Hey, put sarcasm aside. Never mind the peanut butter, the hot dog pieces, the fancy butters, or anything else the local yuppie pet store is trying to sell you. Dogs will take pills with nothing more than your patience and their innate desire to please their master.
Here we go:
Step 1 - Foreplay: Shake the bottle to bring the dogs over. They may think they want to be looking out the front window or scratching themselves, but any pill bottle shaken with gusto will bring the most stubborn dog running.
Step 2 - Submission: When we give dogs pig ears or rawhides, we always make them sit before partaking in their tasty treat; their pill can be no different. It’s all in the showmanship.
Step 3 – Swallow, swallow, swallow: They won’t take it all down at first. Stick it in their mouth, massage the neck, extend the snout and make eye contact. You know they want to please. Make it easy for them, and take the tension out of the room.
Step 4 – Mutual respect: You won’t want to go through this song and dance for long. Dogs need to understand that their masters have their best interest in mind when medicating them. Slowly take away the massaging of the neck, but never take away the praise. They deserve the praise. Would you rather go through the song and dance of the peanut butter flavor façade, or do you want a mutually respectful relationship?
Step 5 – Experimentation: If you have two dogs, then play them off each other. The first one to sit gets the treat first. A little competition makes everyone happy. They will learn to love each other and cooperatively learn to love anything that comes from the guy with the treats.
Step 6 – Keep it interesting: Dogs will tire of the same old routine. Take it outside, do it in front of the house, or in front of a window. If the “treat” stays exciting, then that medicine will go down smooth for years to come. Who wants to live in their dog’s world? Should we be the ones jumping through hoops or should we show our dogs that our way is the path to happiness? Take our pills, fetch our slippers, shake our hands, and submit to our desires. Is it really a dog’s world? I don’t think so.
This article was posted by a site carrying: invisible fence, bark collars, and dog door.