In this article we will discuss issues and tips involved in giving your pet dog a pill whether it is a vitamin or medication.
Normally you may just wrap a pill in a piece of food. No problem but for some dog owners and their pets, it can be a problem. Some dogs will skillfully spit out the pill and eat the cheese it was wrapped in!
Even if you have no problems with giving your dog a pill there could be occasions where the normal method of pill taking has to change.
What would you do if your dog lost his appetite and his/her medication was required?
Or perhaps the pill has to be taken strictly without food?
How can you give your dog this required medical attention in a pleasant way without creating distrust?
The Answer!
The answer is, you make the unusual act of manually giving a pill a routine occurrence.
To make this more clear, let’s review the steps how to give a pill without food.
Tips To Give Your Dog A Pill Without Food
- Place your dog in a sit position.
- Tilt up his/her head so the dog’s nose points towards the ceiling.
- Then put the pill as far back as possible down the dog’s throat, close mouth, and rub neck.
- Keep his/her nose pointed towards the ceiling.
- The dog will engage is a swallow reflex and consume the pill.
‘Make the Novel Normal!
‘Making the Novel Normal’ is achieved by rehearsing how to give your pet a pill and remember to make it fun and rewarding.
The Steps include
- Have plenty of treats (small ones that the dog will consume quickly) & praise on hand.
- Give both of these positive re-enforcers at prescribed times and also whenever you think appropriate during this exercise.
- We are also using the positive re-enforcer of “being pet “.
- Stand by your dog’s side and begin to pet his/her head while whispering encouraging, friendly words.
- Once your dog is enjoying this, give the sit command, praise and continue to pet & happily encourage him/her.
- Start to move your petting towards the side of the head, moving eventually to under the neck area.
- Continue to praise and pet and give a treat.
- At this point, while you pet under the neck, slowly tilt the dog’s muzzle upward with his/her nose pointed towards the ceiling.
- Maintaining this position for the amount of time it may take to actually administer a pill. (10 to 20 seconds).
This exercise should only take a few to 30 seconds maximum if you do this a few times a day at first. Then you can cut down to once a day. Even eventually only several times a week.
