Teach Your Dog To Take Pills

• What You’ll Need to Teach Your Dog to Take Pills
• Step 1: Your Name=Your Treat
• Step 2: Hide the “Pill”
• Step 3: Giving Your Dog the Real Thing–Pills

What You’ll Need to Teach Your Dog to Take Pills

You’ll need a few types of treats to do this training. These can be items that you also use for daily training.

Delicious treats, large and small.

Find treats your dog loves! We recommend:

• small treats, like Zukes Mini Naturals, or cut-up chicken, steak, liver, pork or fish to represent smaller pills
• larger treats, such as Charlee Bears or similar small biscuits

Carriers or coverings to put the “pill” in.

Find carriers your dog thinks are delicious! Good options are:

• cream cheese
• canned cat or dog food
• chicken hearts
• liverwurst
• hotdogs
• Pill Pockets, if your dog loves them, but you may not love their ingredients, they can be expensive, and many dogs don’t like them as much as other options.
• We do not recommend is peanut butter because it tends to stick to the roof of your dog’s mouth, increasing the likelihood your dog will remove the covering and find the pill.

Step 1: Your Name=Your Treat

Teach your dog that when you say its name, it will get a treat. If you have multiple dogs that get along, teach them together so you can create an atmosphere of healthy competition. When trained together, a dog quickly learns that its name is said, the treat is for him. The dog also learns that if the treat falls on the floor, another dog might scarf it up. Thus, each dog is more likely to gulp down its treat as soon as it is offered rather than risk their buddy getting it. (Obviously, don’t use this method if you have an aggressive dog that might fight or bite you or the other dog during training. In those cases, do what you can to apply these methods safely for you and your other dogs.)

Step 1 training goes as follows:

1. Train either before breakfast or dinner or both.
2. Say one dog’s name.
3. Give that dog a treat. Make sure another dog doesn’t get it, if you have multiple dogs.
4. Say another dog’s name.
5. Give that dog a treat.
6. Repeat several times with big and small treats until your dogs are responding positively (eye contact, opening its mouth) when you say their names.

Step 2: Hide the “Pill”

Once your dog is responding eagerly to their names, add the carrier. Watch the video below to see what this training looks like.

1. Hide a treat in a carrier, like cream cheese or another favorite.
2. Repeat the Step 1 sequence but now with a treat covered with cream cheese or another delicious carrier.
3. Don’t forget to say each dog’s name before giving them their hidden treat.

Step 3: Giving Your Dog the Real Thing–Pills

Now your dog should be taking the hidden treats eagerly when you say its name, without hesitation or suspicion. If it isn’t, keep looking for “pills” and carriers that your dog loves. If he remains reluctant even then, cut back on his food for a few days, so he’s very hungry when you do this training. Download the handout below to help with your training.

When it is time to give your dog a real pill, the routine is a bit different but the transition should be relatively simple if you have taken the time and consistently trained your dog properly.

1. Prepare 4-5 good treats covered with your dog’s favorite carrier.
2. Say your dog’s name.
3. Give a covered treat.
4. Give three more covered treats, one at a time but quickly.
5. Next cover the actual pill with the carrier and give it to your dog.
6. Immediately offer your dog another covered treat or two so he swallows the real pill quickly.
7. Congratulate yourself! You did it!

As you can see, with a little consistency and preparation, you can easily teach your dog to take pills! If your dog is older, it is not too late, but now is time to get started. No matter the age, start with Step One and follow through until you are comfortable and confident that your dog will take “pills,” real or fake, whenever and whatever you offer. Trust me, it will be worth the effort when the time comes to administer important medication! Good luck! You have got this!