Giving meds to your dog

Giving pills to dogs (and other animals) frequently turns into a battle. Sadly, a lot of “advice” found on the internet calls for aversive methods to “win” it. You probably heard that one person should grab the dog, the other force their mouth open, push the medication in… I’ll spare you the rest.

Unsurprisingly, the situation gets worse and worse and in the end both dog and human hate it. As a result, owners start avoiding giving medication to their dog. And let’s not even talk about what happens to their relationship…

In this blog post I will share tips and tricks that will make giving medication to your dog if not fun, then at least much, much less stressful or all parties involved.

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What is aversive equipment?

DISCLAIMER

I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.

This post contains no euphemisms. We think that aversive training tools should not be used1. Don’t feel attacked or threatened if you realize that you own something that is aversive. You’re trying to provide the best life possible for your dog, you’re willing to learn and improve and this is all that matters. At the end of the day, all we can do is try to do better next day.

What is aversive equipment?

A stimulus is aversive when it is something that the dog will work to avoid. We define equipment as aversive when it causes discomfort or pain to the dog by design 2, in order to make them behave the way we want.

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