Comments on How to Medicate Your Dog With a Pill

I have an old dog who takes six pills twice a day. She is a champion at spitting out pills, and has rejected every known trick. That is, until my husband started putting her pill in a very small amount of liverwurst. Buy the cheap, gooey-type liverwurst. Now she sits and waits for her pills, even the large ones go down easily.

You could also try cutting a hot dog or sausage in half and push the pill in there. My dog loves hot dogs, so it always worked for him. If it's a big dog, then all the better for this tip, because small dogs may notice the pill and pick it out, whereas big dogs just munch down the whole thing.

You could also try cutting a hot dog or sausage in half and push the pill in there. My dog loves hot dogs, so it always worked for him. If it's a big dog, then all the better for this tip, because small dogs may notice the pill and pick it out, whereas big dogs just munch down the whole thing.

If you have a stubborn dog who doesn't like peanut butter or cheese, try wet cat food. Stick the pill in a little cat food meatball and the dog will never know it's not a special treat.

For large dogs, use large marshmallows, and for smaller dogs, use mini marshmallows. First give the dog one or two regular marshmallows. Next, split a marshmallow in half. Put the pill in the middle and squish it together. Then give it to your dog. The dog should gobble it up like the others. My dogs love taking pills that they don't know are in marshmallows.

Go to a health food store and buy empty gelatin capsules. Put your pet's medicine inside the capsules. They go down more smoothly than tablets and your pet won't spit it out due to the bad taste of most medicines. Say "open" as you open the dog's mouth. Eventually the dog will open its mouth on command. Put the pill all the way to the back of the tongue and give it a gentle push. Finish with a doggie treat and an excited "good boy" every time to make him glad he took the medicine (swallowing the treat also makes sure the pill goes all the way down).

Cover the pill with peanut butter. Hand-feed the peanut butter-covered pill to your pooch! This is especially helpful with small dogs. I never met a dog that didn't like peanut butter.

For large dogs, use large marshmallows, and for smaller dogs, use mini marshmallows. First give the dog one or two regular marshmallows. Next, split a marshmallow in half. Put the pill in the middle and squish it together. Then give it to your dog. The dog should gobble it up like the others. My dogs love taking pills that they don't know are in marshmallows.

Buy a cheap brand of peanut butter (write "dog" on lid to not confuse with my peanut butter). Put pill into dab of peanut butter and into the dog's mouth. My dog took lasix pills this way for 10 years. Using firmly held popsicle stick kept fingers intact.

My dog is so spoiled that wrapping it in cheese or meat didn't work. He would manage to eat the goodie and spit the pill out. (He hates peanut butter.) A slice of hot dog hides the pill and smell. The slice can be adjusted for the size of the pill.

Whenever I have to give my dog a pill (she is a small dog), I just put it in a little bit of her plain, wet food. She doesn't even notice it and swallows it with the rest of her food. I put it in a small amount so I can monitor whether she ate it or not. This works well for me (with small pills). Putting it in something she has to chew is probably not advisable (I mush up my dogs wet food and she just licks it down) as she will bite into it and taste the bad flavor of it.

I have a 110 pound Shepherd/Lab mix. He's got a strong strong jaw when he wants. I just take the pill and very lightly wipe it with peanut butter or Cheese Whiz. I tell him it's time for his medicine (he's kinda high maintenance as he's older), and he sits, and waits. I give him his pill, and once it is gone I give him lots of praise for taking his medicine!