My dog ia a pain when it comes to supplements. He eats around them if I mix them into his food and refuses the food altogether if I break them up and stir them into his dinner. I can drop them far back into his throat but he has figured out how not to swallow and then spits them out.

I think I would have better luck with a liquid form; he likes the salmon oil. Of course I'd like to get the most vitamins in one serving to make my life easier. The Mega Pet Daily sounds like a good option. Is there a liquid form? Or if broken up is it water soluble and if so would that decrease any of its benefits? I'd imagine it would be more difficult to spit back a liquid vs a capsule or pill.....?

Sheila,

Can you maybe get a few pills of the Mega Pet Daily from someone to try it out? I used that and broke it open and mixed it in their food, my dogs didn't even notice it. It actually smells a bit like marshmallows when opened, not like the typical horrid vitamin smell. Out of the daily vitamin pills you could get I think this pill will be best for finicky dogs.

What about something like this:

http://www.b-naturals.com/daily-blend-1-lb-p-115

or

http://www.b-naturals.com/bertes-immune-blend1-lb-p-17

I use the second one...it is in powder form, mixed with chicken liver powder. My dogs both eat it no problem when I just put it on top of the food and I think they would likely eat it right out of the container. If they didn't, I could mix it in and they wouldn't have much choice or better yet, I could add a little water and make a gravy.

 Quote: Melissa Hoyer

http://www.b-naturals.com/daily-blend-1-lb-p-115

or

http://www.b-naturals.com/bertes-immune-blend1-lb-p-17

I use the second one.

Me too. Both dogs eat it on their food in the morning.

 Quote: Ron Eunson

 Quote: Melissa Hoyer

http://www.b-naturals.com/daily-blend-1-lb-p-115

or

http://www.b-naturals.com/bertes-immune-blend1-lb-p-17

I use the second one.

Me too. Both dogs eat it on their food in the morning.

Glad to hear it, Ron...I love their products (I also give their Digestion Blend to my dog with EPI and Green Blend).

Hijack over

I agree with others here...I'd find different forms of your supplements...the powdered ones you just mix in with their food.

As far as liquid vitamins go, I asked my doc about them for humans (he's a MD/Homeopath). His take is that the liquid vitamis are not good, since they have to use a lot of preservatives in these liquid varieties. I can't imagine that dog vitamin companies have discovered non-preservative ways to produce these vitamis.

Also, as far as giving as many of the vitamins in one meal, that's not the best strategy, either. It's much better to divide them up between meals, as the absorbtion will be better.

So, find some nice powder forms of what you want to give and just mix it in<g>. (I go to the Salvation Army or other thrift stores to find those mixing spoon sets, then break them up and keep the correct sizes in each supplement conatiner. Not having to find them for each meal makes it a lot easier...just open each container and dump the right dose in. Done<g>.)

leih

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. I had another thought...would it be possible to marker train the dog to accept the supplements and if so how would you go about it?

 Quote: Sheila Buckley

I had another thought...would it be possible to marker train the dog to accept the supplements and if so how would you go about it?

You can marker train just about any behavior that the dog can physically do; it's all up to how creative and resourceful and consistent you are in going about it.

With some behaviors tho, I like to think in terms of picking my battles. If there is an easier way to accomplish the goal, I'll take that route.

You mentioned putting the pills in his mouth, but that he spit them up, I believe. I don't know how you're doing this, but when I give my GSD a pill, I open her mouth with my left hand (gently, with a command she knows), then with the pill in the other hand, push it WAY down the side of her mouth into her throat using my thumb. Unless your thumb is wet and the pill gets too slippery, it works great.

However, I don't prefer to give her things this way unless they're really necessary. Especially capsules (tablets don't have the same problems). Have you ever had a capsule disolve in your esophagus, instead of your stomach? It sucks. Dog saliva is a lot more slippery than ours, and I'm sure that helps with pills, but they don't drink water with them, either<g>.

leih

I pretty much give the supplements the way you describe but it is a hassle since he has figured out how not to swallow it even when he does swallow....but the stash I found under his bed 3 slimy cosequin and 2 Vit E gel caps was a give away.

Maybe I can try mixing the gel from the Vit E with the salmon oil; is that ok? And I've tried crushing the cosequin down to a powder and mixing it in but he will not touch the food same goes with anything else I add.

I am starting to formulate a plan to marker train the behavior but I need another dog; if he thinks another dog wants something even if he has zero interest he will also want it......,,

 Quote: sheila buckley

....but the stash I found under his bed 3 slimy cosequin and 2 Vit E gel caps was a give away.

Maybe I can try mixing the gel from the Vit E with the salmon oil; is that ok? And I've tried crushing the cosequin down to a powder and mixing it in but he will not touch the food same goes with anything else I add.

Well, the little bugger!

No reason at all you can't mix the vit E and sal oil...what do you feed? Raw or kibble? If raw, any ground meat? (My dog won't eat Vit E caps, either...always just squeezed it on her food and mixed it in).

As far as the cosequin, that's a tablet, right? My guess is it tastes really nasty when you ground it up<g>. I can see where that could make it hard to make him eat the stuff.

One thing I often do (and this goes with your marker plans) is once I give my girl a pill, I give her a small treat. I watch her swallow everything<g>. I figure if she's gotta swallow a treat, the pill will go down, too, if it hasn't already.

I think you're gonna have to get better at administering and supervising the swallowing of the damn pill. Perhaps, give the pill before a meal? (Assuming it doesn't have to be given on an empty stomach...which I'd guess it doesn't, since you're already crushing it up to try to give it that way with food).

So, get your bowl of food all ready, up on the counter, I'd guess your dog is sitting there watching you prepare the meal, and is hungry...then, no muss, no fuss, "here's your pill," or whatever...cram it down his throat, then put his food down and watch him eat. Swallowing all that food should get the pill down!

The only other idea I have at this time is have you tried peanut butter? I'd guess he'd just lick the PB off of the pill, but if you're gonna crush it anyway, perhaps a teaspoon of PB mixed in will be strong enough to mask the nasty pill taste?

If I were you, I'd go with putting the Cosequin down his throat before feeding him his meal. The meal becomes his reward for accepting the pill, you watch him eat it all, etc.

good luck!
leih