Does your dog mind taking pills?
I don’t know why, but medications for both humans and our pets often taste bitter or disgusting. And dogs are notoriously suspicious when asked to take tablets of any kind. Remember, your dog has a keen sense of smell! In fact, it’s hard to persuade the average dog to take any medication designed to cure whatever disease or disability he suffers from. Your poor dog does not understand that you are trying to help him. No, they invariably view such treatments with utter contempt and disdain.
My Rottweiler, Kara, is actually not that bad with tablets. In general, I can easily open his mouth, drop the medicine on the back of his tongue, and then hold his mouth closed for a few seconds, and he’ll usually swallow it without too much fuss. Or if it tastes really nasty, a piece of peanut butter around the tablet will usually work pretty well.
Not so my Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Jet. Oh no. Fortunately, Jet has been surprisingly disease-free during his 10 years. I can only hope that this picture of the health phenomenon continues for the rest of your days. Because on the rare occasion that I need him to swallow something that even vaguely resembles a tablet, oh my gosh, what a fuss.
I am afraid to give tablets, medicines and vitamins alike. You’d think she’d already know he wasn’t trying to poison her. goal no. She runs off and hides in a corner, deftly slipping in every time I get close. And when he catches her and tosses the tablet into her mouth, you’ll think Jet’s life depends on her making every conceivable attempt to spit the tablet out. Peanut butter? Forget it, she just licks it all off and spits out the tablet. tasty cheese? The same thing. Crush it up and mix it with her scrambled eggs, canned tuna, or canned dog food? Unlucky. She turns her nose up and jogs away from her.
So the only option is to keep that mouth shut until the tablet disintegrates, because, gosh, Jet is dead set on not swallowing. It takes several minutes for him to hold on tight to his mouth and keep it closed as he sticks his tongue out between the small gaps between his teeth over and over again, making every possible attempt to disgorge the offending tablet, and when that fails, he just foams. in the mouth. And he foams and foams and foams until I think he’s almost going to suffocate. And when it’s all over, he refuses to have anything to do with me (for at least 10 minutes until the terrible memory fades!)
Guess I should count my lucky stars that one of my dogs is easy to handle with the dreaded tablet taking scenario!
(c) 2005, Brigitte Smith, Happy and Healthy Dogs