I used to toss my dog a treat, toss her another treat, then toss her a meloxicam pill which she'd gulp without question and then give me a "waaaaaiiiiiit a minute" look and drop the next treat on the floor to inspect it.
PB worked so well with one of our dogs who needed pills, that the other dog thought she was getting a 'treat', so we had to start giving him some PB too.
Whipped cream cheese is the one that’s worked best for us. Also the multiple treat method others mentioned, with the pill treat followed by additional rapid-fire cheese, hot dog, or what have you.
Get some skin-on chicken leg quarters. Roast them in the oven, skin-side-up in 1/2" water. Peel the skin off and cut it into 2" squares. I kept three dogs dying of kidney failure alive with this. Also, @heyitsdave.bsky.social 's double-tap is the go-to if they get wise to the first being a pill.
I like to psych my pups out and make them work for their meds the same as they do for treats. Now they get excited when I ask if they want their medicine. Pill pockets work for us. 🐶
I had a dog that if I put a pill in with his food he would somehow manage to eat everything but the pill. This would also include licking the bowl clean.
Pro-tip are the paste in a tube treats that you buy for cats (the deliciously delectable stuff). You can bury a pill in a gob of that and the dog will eat it right up.
Very true. If you use the pb to get that sucker stuck behind their teeth they will swallow it willingly or not.
(My dog has been taking daily meds for so many years at this point she'd probably take it plain, but she gets it with pb because that's the only way we could get her to take it at first.)
Reminds me of my gf comparing the label between her fancy dog peanut butter and my JIF peanut butter and trying to figure out why she spent so much on hers when it's all the same ingredients...🤣
i use the "double treat" method with my terrier Rocky. Give the dog the first treat with the pill inside, then as they are still chewing that up, give them a second treat. They will swallow the "pill treat" first to eat the second treat. you're welcome.
I finally discovered if I give doggo the peanut butter pill while showing her an even better snack she can’t eat that pill fast enough. Works every time.
Cheese also works. Basically create a pill pocket with it. Gotta go cheese, pill, cheese and do it quickly so they just swallow cus they want the next treat. Also less messy than the PB
Tomlyn Pill Masker worked as well as anything when I had a cat on prednisone (which tastes nasty). Had to regularly give it to him without pills too, and sometimes offer him a second bite the instant he picked up the pill one, to encourage gulping it instead of chewing into the pill.
my dog has actually been able to weed out the pill from the peanut butter, or he just spits all the peanut butter out. We now have to have someone hold his mouth open, drop the pill down his throat, and then hold his mouth closed until he swallows it.
PB is great. One of the go-to recs for pup pills is liverwurst - and they tend to love it. Given the recent food safety issues, though, probably not prudent. (I’m a long-time pill pusher for multiple dogs)
I was so flummoxed when I brought Georgie home and she would not even deign to lick a spoonful of peanut butter but happily we eventually hit upon cream cheese.
It's all about finding the one irresistible treat also capable of hiding/containing the medication. And you will end up with a lot of containers of this and that in your fridge while engaging in the process. 😆
I have one dog whose entire raison d'être is peanut butter and another who can’t stand the stuff. We finally found success with stuffing pills in small blocks of cheddar cheese.
I put pills inside a slightly melted cube of cheese (5 secs in mic - roll around while still warm!) That way the cheese sticks to the pill and they HAVE to swallow it, lol! Also, cheese 👍
We used to have this problem with our hound, Clyde. The trick that we stumbled onto, and I can't believe it works, is to pretend it's something he's not supposed to have and drop it on the floor.
You might try Riley’s Original Pill Wrap (available on Amazon). It glops up pills like peanut butter, but the substance in question is not messy or sticky.
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Smart dog, but she never stopped falling for it.
But do love peanut butter
*YMMV. Some risk of injury involved. Likely to be more severe with a pit bull vs my 11-pound terrier.
(My dog has been taking daily meds for so many years at this point she'd probably take it plain, but she gets it with pb because that's the only way we could get her to take it at first.)
Cheese or bacon works a treat
Really
Cats, man. 😩
but he gobbled down greenies pill pockets