Best way to get a Doodle to take Pills?

[Sandy]

Toby has a skin infection on his leg, for which he has to take an antibiotic and Benadryl.  The first time I wrapped them in a bit of cheese slice....no problem.  The next time he ate the cheese and spit out the pill.  Next I crushed them and put them in a little beef gravy.  That worked twice, now he is turning his nose up at it.  I spread the gravy/pill mixture on a little actual beef, and when he went to bite it I scraped the gravy mixture off  the beef against the back of his teeth so he'd actually consume it.  Then I let him have the beef too.  But....there's got to be a better way.  He just watches me get it ready and looks like he's thinking "Whatever.  I'm not eating that."  Too bad doodles are so smart. 

[Camilla and Darwin]

We usually just put it in a bit of bread or hotdog for Darwin. He hasn't seemed to notice yet. Also, we tell him to do a down-stay or something first, it seems that when he knows it's a reward rather than just food I am giving him, he's more eager to gobble it down.

[Sandy]

Using it as a reward is a great idea. Maybe then he'd just gobble it down as well. :)

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I've been down this road as well. Only thing that has consistently worked for me is peanut butter. Because it is sticky it is harder for them to be able to separate the pill. I'm currently giving 3 pills (big ones) and it works fine. I've tried cheese and hot dogs and they each worked a couple times then they caught on.

[Sandy]

I'm giving one large pill and 3 tiny benadryl three times a day. The Benadryl stops on Friday, but the large pills are for 2 weeks. I was thinking maybe a little peanut butter or cheese whiz on a bit of bread, and folding it over, tucking the pill inside.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Yes, the benadryl's are fairly easy. We have been giving those continuously up until last week when the vet decided to try a different antihistamine and they are large like the antibiotics! Mine are sniffers .... sniff before eat. Even with a treat! There are treats that they won't take. So, if I don't have the side of the pill I hand to them covered in peanut butter they will figure it out. I just do it on my finger. That way when they open their mouth I can just scrape the bloob off right behind their bottom teeth. I even switched brands of peanut butter a couple weeks ago from the "Healthy Smart" that we eat and had always used for them to a store brand of regular peanut butter and Lucy turned up her nose at the store brand. Had to go back to the "healthy smart" type! Guess she is watching her cholesterol or something!

[Sandy]

Morning pills are down the gullet! A bit of soft white bread, spread with some Cheese Whiz, folded over with a surprise pill on the inside! :) Peanut butter would work well, but about a year ago we had someone babysit Toby, who gave him WAY too much peanut butter, and we had a time of belly recovery afterwards, including medication and a modified diet.

[Pat & "Tucker"]

I use luncheon meat. It's thin and wraps the pill better than cheese. Something nice and appetizing- ham, roast beef. I never had a problem with using the meats.

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

When Haley had to take 4 pills twice a day for 10 days I started out opening his mouth and sticking each pill way in the back, closed his mouth and hold closed until he swallowed. I did this before meals. After a couple of episodes of pill taking he started holding his nose to the air and opening his mouth. I would drop the pills in and he would swallow! I never expected him to cooperate but as he was on special feeding after stomach surgery I did not want to introduce meat, cheese etc. into his system.

[Amanda and Quinn]

I use Pill Pockets, made by Greenies. Quinn needs pills twice a day and he has yet to catch on; he loves them. I usually get them from Drs Foster & Smith - they have them for the lowest price I've seen.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=19072

[Sandy]

Those look great! I'm in Canada, so I couldn't order from that website, but I could look around here. Hopefully this is a short term thing with Toby's leg, and then we wouldn't need to give pills anymore.

[Amanda and Quinn]

They carry them on Amazon too - I find them everywhere! They keep for a quite a while (the bag has a Ziploc top) so they're nice to have on hand.

[Leigh & Allie]

I use these as well. they are moldable so you put the pill in the middle then you pinch it together to cover the pill. Allie LOVES them.