Rebecca Walters, from , shares her top tips to make sure the medicine goes down…
Inevitably, at some stage of your doggy carer role, you are going to have to administer the little darling a tablet. Predictably the dog who historically gobbled everything up like a hoover immediately develops the ability to smell a tablet at a thousand paces. Getting them to open their mouths and swallow it soon deteriorates into a game of “catch me if you can” the result quite often a soggy, mushed up tablet and a stressed dog and owner.
So how do we make this simple? Here are my five steps to stress free administration;
1) A dog’s sense of smell is epic, so don’t allow them to investigate while you are preparing the medicine. They will spot what you are doing and be on guard from the outset. Pop the dog in another room and prepare the tablets out of sight.
2) Dogs recognise sequences of behaviour. For example, when getting ready to go for a walk, they learn that popping your shoes and coat on and grabbing your keys, phone and lead means they are going for a walk. The same applies for lots of other circumstances. They will recognise the sound of the packaging being popped open, while you are standing in the same place in the kitchen or utility, if we repeat behaviours ourselves it becomes very easy for the dog to recognise them and work out what is coming next. This is another reason to prepare the tablets out of sight of the dog.
3) Prepare the tablet inside a form of treat. Dog pate is great for this. Cube it, and then cut a slice across the cube in which you can conceal the tablets. Opt for the smelliest variety of pate for this to disguise the smell of the tablets. The fish variety is great.
4) Instead of “administering medication” let’s play a game with our dogs and have them take the tablets without even realising that they have. Set up some simple practice sessions of a treat game with NO tablets involved. Don’t start the process like you are administering medication, let’s keep it fun! Practise a short game for a behaviour like a simple “sit” or a “down”. Giving the dog lots of tasty rewards for easy behaviour.
5) During one of these sessions add in the tablet, slip it in, make no other changes, repeat what you have been doing with the treat game and administer the tablet without the dog realising what you are doing!
Voilà… tablet swallowed! No stress and no anxiety! In fact, turning what can be a stressful experience into a fun game!