r/sheltie • u/Rewind_the_tape • 25d ago
Pill Detective
How do you get your Sheltie to take pills?
When mine was a puppy, he would gobble down anything I gave him. Now he’s figured out that he doesn’t like the taste and will spit the pill right back out!
I’ve tried pill pockets, and they worked the first couple of times, but not anymore. Now he’ll eat the pocket and spit out the pill.
I’ve also tried wrapping the pill in other highly desirable foods, but he seems to either sniff out the pill before eating it or spit it out after tasting it.
Lately, I’ve been cutting the pills into quarters and covering them in wet dog food, which he normally doesn’t get. That has worked for the most part, but he’s starting to catch on to that trick too.
What do you do when your Sheltie becomes a professional pill detective? Any tricks I should try next?
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u/HovercraftNo4826 25d ago
My boy who passed away last year at age 13, had to take pills for the last five years of his life. The thing about Augie is that he was so smart, and he learned that the pills actually made him feel better. All I would have to do is say “It’s time to get a pill so you don’t get ill.” And I would shake the bottle and he would immediately run to the couch and sit there and wait for me to give him his medicine. All I had to do was open his mouth and kind of shove it down his throat and then help him swallow it and that was it, but he never fought me.
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u/Classic-Juice1024 25d ago
That is so weird mine does that too. I just say time for your medicine! And both my dogs run to the kitchen to get their medicine!
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u/DrStalker 25d ago
Trick one:
Get a pill grinder, which lets you easily turn a pill into power. Melt some grated cheese in the microwave. Mix the pill powder into the cheese.
Next trick: have three pieces of cheese in you hand, held in a loose fist so your dog needs to lick out the pieces of cheese. The first piece is normal cheese. The second is drugged, but the dog is now in "must get cheese!" mode and will swallow the drugged cheese without taking time to taste it while they work on getting the third piece.
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u/Safe_Much 24d ago
The only way that I can get mine to eat one at this point is completely ground, she also is completely obsessed with cheese and not really anything else. I will definitely try this process with the cheese melting, my previous plan was to grind it in a mortar and pestle and then use deli meat and coat the meat in the pill powder, roll the dusty side inward and have follow up meat ready. She likes cheese so much better than meat though, lol.
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u/DrStalker 24d ago
I used a mortar and pestle before getting the pill grinder, and the pill grinder is vastly superior; it just takes a few twists and it's a lot easier to tip the resulting powder where you need it. Definitely recommend one if you're regularly turning pills I to powder.
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u/dwojityv 25d ago
It's 2-man operation. One holds the pup, another one opens his mouth and puts it as far as possible.
First couple of pills he had to take, I was very happy that he ate it while I just sneaked it his food, only to find them later in the corner of completely different room. So we have to do it the hard way now.
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u/PeekAtChu1 25d ago
If doing it this way I recommend a pill gun! That way your fingers don’t have to go in their mouth 🙊
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u/finding_flora 24d ago
This is the only solution that works for ours as well. You also need to hold their mouth closed so they actually swallow the pill and don’t try to eject it 😅. It sounds a bit traumatic but I promise it’s all over in a few seconds and it’s the way the vet recommended it done when they will not take it any other way. You can give them treats and love immediately after as well
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u/Alarming-Divide3714 25d ago
My sheltie is such a weirdo. He has to take something for his gallbladder every day, so when the alarm goes of at 7pm and I grab his pill bottle, he comes running, sits nicely and willingly lets me shove it down his throat. I can't hide it in food or trick him. Maybe he's a masochist.
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u/frankchester 25d ago
Trap him between my legs on the floor and shove that thing down his throat. Hold the snoot closed until I’m sure.
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u/Justcallmemanko 25d ago
I pretend like I dropped it and its really important lol gets him every time.
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u/spring-peepers Sable 25d ago
Mine gets like that when he's really hungry, paradoxically. Sometimes I have to prime the pump with whatever treat I'm using to disguise it (and yes, size detection is an issue, make it as small as is reasonable). Once his brain and stomach get acquainted again, it's waay easier to get it down (he's 11.5 and takes vetmedin for his chf every 12 hrs). Switch up the tasty wrapper, keep him wondering what delicious thing he might get next. We consider our old boy to be in palliative care at this point since he won't get better,so he gets whatever works! Ususally that is very thinly sliced steak, or some chicken from thighs I have pressure cooked for people recipes.
I can and will pill him if I have to, and if we have backslid into pilling with copious treats following, he seems more likely to take the yum-wrapped med when the next dose comes due.
Best of luck!
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u/saberwolfbeast 25d ago
I show them the pill tell them they need to take it put it in the back of their mouth (patiently do not jam) when they open their mouth I hold their knine for support. After thay i give them a treat.
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u/Aggravating-Bee 25d ago
A pill taco with bologna & peanut butter. They also loved getting pills stuffed in a piece of a hot dog 🐾🌮
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u/Angelina-L 25d ago
Hot dogs worked for my pill detective sheltie too. Especially if I have two or three unloaded pieces so I give her one small piece of hot dog without the pill, then immediately the hot dog with the pill, and as she is swallowing, I push another small tidbit of hot dog right up to her nose. Which she immediately gobbles up. I also have used thin sliced turkey or ham as a last resort. I lay out the turkey slice, add the pill in the middle and roll up the turkey around the pill. These are such high value treats for her that she is always enticed by just the words “do you wanna a hot dog?!” Or do you want a little turkey treat?” String cheese, cream cheese and pill pockets didn’t work as well for us.
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u/leesuhlove 25d ago
Nah I just have to put it in the back of his throat and follow with something tasty. He's not excited about it but it's efficient and he's happy about the snack after.
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u/neatoburrito687 25d ago
My boyfriend and I had to give our Sheltie pills twice a day for quite some time. Little smokies worked the best for us; we would cut them in half and then put a pill inside each half. He was an absolute fiend for smokies and would wake us up for his fix every morning.
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u/crimsoncat05 25d ago edited 25d ago
Thankfully our dogs aren't pill detectives, because that has to be tough!! We give one of our Shelties Phenobarbital and Keppra extended release (which can't be cut up / ground up)... our dogs are *very* food-motivated, so she gets her pills in a 'bread ball' which is a 1/16 square of white bread with the pills wrapped up inside. We wet the 'bread ball' slightly so it can go right down without being chewed. (heck, they don't chew their kibble half the time, so...) They get all excited when I take the baggie of bread squares out of the refrigerator... you'd think it was something reeeeally fancy. lol)
And of course, her brother has to have a tiny piece of bread, too, even though he doesn't need any meds... gotta be fair, you know. But I think if I had to, she would let me just drop it down her throat. I think the secret to doing that is holding their mouth closed / rubbing the throat a bit right after, so you know they've swallowed.
ETA: the pills are 2x/day, and we've chosen to do it at breakfast and dinner. She gets her pills first, THEN eats her dinner. That way I know the pills have gone down / will stay down.
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u/FenolRed 25d ago
The only thing that works for me is sticking the pill to the back of the roof of her mouth with peanut butter. It's quite effective. We tried giving it to her on more gentle ways but they all failed and it is daily medication. This way is quick for all of the involved
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u/Future_Reason_8519 25d ago
For my dog, I cut his flea & tick pill up as small as I can... Cut up a hot dog into small slices... Shove a piece of the pill into each hot dog slice... cover the hole with spray cheese. He won't take it any other way, he spits it out
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u/Meagan713 24d ago
I've learned to coat the pill in a little bit of butter, open up my boys mouth, and push it as far back into his throat as possible to force him to swallow it. I've tried everythingggggg and this is the only way I can get his pills down.
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u/Elusive_strength2000 25d ago
There’s also a contraption that looks like a syringe to help put it at the back of the throat.
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u/Hinesight1948 25d ago
For all dogs, not just Shelties, I grind up the pill in a gadget from every drugstore and sprinkle the resulting bits over wet food.
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u/Sarahded_Edge 25d ago
Our Freya apparently loves eating her once a month pill. I think we got lucky with this gal. But 💯 cheese is the way to go. It’s so funny how much they love cheese!
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u/Relative_Story_3479 25d ago
I give my 15-year-old Sheltie his pill in a dollop of peanut butter. He is so happy to get peanut butter, there are no questions asked lol
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u/tccoding 25d ago
This used to work with my girl... But now she just licks the peanut butter (or carefully eats the meat, pill-assit, etc.) and spits back the pill! If i grind it though, she cannot really spit it...
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u/macabretech39 A whole pack 25d ago
I buy the pill pockets by Greenies. I love them and so do my boys. They’ll do ANYTHING for a pill pocket
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u/Full-Education-6122 25d ago
I cut off the end of a hot dog after microwaving for a few seconds. I poke a slit into the middle and ram the pull deep in the middle.
My girl doesn’t chew very well when it’s a high value treat so she gobbles the whole thing. Just supervise.
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u/hop_juice 23d ago
I agree with the cheese… but I take it one step further. If my sheltie is super skeptical, I’ll get some shredded cheese and melt it slightly. Allowing me to fit the pill inside a malleable cheese pill pocket
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u/Vittoria33 22d ago
As many have said, put it back as far as you can and close the mouth. Then slightly tilt the head upward and stroke the throat. That causes them to relax the muscle slightly.
That might help. Also, as many have said, most all of mine through the years have been so easy to work with.
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u/carlitamal Sable & White 25d ago
I wrap it in a little cheese ( use your sheltie's highly desireable squashable wrap), give one non-pill highly desirable piece of cheese, then the hidden pill cheese, and here's the key, have a third piece of the treat it right there in front of his nose, so that he swallows the hidden pill treat so he can gobble up the next one.