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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Help! I need a foolproof way to get my dog to take a tablet

65 replies

Deadnettle · 05/02/2017 10:35

Its taken 1.5 hours to get her to take 1 half tablet. She's supposed to take 2 half tablets twice a day. I couldn't find the other one so have no idea if she's had any of it but I did find the painkiller.

We hid it in her breakfast, in chedder, in cream cheese, in peanut butter, in bread, and finally in some butter. By the time she took the tablet she was in pain which is, I think, the only reason she took the butter/tablet mix. I highly doubt it will work again.

She either ate around the tablet or smelt it and refused to eat it or anything it had touched.

Any ideas? Our last dog needed 6-10 tablets a day and I had no trouble getting him to take them but this dog is a nightmare!

OP posts:
TheMasterNotMargarita · 05/02/2017 11:45

We have a large pill refusing mutt.
I stand behind her, stick her head between my knees, stick the pills right at the back of the throat with a finger, hold mouth closed and rub her throat.
Give a doggy biscuit. Wash hands!

TheMasterNotMargarita · 05/02/2017 11:46

No amount of hiding it in food worked for us.

Gooseygoosey12345 · 05/02/2017 11:48

We have fussy chis and have this problem. Have to say I like the old-fashioned stick it down their throat and hold their head up and rub their throat til they swallow. That sounds vicious the way I wrote it, but it's important to get it as far back as possible or they just spit it out. It's much easier to get a German Shepherd to take a tablet that a mini dog 😣

AverysillyoldHector · 05/02/2017 11:49

The amount would be absolutely minute, if any at all Smile As I said, it was advice given by a vet, which if you look up the amount of theobromine a dog would need to eat for it to be toxic, was not unreasonable advice. Our dog had a condition which needed a tablet each day and it was the only thing that worked. The toffee sticks round the tablet and went down a treat.

tabulahrasa · 05/02/2017 11:49

I just stick it in the back of the throat, that has now been trained so that he opens his mouth on command to take them.

OneDayIWillBeOrganised · 05/02/2017 11:49

Our dog takes a daily tablet willingly. In fact she sits near to where they are kept every morning as soon as we get up! We wrap the tablet in a small slice of cheap ham (bought especially for this purpose). Giving the cat a tablet is a whole other story though Grin

icclemunchy · 05/02/2017 11:53

Our staff needs tablets twice a day for her epilepsy. After much trial and error (and many fits Sad) we open mouth poke tablet as far back as poss then hold mouth shut and she swallows. Then go wash the manny dog breath smell off your hand Envy

insan1tyscartching · 05/02/2017 12:17

Hotdogs work for Eric particularly if he thinks he's getting one of yours. I make two but his hotdog is sliced into pieces with a tablet pushed in one piece. I sit down to eat making much enjoyment noises until Eric is interested then I feed him from his hotdog and the tablet is gone. It's the only foolproof way as he will lick off butter, cream cheese or spit the tablet out. Probably not the done thing really to encourage him to beg from my plate but it's the only way for us.

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 05/02/2017 12:30

Buy a tub of pate' from your local shop, roll a teaspoonful into a small ball, and if your dog likes playing catch, throw it , when caught, gently clasp dogs muzzle and stroke throat, until swallowed. Works here.

Original poster
Deadnettle · 05/02/2017 12:39

Crushing the tablet wont work as she can still smell it. The non-painkiller tablet also tastes really horrible and she wont eat food she doesn't like.

We have some of those dried sausages for dogs so I'll try hiding the tablets in those later. She'll need a tablet with her dinner and one before bed.

My dog has something wrong with her throat so I have to be careful with it. I will try putting the tablet in her mouth and waiting for her to swollow if I have to but I have to be careful not to make her cough.

Sugarpiehoneyeye she can't catch and I don't think she'll eat pate but I'll buy some tomorrow if I have too.

I really miss having dogs that just take tablets!

OP posts:
CiderwithBuda · 05/02/2017 12:46

We have labs so they are very food focused but don't like some tablets. We wrap them in those slices of plastic cheese - Dairylea or similar. Works well.

GinIsIn · 05/02/2017 12:57

Hiding the smell is why you need to double treat - cheese wrapped in ham etc - makes it a lot harder for them to smell it!

RVPisnomore · 05/02/2017 13:17

My dog is the same, tried ham, cheese etc but we now use banana. Works every time, we pop the tablet in the piece of banana and then hold up a 'clean' piece. Because he wants the other piece he can see he swallows it in record time.

tabulahrasa · 05/02/2017 13:50

"My dog has something wrong with her throat so I have to be careful with it. I will try putting the tablet in her mouth and waiting for her to swollow if I have to but I have to be careful not to make her cough."

It shouldn't do...

Mine is a fussy eater and can eat food with tablets hidden and manage to regurgitate just the tablets...

And given that he's on medication for life at least 3 times a day (it's been more at times) complicated things just weren't practical.

So they just get shoved in, lol.

He's clicker trained though so developing that into doing it on command was fairly straightforward.

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 05/02/2017 13:59

Nettle, is there any chance that you could dissolve said tablets and administer them by syringe. The vets can supply you with one, if you can.

smartiecake · 05/02/2017 14:07

Sausages! Our old dog was on loads of tablets every day for the last two years of his life. We used to cook sausages every day and then cut them into small pieces and hide tablets in the middle. He used to scoff the sausages and the tablets went as well.

SittinginaSleazySnackBar · 05/02/2017 14:21

We have to put DDogs tablets or metacam in a bloody steak bake from greggs ! Luckily it's only every so often he needs something, but the excitement of a greggs' steak bake is overwhelming for our very fussy springer !

carrotcakecupcake · 05/02/2017 14:21

Our princess border collie is the same and will do the same as OP, so frustrating as we've tried nearly everything suggested here. Growing up we had a stone deaf springer who amazingly was still able to hear a banana being broken off a bunchHmm Very handy for giving him his various tablets though as you can just smoosh anything into a piece of banana and he'd wolf it down.

Original poster
Deadnettle · 05/02/2017 14:25

is there any chance that you could dissolve said tablets and administer them by syringe

Don't know. I'll ask the vets tomorrow. We already have some syringes so that shouldn't be a problem.

tabulahrasa I am so impressed that you managed to train that! I guess I was just lucky with my last dog, he needed so much medication and just took it.

I will try most of these as we have 20 more doses (I think) to give and my dog often won't eat the same thing twice!

OP posts:
MimsyFluff · 05/02/2017 14:35

My JR that will take a tablet because I give it to her, two that have it at the back from their tongue and a cat that has the crushed into a drop of boiled water then mixed with tuna oil and a little tuna.

tabulahrasa · 05/02/2017 15:19

"I guess I was just lucky with my last dog, he needed so much medication and just took it."

My last dog was very obliging, occasionally I had to change up what I was doing in his last few years when he needed regular stuff..,

But this one isn't falling for any food related stuff, he'll take it now because he knows he isn't getting the reward till it's gone, but just hiding it didn't work...and at one point he was on 21 tablets a day, besides I had a cat on long term medication, tablets and a liquid that tasted horrendous, training the dog after that was a doddle, lol

Original poster
Deadnettle · 05/02/2017 15:26

Just when I thought spaying my dog couldn't get more stressful, a loose dog (a mastiff type) goes for her. She squealed like she was being murdered but appears unhurt. I was only taking her out so that she would go to the loo Sad We were out of the house all of 6 minutes.

OP posts:
Original poster
Deadnettle · 05/02/2017 15:30

this one isn't falling for any food related stuff, he'll take it now because he knows he isn't getting the reward till it's gone

Sadly my dog doesn't care about a reward!

OP posts:
Sugarpiehoneyeye · 05/02/2017 15:40

Hope she's okay Nettle, I think I'd scream if a Mastiff went for me.😧
SLEAZYSNACKBAR, 😂😂😂

longtimelooker · 05/02/2017 15:41

Ours is terrible taking pills its taken 6 years and i can just about get her to do it now. I cook a bit of chicken (little chunk) and make sure she isn't in the room when i put the pill in then the chicken goes in her normal meal. Its the only thing that works for us, although if she sees the pill at any point its game over.

Prior to this we tried the whole put it to the back of the throat and rub thing but it was impossible she would thrash around and use her paws as little hands! If we managed to get it in she would spit it back out straight away! Complete nightmare

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