Summary
Giving a dog liquid medicine requires patience and the right technique. Due to their sensitive smell and taste, dogs often resist. Understand the correct dosage and use a syringe or dropper. Gently create a pouch between their teeth and cheek, insert the syringe at a slight angle, and slowly dispense the medicine, allowing them to swallow. Hold their mouth closed and stroke their throat to encourage swallowing. Avoid overdosing if they spit some out. For resistant dogs, try hiding the medicine in a strong-smelling treat, using a small spoon instead of a syringe, offering positive reinforcement, calming them, and rewarding them after they take it. Always consult your vet for dosage and administration advice.
Why Do Dogs Refuse to Take Medicines?
To properly understand the methods to make your dog eat liquid medicines, you should first know why the canines refuse to take the medications, which are very important for their health. The factors due to which the canines refuse to accept the medicines are discussed below:
Bad Taste
The bad taste of the medicines is the most probable reason why the dogs keep refusing food consumption.
The different types of ingredients and the chemical solution used in the manufacturing of the medicine give it a mixture of salty, sour, and bitter tastes, which seems very weird to the dogs while they eat. Thus, the dog always refuses to take fluid medicines.
The Habit of Always Having Delicious Food
To keep our dog happy and reward him during the training sessions, we always provide delicious treats and food according to the favorite flavor of our canine. Due to this, our dog gets into the habit of eating delicious food always.
Therefore, they refuse the consumption of that weird-tasting medicine.
The Unpleasant Smell of the Medicine
We know that the capacity of our dog to smell things is far better than that of humans. The canine can get that weird smell of the medicines from a distance, so it makes them aware that something bad is coming to them, thus always refusing the intake of drugs.
Difficulty in Swallowing
The dogs that previously suffered from medical issues like breathing issues and inflammation in the organs are mostly noticed to avoid the intake of liquid medicines.
This happens because the friction between the liquid particles and the throat increases, often leading to the dog choking. Thus, the canine refuses to take the liquid medicines.
These are the most important factors that are tangible for your love. So, suppose you refuse to take medicine to make your dog eat the liquid medication. In that case, you must first consider the above factors.
Sometimes, when the medicine is thick in consistency or the form of pills, they refuse to proceed further due to their past experiences.
How to Give Dog Liquid Medicine?
Now, we have discussed the factors that make the dog refuse liquid medicines. It’s time to discuss the steps you can follow to make your dog consume those liquid medications.
The steps to provide liquid medications can be categorized into two types: one is for dogs in normal condition, and the other is for the ones who split out the medicines.
Understand the Proper Dosage
The first and most important step you must follow while providing liquid medications to a dog is understanding the appropriate dosage for the canine. Dosing on the dog can cause many side effects, so understanding the proper dosage is necessary.
Prepare the Syringe
Now, after understanding the proper dosage of the canine, you must prepare the syringe according to the doses prescribed. Try to pull the plunger back to the syringe line for the appropriate dose.
Make a Pocket Within the Lip and Teeth
The third step you must follow after preparing the syringe is to make a pocket within the teeth of the dog and its lips for injecting the syringe. Gently pull the lip of the dog a bit away from its teeth, and make sure to draw with light hands as there’s a chance of getting bitten by your dog.
Place the Syringe
Now, you are all done with making the proper place to inject the syringe. It’s time to know where to properly place the syringe and the needle in your pocket just behind your canine’s teeth.
Inject the Syringe
Make an angle of around thirty-five degrees from the tooth while placing the syringe, and slowly squeeze the syringe to dispense the liquid into the dog’s mouth. Ensure you are not squeezing the syringe fast, as slowly squeezing will give you sufficient time to swallow and breathe.
Encourage the Dog to Swallow
Now it’s time to help the dog to swallow the liquid medicine. All you can do is hold the mouth of the dog closed. You can even stroke their throat to promote the swallowing of the medicine. Ensure you are not pulling the head back, which can lead to the dog choking.
Avoid Overdosing
Sometimes, the dog splits up some medicines while swallowing them due to severe choking.
In this situation, most dog owners think that they should give a few more drops of the medicine to complete the dose, but this should be strictly avoided as providing a few drops after the dog splits some medicine can lead to an overdose, which might be difficult for the dog to handle.
These are the simple steps followed by veterinarians while they are used to provide medicines to the canine. Dog owners can also go for these steps if their canine is not suffering from health issues.
What are the Steps to Provide Liquid Medicines to Dogs Who Spit Out?
The dog spits out the medicines due to its weird taste. That’s why some tricks should be followed while providing liquid medication.
Hide it in food
This is one of the most effective ways to trick the canine into the intake of liquid medicine. All you can do is go for one of his favorite treats with a strong taste and fragrance.
Put the appropriate medicine dosage in that food and mix it well with a spoon. It is necessary to ensure that the medicine can be taken with food, as some drugs are often prescribed on an empty stomach.
Use a Small Spoon
Dogs are often scared of the syringes as they remember that this thing causes them pain. So, instead of using a syringe to give the liquid medicine, you can also use a small spoon to give the medicine.
Ensure you encourage the pet to take medicine with the baby and talk with the canine. This step can work well if the reason behind the refusal is the fear of the syringe.
Positive Reinforcement
This is one of the most important steps you should always take care of while giving liquid medications to your dog. Ensure you do not use bad words or punishment or force the dog to consume the medicine.
This will only harm your lovely bond with your canine. Instead of making the dog consume the medicine, it must be strictly avoided.
Make the Dog Calm
Your dog’s refusal can be anxious due to the better taste. This can be easily handled by putting some love and extra effort into making the dog understand that the consumption of this medicine is very necessary.
All you can do is give a slight massage to your dog’s head and make him sit on the ground, then try some baby talks with him to convince him of the medicine, and then try to use a pill dropper to give the medicine by slightly opening the mouth.
Reward the Pet
Now, you can try all the above-discussed steps to make the dog consume the medicine. But if you want to make it a habit for your dog to consume that medicine daily, you can reward the pet whenever he takes it.
This will make the pet understand that after tolerating the little bitter taste of the medicine, he will have some delicious treats, which will indulge the pet in taking the drug and make the pet familiar with it.
Giving liquid medicine to the canine is not as easy as it should be, so the canine can’t even realize the medicine intake.
That is why it is suggested that dog owners strictly follow the steps mentioned above while learning how to give dogs liquid medicine.
