Dog Owner's Manual › Chapter 8: Dog Health Care › Giving Your Dog Pills ›

Giving Your Dog Pills

If you will be administering pills on a regular basis, you may wish to invest in a pill gun. This device consists of a long plastic tube with a plunger at one end, and is designed to "shoot" a pill directly into the dog’s mouth port. If you do not have a pill gun, employ the following procedure instead.

  1. Using your nondominant hand, grasp the dog’s head (Fig. A). Place your hand on top of muzzle, with thumb on one side and fingers on the other.
  2. Raise the dog’s nose upward. Squeeze firmly behind the canine or "eye" teeth until the mouth opens (Fig. B).
  3. Place the pill between the thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand, then use the remaining three fingers of the same hand to open the lower jaw farther.
  4. Place the pill far back in the dog’s mouth, close the mouth, and keep it closed (Fig. C).

    5. expert tipEXPERT TIP: Briefly blowing on its nose will stimulate the canine to swallow. Also, many dogs will take pills hidden in peanut butter or some other treat (Fig. D).

  5. Offer a treat after the pill session, to make future encounters easier.

Administering Pills to Dogs

Comments (4)

Chapter 8: Dog Health Care

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Great info! Thank you.

barked by Brittany Dunlap on Jun 11, 2008 AT 8:56 pm PDT
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peanut butter works great!!

barked by Kelsey Boehme on Jul 11, 2008 AT 10:43 pm PDT
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I wrap my pup's pills in cheese and he eats them with nooo problem... seems much easier to make them think they are just getting a treat than this process listed. Liquid meds on the other hand are much harder with him lol!

barked by Rachel Hall on Jan 19, 2009 AT 9:00 am PST
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I wrapped my puppies pills in cheese, he took the first one and then figured it out, then I tried turkey but again he figured it out, I am going to try the peanut butter, wish me luck

barked by Courtney Forstner on Apr 11, 2009 AT 5:43 am PDT
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Quirk BooksThe Dog Owner's Manual is a basic guide to dog care.
The book was written by a celebrated veterinarian and an acclaimed author. It provides dog owners with well-researched and helpful information presented in a lighthearted manner. The creators chose to write the book in a style similar to what you'd find in "operating instructions" for a car or computer. Of course they--and we--respect the fact that our beloved pets are not products or machines!