Giving Medicine to Dogs

Medications for your pet are important. Be sure you understand how to give each one before leaving your veterinarian or animal hospital. If questions arise once you are at home, do not hesitate to contact your veterinarian during his or her phone time.

First, check the label of your medications(s) for specifics such as whether it should be refrigerated and whether it should be given before or after meals, etc. It is important that you understand when to give your pet its medication. Be sure that you understand whether you are to give the medication until it is entirely used up or for a specified number of days.

In addition to the oral instructions given to you by your veterinarian, written instructions accompany each medication. Unless otherwise instructed by your veterinarian, start with the first dose when you get up in the morning and space the other doses equally throughout the day until bedtime.

If your pet doesn't accept pills in any disguise, have your pharmacy prepare the medication as a flavored liquid. Choose from dozens of delicious flavors. If your pet doesn't accept liquid medications in any disguise, check with your veterinary pharmacy to see whether the medication can be made into a form that is rubbed directly into the skin. This is called a transdermal medication.

How to Give a Pill or Capsule:

Pilling a dog: giving pills without food or treats. Begin training your dog as a pup to sit before each meal. Gently open your dog's mouth and place a delicious treat on the tongue as far back as you can reach easily. Close your pet's mouth, hold the head level or with the nose slightly down because it's easier for your pet to swallow that way. What you don't want is for the pet to move the pill forward on its tongue where it's easy to spit out. Softly praise your pet until it swallows. Then, feed the regular meal. This technique ensures that you can medicate your pet at every meal. If your pet has not learned this technique, begin teaching it now. Act happy, keep your shoulders relaxed and your voice cheerful.

If you must give a medication without time for training, avoid becoming anxious because your pet picks up your emotions and will become suspicious of what's coming. Be relaxed, cheerful, and positive. For some dogs, it's best to face the pet directly, but with others it's best when both of you are facing the same direction. The side-by-side technique avoids stressing dogs that feel challenged when you're standing very close to them and looking directly at them.

Side-by-side technique When working with your dog, relax your shoulders, breathe calmly, and be upbeat. Consider singing or humming. Have your dog sit at your side. Place one hand on the upper jaw and press the dog's lips gently against the sides of the teeth with your fingers. With the fingers of your other hand, pull the lower jaw down and place the pill on the base of the tongue, far back in the mouth. Close the mouth, return the head and neck to normal position, and blow on the dog's nose or massage his throat to encourage swallowing. Any form of distraction (praising, stroking, etc) will also help to get the dog to swallow. Don't let your pet push the pill forward on its tongue where it's easy to spit out. Praise lavishly. Encourage your pet to drink because many swallowed medications stick in the lower esophagus where they damage the tissues.

Getting the medication to the back of the throat is done for three reasons:

1. There are fewer taste buds.


2. An object in the back of the throat triggers swallowing.


3. It is difficult to spit a pill out unless it is moved forward on the tongue.

Do not use this or any other medication technique if your dog is a biter. Instead, work with your veterinarian to develop behavior modification techniques that make it safe for you to medicate your pet. In the meantime, ask your veterinarian for alternatives to "pilling" your pet.

To hide a pill in food. Choose a food that is soft and easily formed around the pill, such as peanut butter, cream cheese, cube of hot dog or bit of sardine. Whatever you choose, have three samples of it, with one of them being twice as large as the others. Give the first treat without anything in it so your pet's saliva starts flowing. Give the second treat with the medication buried in the middle, and immediately show your pet the third treat that is very large. Your pet will swallow the treat with medication to get the large treat. Reward with praise.

Avoid the temptation to mix medications directly in with your pet's regular food. The scent of the medication can make some pets refuse to eat so the medication and the food are both wasted.

Crushing a pill to mix in food. Some medications can be crushed and some should be swallowed whole without being crushed. If the medication is a pill that appears to be coated, it is best given without being crushed. Enteric coated aspirin is an example of a medication coated so it will pass through the stomach without dissolving; the pill dissolves in the intestines.

If the medication is a pill without a coating or is a capsule, usually it is safe to crush and mix with food. Your veterinarian and your veterinary pharmacist can give you guidance on whether a medication can be crushed or not.

How to Give a Liquid Medication:

Using a syringe or medicine dropper, place the tip underneath the lip on the side of the mouth. It usually works better to quickly squirt in most of the medication and let the animal lick and swallow rather than trying to force in a few drops at a time. Most capsules and tablets may also be dissolved in water and given via syringe, alleviating the need to place one's hands in an unwilling animal's mouth.

If you stay happy and relaxed, your pet will too. Congratulate yourself--and give your canine companion an extra dose of praise, too.

Note: This information is intended to be a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise and professional judgment of your veterinarian. It is recommended that you work with your veterinary technician to develop a technique that is safe for you and your pet.