How to Get Your Dog to Take Medicine

Dogs become accustomed to eating their favorite tasting foods and seem to know when we are giving them medicines. Their sense of smell is much more sensitive than ours, so the smell of medicine will send them scurrying to another room, before they ever get close enough to taste it. It is necessary to disguise the smell if you have any hope of getting him or her to take the medicine.

Hide the Pill

Pets know that a pill is something different than they are used to being fed. They will become leery of taking it, even from their owner's hand. You may have to trick your dog, by making him/her think she is getting a treat or reward.

Try rolling the pill up inside your pets favorite treat. The treat should be something soft and something the dog really enjoys eating. Most dogs love Braunschweiger and it is easy to work with. Offer the pet a small piece of braunschweiger first. Once it is eaten the pet will ask for more.

Press the pill into a slightly larger piece of braunschweiger, making sure it is well hidden. Your pet will gobble this piece down, pill and all, never realizing the bitter tasting medicine was there. Now give him another bite as a reward!

Make sure that the tidbit you are hiding the pill in is a treat the pet normally eats or asks for. A small piece of cheese, bologna or even a piece of banana works well to hide both the smell and the taste of bitter pet medicines.

Give the pill as a hand held snack and watch your pet closely to make sure he consumes the entire bite. If she is being finicky, place the morsel in her mouth, towards the back. Tilt the pets head up slightly and massage the throat to get him to swallow. Do not stick the pill in the pet's food dish. You may find the food all gone and the pill lying in the dish or on the floor.

Getting the Dog to Take Liquid Medicine

Bitter tasting liquid medicine is a little harder to give your pet, especially after she has tasted it once. The best thing to do is disguise it the first time, so they don't realize how awful it tastes. You can use the branschweiger for this too, as it is usually soft and easy to work with.

Cut a thin slice of the schweiger and then squirt the liquid medicine onto it. Roll the braunschweiger up so that the medicine is hidden in the center. If your pet likes eggs or egg yolks, use this same method, except chop the egg into tiny pieces and mix the liquid into it.

If you cannot mix the liquid medicine with food, be sure to have several of your pets favorite soft treats on hand. First, give her a bite of the great tasting treat then quickly squirt the bitter medicine into her mouth. Follow this up with a second treat to quickly get the bad taste out of her mouth.

If your dog cooperates easily and will hold still, you can simply insert the medicine syringe in her mouth and bypass the taste buds! Do this by avoiding the tongue area. Squirt the liquid as far back towards the throat as possible, or squirt it into the sides of the mouth between the gums and cheek. My dog absolutely won't allow this, but yours might!

Sources:

Mostly trial and error personal experience!
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