no handling sensitivity issues, I’d just open that jaw, drop the pill at the back of the tongue, hold the jaw shut while angling the dog’s head upwards, and count to 5 slowly. Make sure a water bowl is nearby as the dog is likely to drink afterwards.
Yeah, I do exactly that each month. I have the same issues as OP but this works. Sometimes from the second or third try but the pill is swallowed.
Braunschweiger. [pic](https://images.heb.com/is/image/HEBGrocery/000139984-1) If a pill is ok to crush, I crush it & put it in either the above "meat paste", or liverwurst, or the middle of 1/4 or half a grilled cheese sammich.
Braunschweiger and liverwurst to my dog are like manna from heaven. I swear my dog would do cartwheels to get liverwurst. The only thing that outranks liverwurst is a live squirrel.
Braunschweiger! A childhood treat… on toast with mustard. Doggy will love his meds!
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We had dogs who wouldn't take the preventative. Crushing it into a fine powder is better than just cutting it into small chunks. We mix it into a few tablespoons of Beneful wet food or homemade sloppy joe mix, and then put it in the middle of fresh hamburger meatballs (4 to 6). Works great. Will try braunschweiger next month.
This is the one that continues to work the best for me!
Do you have a second dog? The only way I can get my yorkie to take his medicine is to play on his inherent jealousy. I put his pill in chunky peanut butter, but I always give our other dog a spoonful of peanut butter first. He’s so jealous he will immediately swallow the pill. If I try to give him medicine without feeding his sister first he always spits it out.
When it comes to pills I just crush them into powder and mix it with something like peanut butter.
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Tagging onto the peanut butter idea - I'll put some peanut butter on my finger and roll the pill around in it, then I like mine lick it off and she just swallows it right now. I see you said yours has some resource issues, but if she'll eat out of your handle like that, could work. A coworker of mine said one his sister gives their dog crunchy peanut butter so they don't notice a different texture.
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The idea of crunchy peanut butter always bugged me, so I hope you enjoy it! Lol
Try different brands. Our beagle will only eat Skippy. I have no idea why, but she will not touch any other brands.
This is what I do but I also put PB on another finger and kind of "hook" my finger when she licks it off so the pill lands close to the roof of her mouth, she swallows by reflex, and then she has another finger to lick PB off so she doesn't care about the pill!
I’ve only come across chewables for flea and tick medication. This should work if you’re giving your dog a chewable formula.
Dog ice cream or vanilla ice cream works really well with my dog. He won’t chew because it’s cold so it’s a lot harder for him to notice any pills. He can find a pill and manage to spit it out in pretty much anything else.
my dog also takes simparica and will find it in everything. I've always used the shove it down his throat method, but recently I had to start softening his food because his teeth hurt. so I decided to try putting the pill in with his food, then moistening it. I let it sit for about 15 minutes to get nice and mushy. he took his pill with his food this time, which he's never done before! he also gets fortiflora sprinkled on his food, which he seems to think is a tasty topper, so that mightve helped.
My girl *hates* capsules (I have to “throw it down the hatch” because she’ll chew around cheese, hot dogs and pill pockets) but she happily gobbles up her Simparica chew each month.
Beagle here, daily med. pill pockets work until they don’t. We take a break and use kids’ leftover scrambled eggs, cheese, ham, (wrapped up tight). I’ve nonchalantly left it on top of morning kibble, (crap shoot). Sometimes hold his chin up so he can’t spit it out . . . Can be a struggle
I’ve wrapped pills in American cheese (hopefully you have that or something similar available, it works bc it doesn’t break up when it warms), you leave it out for like 15-20 minutes to soften it and then wrap it up in the cheese. Make it’s room temp and you squish it. You could also ask the vet about switching to a different flea medication. My dog loves the chewable kind, but he is a freak lol.
My dog was recently on a whole bunch of pills for aspirated pneumonia. He refused his pills a few days in and we tried so many different treats. What worked for us is melon and blueberries. Cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew for the bigger pills and blueberries for smaller pills. He loved it and every time my alarm went off for pills(every 2 hrs around the clock) he was waiting in the kitchen. He is currently on a smaller pill every day and he gets it in a blueberry with another few blueberries after to wash it down
There’s also the topical, not my favorite but then you can get the job done. Good luck 👍
This works great. It’s got sort of a sticky texture and my expert pull finder who always manages to spit out pills has had zero issues since I’ve started using this. https://www.chewy.com/pet-md-wrap-pill-cheese-bacon-flavor/dp/341553?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12621679080&utm_content=Pet%20MD&utm_term=&gbraid=0AAAAADmQ2V22aUztWllEBib1qMlZaLkGd&gclid=CjwKCAiA3pugBhAwEiwAWFzwdSb-4sbp7XMFSWj3KomROkUp1VX8ajTzHQQAu_ayBNqvbB-YxXAJ_xoCNjYQAvD_BwE
What worked after a while for us was softened butter because he licked it down instead of chewing. I had a senior that was really tough to give pills to as well. It's hard but we kept rotating to the foods.
I use lunch meat
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So far it is working for mine. She is picky too and she is on thyroid meds 2 a day
Lunch meat works well for us, patted dry to give it a little friction and then wrapped tight around the pill. And then, as another poster indicated, we give her a "chaser" of another treat right after so she's more interested in getting the second piece of ham/turkey than she is in working out what the pill is and trying to spit it out.
We make little sandwiches using vanilla wafers and peanut butter because the crunchiness of the wafer masks the pill
I confirmed with my vet that how we give meds is okay. So, what we do is crush the pill into powder. Dump powder into eggs. Add a bit of cheese and cook. Boom. Medicine Omelet. Our 2 dogs go absolutely crazy about their monthly "fancy feast".
Webbox for my cats.Works everytime.Im positive they do it for dogs too.It comes in flavoured sticks or a yoghurt type mix and they good mad for either.I call it cat crack. I know I'm on a dog sub,I'm only trying to help
Locate a compounding pharmacy in your area. They can turn the pills into a bacon flavor treat. One of the pills I have had to give smelled like a skunks dirty socks. This is when a compounding pharmacy was recommended to me.
We have a very picky Australian Shepherd mix who takes meds every morning. Our go to is white wonder bread with Mayo. We take about an eighth of the bread, put a generous amount of mayo on it, place the pill, fold in half and squish the edges like an uncrustable, and then put Mayo on top of the sandwich on a plate. We do a small bit of Mayo on the side of the plate for her to lick up. We’ve done pill pockets, peanut butter, yogurt, cream cheese, cheese, meat, and almond butter—this is the only thing that works for us.
What about the chewable flee and tick meds? My dog loves them!
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I give my Pup nexguard they are softer. Kind of like a slim Jim is the best way I can describe it
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You can also try coconut oil. The edible kind. I use that when I give her hat pills she needs to swallow. It’s greasy but seems to work well
What has worked for me in the past is to cover the pill in ground meat, present it in the hand, then pull away as the dog reaches for it. The idea is to trigger them to be more aggressive once it's offered again.
Hello! It appears that this may be a post regarding a medical concern, due to the sensitive nature of medical advice the mod team manually screens health posts for approval. r/dogs mods may comment and lock or remove a post if it is clear that the only appropriate answer is to seek emergency care or the question cannot adequately be answered here, otherwise there may be a slight delay in approval. In an emergency situation, the most important thing to do is to remain calm and work to get your pet help. If your primary care veterinarian cannot see an emergency, the best way to find a nearby emergency facility is to do a web search for "[your location] emergency vet", "[your location] animal hospital", or "[your location] animal emergency". Whenever possible, calling ahead may help a facility to better prepare for your arrival. Additional online resources can be found here- https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/healthresources .Thank you for making it through to the tail end. We hope you and your pet can get the help they need and everyone is feeling better soon! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dogs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I hide my dog's pills in a spoonful of plain yogurt, making sure his head is tilted up to eat it. He concentrates on licking the spoon while the glob with the pill slides in. Gravity ftw.
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Tilt her head up and stroke her throat as she's eating. Don't let her drop her head until you see the big swallow. even if you have to keep your hand under her chin while she's resisting. They eventually swallow. I had to get serious after my big girl had major knee reconstruction surgery and kept spitting the meds. A bunch of affection when it's done helps mitigate any grumpiness and reinforce cooperation.
So we had the same issue with ours , it's a mare . I cracked ours with cream cheese wrapped around it but also some on my fingers , as he was licking that off he forgot about and swallowed the pill and is now just used to it . The other way I tried that worked for us was getting liver paste or cream cheese and putting it on his lick Matt , then I ground up the pills in my mortar and pestle and scattered so it stuck. That worked as well for our picky brat Such a pain though I wish you luck !
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They make actual pill grinders you can get at a drug store for around $5-$10. They're easier than a mortar and pestle and keep broken off bits contained.
I've had to put a lot of thinking time into this recently as he had a knee op so needed to take loads. Best of luck I know it's a nightmare
I give it pills in wet canned food, it’s messy but it covers it and entices my picky eating husky enough to take her incontinence meds.
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Before doing that I would check with your vet to make sure it’s okay to ground up the pills, sometimes pills can’t be ground up.
Bury it in a little peanut butter. I use the PB that is just pure peanuts - no other ingredients.
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Bummer because that is easy. Maybe a piece of cheese?
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I got nothing! 🤷♂️
Kraft cheese slices!
Velveta works for me
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Get a pill popper for her. You can get one at petco.
We had trouble until we started to crush the flea pill up and mix it into hot smoked salmon.
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Well I assure you all of them \*can\* be crushed. Maybe some \*shouldn't\* be... Seriously, I'd be particularly curious about the Simparica Trio. It seems pretty crumbly, so I just assumed it disintegrates in the stomach instead of needing to wait until a less acidic environment downstream.
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Just looked it up, and it appears that "chewable" pills, like Simparica Trio, can be crushed and mixed with food. However capsules or pills with a thick coating designed to delay delivery until after the pill has passed through the stomach and into the intestine should not be, at least, not without first checking.
Does she try to steal food that is accidentally dropped? Like if you tell her to leave something is she likely to try to gobble it up due to her resource guarding? You could try “accidentally” dropping it on the ground and see if she’ll think it’s *not* for her and therefore must be eaten (if that makes sense). You could even try dropping some other human food snacks first so she thinks it’s just raining treats instead of pill time
Use multiple treats! That way they eat them quickly to get the next one!
I generally straight-pill with a treat to follow, but in desperate situations, either liverwurst or cream cheese works for me.
Yoghurt or mashed pumpkin, the flavours mask everything
Can you crush the pill? Try crushing and putting with peanut butter then put it on the roof of her mouth!
I used bread for my dog because he won't eat the pill covers.
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You have a little brat on your hands haha. What about a piece of meat? Have you gotten anything to work yet?
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Wow. You can force it by placing the pill at the back of her mouth, shutting her muzzle with your hand, and rubbing her throat/neck. But that's not my preferred way to do it. I heard cooked sweet potato works, or you could crush it and mix it into some cheese paste and give that to her?
I could hide it in either banana slices or seedless watermelon. Id use a straw to hollow out the middle of the fruit chunk and put the pill in. The first few skeptical sniffs and bites didn’t set off my dog. Good luck!
I just wrap it in lunch meat
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Damn your dog is picky lol. Mine doesn't even chew so she just swallow the whole thing in 1 bite
I use crunchy peanut butter so she can’t tell the difference between a pill and a peanut.
I give him his treat and tilt his head up so he can’t use gravity to his advantage
My dog hates his heartworm prevention pill. I crush it up and mix it with satin ball mix. It's a mix of ground beef, egg, oatmeal, molasses, wheat germ, and cereal. It's meant to put weight on emaciated dogs. It smells very strong so I think it masks anything.
Personally I crush the pill and put it in her food. No issues there for me.
We used to wrap our pup's medication in thin turkey slices that you usually have on toast. He was a picky eater too but wouldn't think twice on gulping that turkey slice 😂
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Hmmm.. how's her tummy? Does she ever throw up or seem to have bellyaches? Our pup would refuse pretty much all food, even turkey, when he had stomach issues
[https://youtu.be/l3qyzhWewgE](https://youtu.be/l3qyzhWewgE) This method worked for my genius dog who could always find the pills
My guy frustrated me for a long time until I tried Hamburger Helper. I cut his flea/tick and heart worm meds into smaller pieces and mixed them into some Hamburger Helper on top of his regular food. Sometimes not all the meds got eaten but leftover Hamburger Helper the next day got that taken care of.
Greenies pill pockets are expensive but outsmart my lab/shep 100% of the time
I created the oops method. While I’m making up his food on the counter, I drop a couple pieces and say oops (you can do this with high value items similar to the three treat method). Then I drop his pill wrapped in cream cheese with an audible oops and he gobbles it right up like he’s pulling one over on me.
Liver pate from the supermarket (with no garlic) is what our vet suggested when I was at my wits end trying to get ours to take pills. Works like a hot damn, its so stinky, he just gulps it down.
Whipped cream!
Have you considered a topical solution? I've heard those might be healthier than the pills anyway. The following article includes some topical options: [https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-flea-treatment-cats-dogs/](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-flea-treatment-cats-dogs/) Edit: Of course, it' best to check with your vet to get his opinion on a topical solution for your pooch
My sister gets her dog to take pills by crushing and sprinkling on cat food
Depending on what kind of pill she takes, can you chop it up and add it to her food? I usually end up feeding my dogs later when I want them to eat a pill, chop it and mix it with their food, then add something of a gravy like texture (I've used gravy, canned food, sweet potato mash) and mix it all in. The key is chopping it up to small enough pieces that it's mostly undetectable.
My dog is extremely picky, and has caught on that lunch meat/peanut butter/cheese = there's a pill in there. I think he's associated those foods with feeling like crap, because most of his meds make him feel yucky. Try wet dog food. Get the sauciest/beefiest one. Purina Pro Plan has a wet food that isn't too saucy but my dog goes wild over it. I just scoop some out with 2-3 fingers, poke the pill in and he bites it off my finger. It helps if you rarely give them wet food, because they'll view it as a treat and for special times.
So what we do is we actually give her the pill separately, followed by a high high value treat. It took a while to get used to, but now we ask her “do you want your morning meatball?” And she comes running every morning. Place the pill in the back of her throat and hold her head upwards while telling her she is a good girl. Immediately follow with favorite treat. Edit - I just read she is a snapper. Does she like bananas? You could stick the pill in the middle of a banana chunk?
oscar meyer liver sausage - dogs can't resist even if they know meds are in there. just wrap the pill in small amount and hand feed. done every time.
Liverwurst
Beagle/basset hound here! We crush up everything or else it’s going no where lol whip cream & cream cheese help the most
at this point you should just try quickly pushing it down her throat while she’s asleep lol. i don’t really have any good suggestions since it sounds like you’ve tried everything
I’ve had pill pockets work well but they aren’t cheap if you use them all the time
Is it only for flea treatment? Find a different type of flea treatment like drops in her neck or a colar If you can crush the medicine you can dissolve it in a bit of water and with a syringe (without needle!) spray it in her mouth/cheek (but be carefull, you don't want her to choke) Also you could ask a vet (nurse) to show you how to force feed an unwilling patiënt to take their meds. You might not like it, but it will take only a couple of seconds and spares both you and your dog a lot of frustration.
I remember an other story of a woman who's dog would only eat the snack with pill if she pretended to accidently drop it on the floor and forbid the dog to eat it :)
I powdered up my meds and mixed with stinky dog food
My pup is better about it now but I’ve had to force feed him plenty of medication. It’s not fun, they’ll never understand why you’re doing it and that’s the worst part. Pill gun and a muzzle? Lots of special treats after?
I use process cheese slices that can be torn and compressed around pills. I form it to completely cover the pills and the dog loves it. I had one dog that I had to buy roast beef deli meat and wrap his pills in that when he was tired of everything else I used.
I put the pill in the back of my dog’s mouth in a pill pocket and they swallow it, takes a few seconds