Effective Strategies for Administering Pills to Dogs: Tips, Techniques & Safety Guidelines

I have always hated drugs. I am more of an injection person. I think it was even worse as a kid because I remember my mum melting my drugs with water and forcefully putting it down my mouth trying to make it avoid my tongue.

Imagine how hard it is for humans to take pills as more understanding as we are. Then, imagine how hard it will be for an animal to agree to take them.

Well, today, we are going to learn how to give a dog a pill and if you ask me, I would say all pet owners should tag along on this journey so we can all know how this works.

What is a pill?

This might sound funny but some pet owners don’t know what a pill is.

A friend of mine just got a cat last week as a gift and just yesterday, it was reacting to a new food it was given and I advised her to see a vet and know the kind of pill it would be given to stop her cat’s pains. The first question she asked me was, “What is a pill?” and “How is that supposed to help?”. Lol! I laughed at her before I started my explanation.

So, this definition is for her kind of people.

A pill is a solid medicinal substance given to a person or animal that is ill to reduce or stop any ailment.

It is usually a small rounded substance made to be easily swallowed. It is useful for various purposes depending on the illness.

A pill is also known as a drug. So when you hear drugs, just know we are talking about pills.

Having explained the simple meaning of a pill, let us progress to learn of it’s importance to your dog’s health.

Why is it important to give your dog pills?

There are so many reasons why you give dog pills. It varies based on purpose. Pills are not randomly given to dogs like food. They have their usefulness. Here, we would be discussing all the instances where you can give your dog a pill.

1. Disease Prevention.

This is one of the main reasons why pills are given to animals in general. There are certain pills restricted to disease prevention. They are given to help keep your animal healthy and strong.

This also applies to humans too because we take certain drugs such as multivitamins and antibiotics to prevent diseases. The same applies to our dogs too.

From time to time, as a good pet owner, you should visit the vet who prescribes such drugs to keep your dog away from diseases.

2. Disease and Injury Treatment

This is the most common reason why pills are often taken. Most times, drugs are not administered till there is some form of injury or sickness.

Dogs are given pills when they are ill or have sustained an injury. It helps them to heal quickly and get back on their feet.

3. Allergic Reactions

Some dogs are very quick to react to something new. It could be food, skincare products or even pills. Yes! Pills too.

Some dogs can withstand everything, harsh or not but some dogs are just quick to react to things and this can cause some form of discomfort in their body. Taking pills is a way to fight the reaction and help put their body back in order.

4. Sleep Disorder

Some drugs are given to dogs that have sleep disorders and such drugs are known as sedatives. Sedatives are drugs that make one drowsy and cause them to sleep for a long period of time.

This might not be the best kind of pills for dogs but there are times when a dog is restless and needs to be put to sleep. Sometimes, it might be given by a vet after a medication session to calm the pup down.

This particular drug has its advantages and disadvantages and should not be misused. It is only to be used as prescribed and for medical reasons.

5. Ease Pains

Pills are also given to ease pains both in humans and animals. Your dog might have not sustained a physical injury but might have hit itself somewhere or might have been hit by something.

Once you notice it is in excruciating pains, do well to seek out the right pain-relief pills and administer immediately. Do this under your vet’s instructions to avoid using the wrong one.

6. Therapy

Some drugs are therapeutic in nature. They are used for different therapeutic purposes such as calming an aggressive dog, reducing anxiety or eliminating a particular strange behaviour.

7. Pregnancy or Nursing Stages

During the pregnancy and nursing stages of a dog, it is essential to keep a watchful eye on it and keeping a watchful eye also includes giving it its routine drugs to keep it healthy for its younger ones.

8. Toothache

Animals experience a toothache as much as humans do. Sometimes, it causes them to bleed from their gums. This is also a reason why we give dogs a pill to soothe their aches.

Other reasons why we give drugs to our pets include infection treatment, stomach disorders, bowel disorders, vomiting, body weakness, inflammation, etc.

How to give a dog a pill.

This is our main discussion of the day. Here, we discuss all the ways to go about giving your dog a pill to make sure it doesn’t throw it out.

First thing you need to know about giving your dog pills is that you should study your animal first. Know its behaviour and how it likes its things being done. What I mean here is know your dog’s pattern of feeding, drinking, playing and the rest. So, you know how and when it is going to react when you try to give it a pill. Also, know if you can give it a pill directly or if you need to coat it with a Treat.

Next, steady your dog. Keep it in a relaxed mode. Make sure it is comfortable enough just in case it tries to struggle with you when you are giving it the pill.

Then, bend the head of your dog backwards. If possible you can get someone to hold it down to avoid it wrestling with you.

Gently open its mouth by lifting the upper lip first. Fold or hold the upper lip together. This would avoid any accidental bites because if the dog tries to clip its teeth together to bite you, it would bite its tongue instead. The tongue is usually always out in this position.

Next, use your first two fingers to hold the pill while using the third finger to pull open the lower jaw. Make sure your middle finger is over the small incisor teeth to avoid your finger being dug into.

Then, you drop the pill all the way down to the back of the tongue and immediately close its mouth. Blow over its nose to make it swallow immediately.

Try to get it far down the down or else the dog would spit it out. To do this, use your first two fingers to push it down before closing up its mouth.

Note: Try to work very fast because the dog can jerk its head at any time. Also, try to avoid being bitten; keep your fingers away from the sharp teeth.

Once you are done, blow its nose and stroke its neck so the drug can go down immediately.

After it swallows the pill, reward it with a Treat for a job well done. it would entice it to take the pill without struggling next time. 

Ways/ Methods of giving your dog a pill.

There are a number of ways to give your dog its pills without it putting you through so much stress. Like I said earlier, get to know your dog and what it likes, so you can know how to handle it. What I explained above is the general way to give a dog a pill but there are some tricky ways to go about it to find favour with your pet.

Some of the methods include:

Pill pockets: These are treats that have holes in them in a pocket form where you can insert the pill without it being noticeable. This form of giving a pill is very deceptive to your pet because it is hidden. The taste of the treat blends with the pill’s taste and only confuses your pet after it would have chewed half-way.

Mixing it with Food: This is another method that works well. You mix the meal and the pill together after turning the pill to powder form to allow easy chewing. Hopefully, your pet doesn’t detect a taste change in its food because if it does, this might be a disadvantage. Still, it is a considerable option, it is as easy as giving your dog lunch.

Melting with Water: This form involves turning the pill into a powder and mixing with water. If your pup is a fan of liquid substances, this can work. Also, it works well with puppies because they are easy to hold and squirt the liquid into their mouth. This is also easy to do. Simply create a pouch by the side of its mouth leaving a gentle opening to squirt in the liquid. It would slide in easily or the dog would start to suck it in.

These methods are quite easy to use. They individually have their disadvantages too but they are reliable. Just be sure of the one that works for your dog and follow it. It could even be the normal way without any mixtures.

Common Pills given to dogs.

Inflammatory Pills: to reduce swelling. They include dexamethasone, Metacam, etc.

Pain relief drugs: to relieve them of severe pains and they include Amantadine, gabapentin, etc.

Antibacterial drugs: to relieve help get rid of unseen bacteria within their body such as amoxicillin, dichlrophene, etc.

Therapeutic/ Sedative drugs: to help calm their restlessness, other forms of therapy and to make them sleep. They include Acepromazine.

Stomach upset drugs: to help relieve them of stomach upsets. They include sucralfate, Imodium, Pepto-Bismol, etc.

Multivitamins: These are drugs taken to boost your dog’s eating habits. They contain complete nutrients and vitamins that boost their general health. They include Zesty Paws dog multivitamin, Pet-Tab Original Formula Vitamin Supplement, etc.

Precautions

It is very unsafe to purchase drugs for your pup over the counter. It is also not advisable for you to give them human tablets to your animals. They do not work the same way.

The most important precaution to take before giving a drug any pill is to make sure you go through your veterinary doctor. Your doctor would check the animal very well and detect what is wrong before choosing the pills you can give him.

Also, after the pills have been given to you as his owner, do well to follow the given instructions to avoid underdose or overdose.

These are very important precautions to note to avoid causing any harm to your dog.

Now, let’s go through the merits and demerits of giving your dog pills.

Merits

•  You get to handle your dog yourself.

•  The pill would help it to recover quickly.

•  It creates a bonding session between you and your pet.

•  It prevents unwanted diseases and cures existing ones.

Demerits

•  There might be accidental bites and scratches.

•  You might overdose your dogs if you don’t follow instructions carefully.

Conclusion

Generally, administering pills can be a very difficult job but if you master the basic tricks, you can get away with it. Just make sure you are familiar with your dog’s methods and you are good to go.

I hope you were able to learn a thing or two from this article because I did too!

Kindly let me know in the comment section and don’t forget to share with your friends.