How To Give Your Dog Medicine

Giving your dog medicine is something of an art form. Dogs hate swallowing pills, and getting your pet to take her prescription can always be a bit of an... adventure. Pills taste bad. Chewed up a Tylenol tablet lately? Disgusting!

The dog knows it's not food, so their first instinct is to spit it out. Dogs have an extremely strong sense of smell, so the bad taste is about ten times worse for them. Here's a short guide for giving your dog medicine. Hopefully, it will make the whole process go easier for you and your mutt.

You're going to have to give your dog medicine in the form of food.The stronger the flavor, the better to disguise the pill. If your dog has a favorite treat, use it to wrap the pill in.

• Most pups I've taken care of love peanut butter. Stick the pill in a glob of peanut butter. Let the dog lick the peanut butter and pill off your finger. If you'd like to avoid the slobber, use a spoon instead.
• Cheeze Whiz is an excellent alternative for this method. Go with your pooch's preference! Anything that makes taking dog medicine remotely fun for your buddy is a good bet.
• You can by meat-flavored treats designed to hold and disguise pills. Some of my friends have had great success with these.
• Be warned: This won't always work, especially if your canine is on the smart or stubborn side. They might lick up the peanut butter and spit out the pill. When dogs I take care up spit out the pill, I resort to hotdogs. They love them. They usually swallow them so fast, they won't notice the dog medicine stuck inside. Hotdogs are a great way to give your dog medicine if their prescription includes larger pills they might find in peanut butter.
• Force feeding your dog medicine is not preferable. It's a last resort after all previous methods have failed. You want to do it in such a way that doesn't hurt the dog.

• First, coat the pill in a layer of butter. The butter is for the taste, and to help it slide down more easily. Then, approach your dog. Be very friendly and sweet to the dog so you don't make her nervous. Your pet is not going to enjoy this, so be as kind and gentle as possible.

• Gently pry open her jaw, right behind the canines and quickly throw the pill onto the back of her tongue. Make sure you throw the pill far back in her mouth. Do not hold the dog's jaw shut. Dog's hate this. If you throw the dog medicine far back enough, the dog won't be able to spit the pill out. Make sure to say "good dog!" and give her a treat so she has some good associations with taking dog medicine.

Best of luck in giving your dog medicine! I hope these tips make it easier when it's time to give your dog her prescription.