How to give a dog pills

Howls!!!  That's what it used to be like when I gave my dog his pills.

If you're having a hard time giving your dog pills, read on for several good tips.

At 15, my cocker mutt, Roby, knew one thing for sure: that he hated taking those bitter pills he needs for his allergies.

Never for a second has he made the connection between those nasty pills and his inflamed ears and itchy eyes. All he knows is that I want him to eat something that tastes bitter.

Roby will eat almost anything, literally. Bugs, dead fish, moldy bread, virtually anything that falls on the floor. He has an iron stomach, which seems to be about twice the size of a normal dog's.

But his allergy pills ... no, he doesn't want to eat those, not if he can help it.

Over the years, his allergies have gotten worse, so for the past four or five years I've had to give him an antihistamine every day, morning and night, all year long.

For some reason, those allergy pills don't come in large doses, so I have to get him to swallow four or five pills twice a day.

Of course, I asked my veterinarian and some of my friends how they got their dogs to take pills. They gave me lots of ideas -- wrap them in cheese, put them in a piece of meat or bread.

Some of these methods would work for awhile, but soon Roby would get wise to the bitter taste in the middle of the tasty thing, and he developed an incredible knack for spitting the pills out while getting all the good stuff down.

Then I'd be back to the vet's advice: Grab his snout, with your fingers all the way around the upper snout so that the skin of his "cheeks" would go under his upper teeth, open his mouth wide and put the pill way down the back of his throat, nearly choking him and definitely making him very unhappy with me.

And dontcha love all the dog slobber on your hands, too?

He got wise to this method quickly too, so that there was no way he was going to come when he saw that look on my face: "Oh, Roby ... it's pill time!"

One of my friends mentioned peanut butter as a possible solution. Hmmmm, my dogs love peanut butter.

I'd just hide the pills in a teaspoon or so of peanut butter and Roby would lick my fingers clean, and the pills went down without him noticing ... well, without him noticing for about three months. It was kind of yucky anyway, glopping the peanut butter all over my fingers and having him lick it off.

And of course, if Roby was getting peanut butter, Sammy, my Lhassa-poo mutt, had to have some too.

After awhile, though, they got tired of the sticky-gooey-peanut-buttery glop. It was maybe a little too rich for their little tummies.

Next method: Peanut butter sandwiches! I'd make regular peanut butter sandwiches, except I'd insert the pills in little lines on the bottom slice before I put the second piece of whole wheat bread on top. Then I'd cut the sandwiches in four long, vertical slices, like finger sandwiches.

Meanwhile, Roby and Sammy would watch the whole process, anticipating the moment when the new treats would land in their mouths. I'd break the finger sandwiches up and toss little bites to them (tossing pieces without pills to Sammy). This turned the whole pill time into game time, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Well, this method wasn't so messy, but it did take a little more time to put together. It was a good method, and lasted a couple of years. But they've tired of the bread and the game, and Roby has learned how to take the pills out of the sandwiches. So I went back to the drawing board.

Tuna fish! They LOVE tuna fish.

I bought the cheapest brand, opened it up (this had the dogs at my feet immediately, as they love it when I squeeze the tuna packing juice into their bowls when I make tuna salad). I put the tuna in a plastic container, and put the pills in Roby's food, and just covered the pills with the tuna and tuna oil. Occasionally, I'll see one pill left over in his bowl, but mostly he scarfs it all down.

When I took the dogs with me up north to visit family this past weekend, I forgot to bring the tuna with me, and we went back to peanut butter. But this time, I warmed a spoonful up in the microwave and poured it over the food and pills in Roby's bowl, like icing on a cake. Again, he scarfed it all down all weekend without noticing.

I hope this gives you several ideas about how to get your dogs to take pills. I think anything's better than trying to force them down his throat, and that usually isn't necessary.

When Roby gets tired of the tuna and peanut butter, we'll probably have to move on to some other disguise, but I'm sure I'll think of something that he'll think is delicious.