How I taught my dogs to take a pill voluntarily

Julie van Schie Author

The best use of dog training is to reduce stress in everyday life, that's why I taught my dogs to take their pills voluntarily.

No need to "shove it down their throat"

In his senior years Rumble took tablets every day. At first I pried open his jaws, pushed the pill to the back of his throat and held his mouth closed. This worked but he began avoiding me and looked stressed whenever I moved towards him.

It was awful for both of us, so I wrapped the pills in food and put them with his meal. While this was better than shoving it down his throat, there were times when he found the pill, spat it out and then refused to eat that food again. Sometimes I still had to push it down his throat.

Rumble's looking unhappy as I put in eye drops - medication is necessary but can be stressful

Learning by association

Dogs are fabulous at learning by association. I just need to flip open the cheese section in the fridge and my dogs magically appear. The technical name for this is classical conditioning and it’s always at work influencing our dogs’ reactions to things.

The sound of the cheese door is not naturally important to my dogs, but has gained value through its association with cheese.

Good and bad

Classical conditioning is not just about good associations, bad things can be linked too. Me moving towards Rumble predicted a tablet being shoved down his throat which he really didn’t like. Sadly, I came to have the same bad association as the pill.

When I learned that Merlin and Bonnie need to take tablets every day, I decided to teach them how to take pills voluntarily. Now when I bring out the medicine box, they come running with the same enthusiasm they do for cheese.

Merlin and Bonnie taking their morning joint supplement – look at those happy faces!

Even if your dog eats their pills wrapped up in something delicious, it’s still a good idea to follow the conditioning steps on a regular basis. Getting your dog used to the smell and taste of the medicine could prevent them rejecting their food if they accidentally bite into the pill.

And Remember

ALWAYS FOLLOW YOUR VETERINARIAN’S DIRECTIONS WHEN GIVING MEDICATION

Teaching Steps

Step 1

Have a bowl of special food ready as rewards.

Hold the tablet up high to the dog’s nose so they lift their head to sniff it. 

At this angle, your dog is more likely to sniff than try to gobble down the pill – sniffing is what we want now.

Let them sniff the pill. As they do say “Good” (or use your own marker word or sound) and give them a reward.

Repeat this until the dog is comfortable sniffing the food.

Step 2

Hold the pill lower, pinched between your fingers, in direct line with their muzzle. 

See if they lick the tablet. 

Mark sniffing or licking with “Good” (or your own marker) and give a reward.

If your dog doesn’t lick the tablet, rub a  little food on it.

Step 3

Hold the food in an open hand beneath your dog’s nose. Mark (say “Good”) any effort to sniff or lick the tablet. 

If your dog continues to lick but not pick the pill up and eat it, wait a little and see if they try again. 

Mark this effort with “Good”

If your dog doesn’t progress to eating the pill, try changing the way you give it. If you normally give your dog their food/treats with pinched fingers, offer the pill in the same way. 

Try feeding a few pieces of tasty food first, one after the other, and offer the pill in the same way directly afterwards. Follow with more tasty food. 

Make sure you’ve done the sniffing and licking steps first.

Once your dog takes the pill, give them multiple pieces of food to wash down the taste.

Video tutorial

This video shows an abbreviated version of the above steps. Please note that Merlin has done this before with different tablets so he no longer needs to sniff the new pill.

For best results

When I first began teaching this to Merlin and Bonnie, I used their daily joint support gel capsule. It’s small and tasteless so they got used to the process before I asked them to try it with a bitter tasting pill. 

• Start with something bland but edible such as frozen peas or pieces of carrot
• When you introduce a pill, use something with no/little taste first. You can buy empty gel capsules from the chemist.
• Each time you introduce a new kind of pill (like monthly wormers) go through the process again. If you visit my Facebook page you can see me doing this with a “chewable” flea tablet that Merlin decided he just would not eat!

The method outlined in this blog and video worked for my dogs, but if it doesn’t for yours don’t worry, all dogs are different.

While doing some searching for titles, I found an article by Laura Baugh: An Easy Pill to Swallow which details an alternative training plan. It’s easy to follow and comprehensive, so if mine doesn’t work for you, give Laura’s a go. 

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