My dog is so intelligent that even if I disguise the pill in her food, she will identify the pill and keep it out of her mouth at all costs. At the end, I find that all the food has disappeared and the pill lies there alone sharing it's misery with me. 🤣🤣
My dog is the same. Sometimes he even waits for a few extra seconds before popping the pill out of the corner of his mouth, just to make make the misery more complete.
🤣 🤣 I was about to write this same comment. 😆 so, suuurreeee .... I'll "hide" the pill in his food, he'll eat all AROUND the pill & leave it right there in his bowl.
@Union Lake Veterinary Hospital I was wondering with this method, when you "shoot" the pill down the throat with the pill popper, can this way potentially make the dog choke on the pill when its "shot" down his throat??
Thank you so much for showing pill popper in clear way. Even though it doesn’t work as easy as you show, it is helping our Lottie to take her pill smoother.
My 1 y/o Golden mix mutt has severe hip dysplasia and is on 8 pills a day for two weeks restricted activity followed by three months intensive exercise treatment/muscle building before potential total hip or FHO. One of the meds (Tramadol) is apparently very bitter for him. Pill time was NOT fun. Your video was just invaluable to us! I cannot thank you enough - it has made both of our lives much easier.
Same here my Golden Chow has very bad hip dysplasia and need more pain relief. On top of the Rimadyl I try to give her a Tramadol. Hidden in wet food, hot dog, pill pocket, peanut butter does't keep her from eating the coating and leaving the pill. I would grind them up in a mortar and pestle but then she won't touch her food. A pill popper seems to be the only thing left. Grrrr
It’s working! My dog knows it’s meds and doesn’t want to open his mouth but after couple of tries I manage to open his mouth and put the capsule faster in his mouth then hold up his mouth close for a couple of seconds then I followed with one treat after. It works! Thank you for the ideas. ❤
"You're just going to open up his top jaw, force it down his throat, and then you want to hold his mouth closed." Now, about that "force it down his throat" part. I've shown this video to my dog several times and she still doesn't understand that her job is to let me do that.
My dog has a super IQ when it comes to that. The pill may be hidden deep within a frankfurter and she wont even touch it knowing it's in there. It's like she 's got some kind of Jedi force sense for pills. If the pills manages to get inside the mouth no matter how much food is in her food it will come out like there is some kind of customs officer inside that checks what goes in. The worst thing is that I didnt realise she was spiting them out until TWO days later when I saw the pills piling up on the side. I looked at her appalled (but i have to admit, very impressed too) and looked back at me 'Yeah. Nice try kiddo'. Sigh..
@@rodzme361 Depending on the medication (ask your vet), most pills (crushed) can be mixed with a bit of water (no more than a teaspoon) and inserted *gently* on the back of their tongue using a syringe (without the needle of course). Dont spray it, just gently release.
Here in the UK, there is a meat extract paste used for making beef drinks, called Bovril, similar in appearance to Marmite or Vegemite, but a little bit runnier. We cut a dog strip treat into squares, and then pick up the dog's pill with tweezers, dunk it completely in the bovril paste, then place it on the treat. Our labrador dog Penny will happily eat this. Prior to this we tried several other ways of disguising the tablets but all these attempts were unsuccessful. Hope this helps.
A good technique I found is the bait, pill and sinker method. You take one treat without a pill as a bait, give the dog a few second so she deems it as safe and tasty. Give him or her the next treat with the pill inside, right away (instantly) you are waving and almost pushing the third one into the mouth, this will make sure the dog does not have enough time to check for the pill and swallows it right away since the third treat is already incoming. Works great for me so far, I use ham.
My 65kg rhodesian ridgeback has to have up to 6 pills of various sizes at a time, multiple times a day and many without food. I'm trying to develop a technique that works without distressing either of us and avoids multiple spit-outs and retries. So I really appreciate some of your tips. I don't have a pill popper. He usually clenched teeth when he thinks I'm going to try open his mouth and he's too strong for me to just force it open. What I'm finding works, when he doesn't want to open his mouth, is popping the pills in the gap between his very back teeth and back gums. Maybe smaller dogs don't have a big gap there, but he does even when his teeth are clenched... big enough to pop pills inside near back of his mouth anyway. That, along with some of your tips like holding head up afterwards, giving lots of cuddles during and after, seems to work. I get an occasional spit-out but it usually works pretty well, doesn't faze him much. Simply putting my hand over top of his snout doesn't work for him as it does with my smaller dogs, as his snout is bigger than my hand span!
@Union Lake Veterinary Hospital Thank you for the instructions. I have a senior Shih Tzu and she didn't want to eat much. So she didn't get both of her pills. I was trying to pop her mouth open to give her the pills, but she got every worked up. I got frustrated so I kept giving her several seconds trying to sooth her. She bit me, but also my mom. I did get her to take the pills, I know this is not the way to try to give pills to my stubborn girl. I don't want her to be scared or aggressive. I am going to retrain her and one of our two boy dogs. I'm telling them treat, sitting on the floor to touch the outside of their mouth, then the inside towards their throat. Then I give them a treat, so far a piece of meat. I do it with the girl and then my boy dog. She was a little hesitant at first, but she's coming to me. Or I go to her and say "Treat". Once she let's me finish touching the outside and then the inside of her mouth she gets the treat. She loves it and the boy dog likes it even more. These training sessions every day should help both of them to learn there's nothing to be afraid of. So, I'm also retraining myself. I won't get frustrated next time. I'll just give her the pills once I've had my morning coffee and I'll take her to a different room to do this if the other dogs try to grab her treat with the pills. I'm surprised my girl dog who sometimes sniffs at her food takes her "treat" without so much as a fuss. She had a stroke a few weeks ago, but has recovered and is doing well. But sometimes she refuses her food. Well she eats when it is treats, and I only change up their food a little when the dogs get bored; so I have wet dog food and meat to use for treats. Thanks for the great ideas. The dogs love their new routine we just started today. I know my girl dog will still be stubborn, but now I have a much better way to get her to take her pills if she doesn't eat it in her food. And my boy dog can be retrained to wait and sit for his turn for treats and food. He likes to walk away from his bowl and steal food from the other two dogs. Thanks from our family, but mostly from my dogs. Shih Tzus are chow hounds and love food, but mostly on their terms.
The dogs in this video were well-trained and sitting still, making the expert trainers' demonstration easy. My aggressive shih tzu dog wasn't. I had tried all of the tips but failed miserably as my shih tzu either clampped his mouth shut or spitted out the hidden pill. What it worked for me, though, was mixing crushed pilled with "chunky" peanut butter or original cream cheese.
The best method I've found is putting the pill is really hard food like stale bread. It doesn't work with all kinds of stale bread unfortunately. It has to be rock solid and not brittle so that the dog needs to crush it, together with the pill to eat it. I use a screwdriver to dig into the bread to insert the pill.
My dog is the same. I coat the pill in chunky peanut butter and it works 4/5 times however… my dog won’t take the peanut butter the next time after a failed attempt so I switch to cream cheese until that doesn’t work. Then I switch back to peanut butter. Sometimes I have to introduce plain yogurt into that rotation.
I used to use to these tricks to give my dog her tablets, then I started giving her favourite treat of a biscuit after stuffing a tablet into the back of her mouth as shown first in this video, it didn't take her long (less than a week) to realise what was going on and then she would very willingly quickly swallow her tablet when presented to her on my palm so that she could get her treat more quickly.
I tried so many ways that DIDNT work - crushing the pill & putting it in his food, hiding the pill in treats & his food, pill poppers - i got to the point I just open my dog's mouth from his front teeth & quickly put the pill to the back of his tongue, close his mouth & while I hold his snout I kiss his little face, pet his throat, open his mouth again & that makes him swallow the pill. Sounds crazy but it has been working every time ....
Thank you so much!!! My dog just had a gastropexy and neutering and he doesn't like pills. This method was super easy and better for his stomach than wrapping the pill in American cheese!
My 13 years old miniature schnauzer are diagnosed with heart enlargement and has been on medications for months, the med was liquid form therefore easy to feed with syringe. Recently his heart issue strikes again, he lost his appetite, lost his ability to move as he is so weak. And we just got back from the Vet with like 6-7 pills per serving. He took the very first pill and resist for the rest, he fought so hard againts it, he shaking, turn around his head, refuse to lift up his head, refuse to open his mouth & etc. Given his condition, with weak heart, we really dare not to force further and trying to find a solution. Your method are good for the first few times but not work for me as he even resist food now :(
I’m so sorry you went thru that. My older dog got diagnosed with collapsed trachea, heart murmur and beginning stages of heart failure. I took him to the vet for a cough, he was nice and alert and himself, happy, moved food but ever since that visit a few days ago he looks different. The vet cost is horrendous and I’m so sad to see him looking not there . I will never allow anyone vet tech to leave the room with my dog without me being with him. They say he needed oxygen while getting the X-ray taken.
My issue is that my dog isn't allowed any treats and is on a special diet. We're trying to figure out what she's allergic to and has to eat a specialized, medicated (I guess you could say), dog food for 3 months. She's not allowed to eat any other types of foods, which includes the heart worm chewables and have to now use a topical heartworm medication. We've always had trouble giving our dog medications and even with pill pockets, she would generally eat the treat but spit out the pill. Guess I could try a syringe or pill popper....but seems it would be easiest if I could fill the syringe with water and the pill and shoot it down her throat...but haven't seen anything like that yet demonstrated in videos...
I'm in a similar situation wrt a prescription hypoallergenic diet and not being able to give treats. On top of that, my dog got a pretty bad secondary rash which got infected and he requires oral antihistamines plus antibiotic pills. The antihistamine is easy for us to just shove in his mouth because it's small and tasteless, but god the antibiotic pill is large and tastes terrible. Almost zero success getting that one down, and after a few repeated attempts our dog stopped wanting our hands near his face and showed signs of anxiety (dangerous, we felt this could be the start of a journey to being afraid of hands in general and biting people who want to pet him). Eventually we settled for crushing the antibiotic pill and mixing it with a few mls of water, which we then administer with a syringe, followed by a syringe of plain water to wash the taste down. It's worked a lot better for us so far, even if it's bloody inconvenient for a twice daily dosing. At least our dog has gone back to not being afraid of our hands. Best of luck with your dog's allergies, hope that settles soon! Personally I can't wait to find appropriate treats so we can reward him for taking his medicine :) he's done well with pumpkin so far so we're thinking to bake and freeze-dry thin slices of that.
My dog is 15 and she has a bad heart she is critical and won't take her medication, all of these options have run out. I will try the pill popper thankyou so much!!
I have taken one of those tabs, finely crushed into a powder, mix in peanut butter with food, and he will go on a hunger strike in response to it. They really NEED to do away with the archaic pills for dogs and do something else.
@Raven R try wrapping it with the treat or meat then use some white bread to wrap a new layer and then when u give it to him, press a bit on his jaw and point his head upwards till the treat is gone
My dog is the same exact way. She eats around the pills. One time, we crushed up the pill into a powder, put that into a pill pocket treat and she ate it that way, but it just took a lot of time and work to get it fine enough for her not to notice it. There has to be an easier way. I haven't tried the pill popper, but I would want to have one where I an put the pill and water in it together and shoot it down her throat.
Raven R I have a German Shepherd too and she is almost impossible to give a pill too, she smells it in food/treat and spits it out. I think I’ll try the pill popper. The crazy thing is she seems to know when I’m going to try and give her medication and takes off SMH 🐕😳
Of course every dog is different but mine can sniff out a pill through cheese or hot dogs and will spit them right out. (Though I have heard cream cheese is better and hides the taste of bitter pills.) Plus some pills need to be taken without enticement. The best method I have learned has a prerequisite. Ever since I was a kid I knew you need to manhandle your dog from the time they are puppies. (Though this may not always be possible.) Touch and grab their feet, pull their ears and tail (not hard), play with their mouth. Get them used to being manhandled and scold them when they snap or bite at you. This allows you to handle them more safely as an adult dogs (plus they are safer around children). Also it makes them more compliant when you are trying to force feed them pills. Push that pill as far back as you can manage with your fingers then close their mouth and hold it shut while massaging the throat. They will almost always swallow the pill. Some people blow up their nose because that frequently makes the dog swallow.
You girls are GORGEOUS and nice. You can get a dog or a MAN to do anything! :) My rescue dog won't eat cheese, ice cream, peanut butter, pill pockets, or any other sort of food inducement I've tried. He eats ONLY rice and chicken CHUNKS, so NO mixing the pill in with his regular food. Those pill shooters DO NOT WORK as exhibited!!!! Easy enough to lOAD a pill, however, when the plunger is DEPRESSED, nothing happens! The pills DO NOT MOVE. I've suggested those be pulled from the market as being fraudulent. For the moment, I'm crushing his Doxycycline pills, mixing in a tiny amount of water, sucking that up into an "eye dropper" used for dispensing liquid meds to babies/toddlers, prying open his mouth, shooting squirts of this down, until its all gone. There has GOT to be something that REALLY WORKS for ALL DOGS.
That did not work. She just didn’t swallow or move until I let got and she spit it out.. if I hide it in food 8/10 times she finds it and spits it out.. idk what to do
So many of theses methods aren’t really suitable for a very fearful very squirmy reactive dog who is supposed to be fasting before surgery. Help,mnomidea how to overcome this
It looks so easy in the videos, my dog can smell an antibiotic as soon as I open the container. Forget about hiding it in a treat. Pills other than antibiotics are not that bad.
I'd love it if someone would create a video helping us give a pill to a dog in the real world where it is never ever this easy. These kinds of videos drive me crazy because it's never this easy. I also wish all vets just give liquid medications all the time. Because in the real world, pills are almost impossible.
I tried many ways. I tried to add in food but he knows and didnt eat food I tried to hide the pill but he throw out of his mouth I tried with gun he bite me . If this is your case then there is only one way. - give dog treat like about 20 times with rubbing his mouth and in the end hide the pill in the treat now he will surely take that pill in but use wet food not dry food I am doing this since my dog was 1 year old
Mine used to eat the pills covered cheese. She now knows the cheese covers the pills and won't eat it. I don't want to shove it down her throat. I did it once, she is so depressed from it. I don't know what to do. She needs her heart medicines. :(
My dog is seriously picky out of this world. I try hiding the tablet in cheese, bread, chicken and she still refuses it. Just eats around it somehow. Then tries to bite if i try to touch her mouth or make any effort to give her😩
Hi, our dog is small and her medicine is Essentiale Forte which is too big for her. We can't force her nor put it mixed into her food :< how can she drink the capsule without her knowing :< pls help
We can only trick for so long before she knows there is a pill in the food. I have band aides on my fingers trying to pry her mouth open. She needs two pills a day for seizures and now she needs three more a day after her cancer surgery. I'm done. Nothing works every time. Use the vet method will only get my hand chewed off 5 times a day.
I gave my dog the pill using the first method. She took it. But my friend told me that she could choke if I use that method. Is that possible? I'm a little worried
If I even put my hands close to my dogs mouth she acts like its bloody murder and runs away to my bedroom and hides underneath the bed and won’t come out for hours she won’t even eat anything i give her anymore she thinks im trying to give her a pill everytime. I am not able to physically restrain her and if i try she gets scared of me and wont approach me for days. Ive wasted a few of the pills trying to administer them and I cant afford to go back to the vet I don’t have a job I wasn’t even the one who paid for her surgery what do I do?
She was abused by her previous owners she is very timid. shes scared of cuss words, loud noises, and anything that resembles the sound of a pocket knife opening if you pull one out she runs and hides in the other room. It took months for her to stop flinching whenever I go to pet her
@@jqproductions3723 poor baby she needs lots of love. My rescue was the same, loud noises made her jump and back up. She's much better and I try hard not to make noise around her but it took nearly a year for her to trust me
@@melodylowes4119 Thx alot for your reply I ended sticking the pill in peanut butter and smearing it under her lip when she was unsuspecting and she had no choice but to eat it. Also shes gotten alot better on being timid she loves people and will approach anyone but she still gets scared easily like if you raise your arm up in the air she thinks your gonna hit something or if your cutting up a fruit she just thinks your stabbing it violently for no reason. I can’t imagine what she went through with her previous owners.
German Shepherd's do not come in one color or pattern only. They are deep red, brown, tan, and even solid black or white. The dog looks no bigger than my German Shepherd. It is possible the dog is a mix, but I would bet he is half if not 100% German Shepherd.
i mix pill in food - somehow my dog is able to segregate the tiniest pill from entire food whether its solid, d=semi solid, liquid- i mean 2 months and i am still not successful !
Hmmm I will have to try this bc he takes my hand off. Now my wife does it without any problems, but he smells me out no-matter what? He’s a smart one. I have the scars to prove it...
