How to Give a Dog a Shot

Video Transcript

"A lot of pets require shots at home, especially diabetics. Diabetics require insulin shots once or twice a day at home and it can be a challenge initially when people are uncomfortable around needles. The nice thing about dogs though, is that they have a lot of skin and a lot of surface area to give shots under. Shots at home like insulin is not given in a muscle, it is given under the skin. And so dogs have a relatively large amount of skin per their body size. The easiest way to give a shot over the back is to pinch up the skin creating a tent, and then you're going to use your insulin or allergy vaccine or whichever it is, and go at a forty five degree angle under the skin. Insulin syringes don't really hurt. They're a tiny little pin prick. Once you're in, you deliver the medication and remove the syringe and that goes into a sharps container."