Eye drops

[quietlyspoken08]

Anyone got any tips on how the bloody hell to get my dog to let me give her eye drops. She is a one year old beagle been diagnosed with allergies which are giving her sore eyes. I'm on my own till my partner is back from working away this Friday and I'm finding it impossible. Any tricks anyone knows that can help? Thank you

Hi OP, I used to have a dog who needed eye drops too.

I'm right handed, so I'd start with the easier way first. I'd kneel on the floor, keep the tube of cream beside my right hand, (dog facing forwards at my left side) and with my left hand I'd put my arm round her neck / head like I was pulling her in for a cuddle. I'd then gently press her head against my body, and with the thumb and first finger of my left hand, open the top and bottom eye lid simultaneously. Then I'd quickly drop a wee blob of the drops in, let her go so she could have a blink, then swap sides and do the other eye.

Have a practice without the drops first, it's easier than it sounds!

I give our dog a treat after each drop. I let him sniff the bottle first then place the treats on the floor close by so he can see them. I hold his face gently in one hand and administer the drops above his eye so he can’t really see the bottle. At puppy classes we trained him to get used to us touching him on his face and body using a clicker and treats, so that probably helped too. He got used to having drops as a small puppy and doesn’t mind at all. I appreciate it might be more difficult with an older dog.

Firstly, a muzzle. It means you can (a) have something to hold onto, and (b) can act firmly without fear of being bitten. Line the muzzle with some peanut butter or similar, so the dog is distracted by licking food.

I found it helped if I brought the eye drops around from the side / back. DDog tends to panic (understandably) if he sees something coming directly towards his eye.