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Summary: Learning a safe and effective method for giving your dog pills (medicine) is necessary for your dog's health. Too many times, a new dog owner will waste several pills trying to get their dog to swallow a pill. We review several techniques to try with your dog to help you with this problem.

	The quickest and easiest way to give a dog a pill is to put the pill in some cream cheese, a small piece of meat (like a hot dog) or peanut butter. Give it to your dog and he/she will gulp it right down and think you’re a hero for giving him/her the treat. If you need to divide a dog's pill you can purchase a “pill splitter” at most drug stores. They make it so easy to correctly split the pills. Some are quite inexpensive and are well worth the cost.
If you have a puppy that eats only the good stuff and spits out the pill you will have to go with another method. Open the top of the puppy’s mouth with one hand. With the other hand place the pill on the back of the puppy’s tongue as far as you can and push it out of sight. Close the pup’s mouth and hold it closed while rubbing its throat until it swallows the pill.
	A product on the market today called 'Pill Pockets' allows you to insert the pill inside of a snack treat that has been designed to hold dog pills. These products have been described as "Patented Pill Pockets take the hassle out of medicating your dog, while providing your dog with a healthy treat."

An alternative to these conventional methods of pill administration is to use what's called a 'Pet Piller' or 'Apothecary Pill Dispenser' depending on who it is sold by. This inexpensive tool is simple to administer and is safe to your dog. 1-800-PetMeds website describes the 'Pet Piller' as "Administers tablets and capsules to dogs safely, quickly, and easily. Has a soft rubber tip, is gentle to the dog's mouth, easy to clean, designed by a veterinarian, appreciated by users, and the right size for small dogs."

We've included a photo of each item below. The 'Pet Piller' is sold by 1-800-PetMeds and the 'Apothecary Pill Dispenser' is sold by PetSmart. Click on the images to learn more about each product.

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