03/04/2026
Giving medicine 💊 to a dog can be tricky, especially if you don't know them very well or if they are distrustful of pills hidden in food. 👀
Mr. Bean here needed his hot spot sprayed a couple times each day, which would make him flinch. 😖
Even though he's very tolerant and did not give me any problems, I still wanted to make it as pleasant as possible, as we are still getting to know each other and I don't want to damage the relationship! 💙
So right AFTER he got sprayed he got a big piece of cheese 🧀 (his favorite treat). The pattern I wanted him to learn was that being sprayed predicts getting cheese.
Spray ➡️ 🧀
As for his pill and supplement, sometimes he just isn't in the mood for those, and hiding them in peanut butter or cream cheese just made him more distrustful. 🫣
So I made a game out of it - keep away! Sometimes dogs want something more when they think they can't have it. Then, by rolling the pill on the floor, it triggers him to chase and grab, and luckily he then eats his meds himself. 😅
You might think "Just put the pill down his throat and make him swallow it" but that's super invasive. I'd really rather not do that to a dog, especially one I'm just building a relationship with (but if nothing else was working then I would resort to that). Luckily it hasn't come to that!
I hope this helps someone think of other ways to make medication administration more pleasant for their dog!
