Through many years of rescue/fostering and living with motley mutts, every single dog has been a master of the strategic arts of pill detection and avoidance.
So I had to keep upping my arsenal of techniques in response. What worked with one dog, didn’t work with another, so I’m providing you with my complete list of hacks. I hope you find a winner.
The simplest first
- smother it in something delicious; peanut butter, cream cheese, almond butter.
- Mix small balls of beef mince and cottage cheese, and pop the pill in the middle.
- For strong-smelling or bitter-tasting pills (eg. my nemesis, Tramadol) try something stronger-tasting like cabanossi or salami.
Next to try –
Use a pill dispenser (cheap and easy to source) and push it between the clenched fangs (where the gap is biggest) aiming for the throat. Your dog will probably try to cough it back up, so immediately offer something delicious to follow the pill down.
For dogs that can smell a pill from space –
Gelatin capsules from the pharmacy. I hid the pill in the capsule to diminish the smell, then pushed the capsule into some cabanossi. Ha! Victory!
Before dissolving or grinding pills – check with your vet first! Some pills aren’t water soluble. Some lose effectiveness. Some pills do have a taster (more expensive) version.
- Dissolve the pill in bone broth, syringe it up, and push it between the dog’s clenched teeth. Follow with something delicious to take the taste away.
- Grind pill to powder, mix with peanut butter, and smear it on the dog’s leg, so they lick it off.
- Grind pill to powder, mix with liver powder, then sprinkle through a meal. Then examine the bowl afterwards to make sure it’s all gone.
Tip – Do all the prep out of sight of your dog. Like a magician, you need to trick your audience – if they know how it’s done, it’s not going to impress. Wash your hands once you’re prepped, or you’ll smell of medication and give the game away.
I hope you’ve found a winner. If you have any tried and tested tips of your own, please share!
Image by – https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/chuckcollier?mediatype=photography