Jake hates taking pills. In his Labrador universe, pills are the "man" trying to oppress and hold him down. He is a master at not swallowing them. I've given quite a few four legged animals pills in my lifetime, but Jake takes first prize at successfully avoiding them.
Due to his recent Arthritis diagnosis, he now has a lovely plethora of pills to take daily, one of which is fish oil. I called him in to the kitchen the way I always do (cue higher pitched voice and excited talking): Jakey!!! Do you want a treat!? Do you want a treat Jakey Bear!?!?! His ears perked up and he excitedly limped in to the kitchen. It's strange how much he has learned to communicate with his face and ears now that his body can't jump up and down like it used to.
In the kitchen I opened the pill bottle and showed him the fish oil. He sat patiently, ears still engaged, but when he eyed the pill he immediately looked away. I'm telling you his face said it all: Look lady, I know what you're trying to trick me into doing and it's not going to happen. I basically stuck the pill in his face trying to get him to sniff it. He was not interested. I figured his rock star dog smelling capabilities would smell the fish oil deliciousness encapsulated in that gel, but apparently not. He did not smell the yumminess waiting inside.
We began our usual you're-going-to-take-this-pill dance. He always remains seated while we play this dance, he just starts moving his head around like a lunatic. You go one way, he goes the other. You finally catch his squirmy face and he clamps his mouth shut so tightly a tornado couldn't get it to open! Even WITH his floppy lips (which is also manages to make rigid) and the holes between his dog teeth, you can't get the pill in! He sticks his tongue forward so that all of the spaces between his teeth are filled! (this is proof positive that he is a genius...)
After enduring what I lovingly called "operation challenge" if I am so lucky as to actually get the pill in his mouth, he has a jedi tongue trick where he immediately grabs the pill, sticks it under his tongue, and swallows so I think it's gone. Even if I open his mouth to inspect and see if he actually swallowed it, he will keep it hidden. Then when I have released his face from my grasp, he'll spit out the pill. He has also been known to actually swallow pills, only to regurgitate them seconds after you've released him.
I am not joking when I say this dog hates taking pills!
Last night, after six attempts of getting the pill down his throat (and after explaining to him over and over again about how it will make him feel better and reminding him of how much he loves fish--and stop thinking that he's a dog and he doesn't understand me. When he had the world's worst ear infection, he stopped resisting me treating it after I explained to him that it would make him feel better. It was nasty too. Lots and lots and lots of bleeding. He understands what I'm telling him... OKAY!?) and him proudly spitting it out on the floor, the pill actually broke on his tooth when I was trying to get it in for the seventh time. The gooey fish smelling oil spilled out of the capsule and Jake froze. I could almost see his brain processing: this. is. delicious!!!! He immediately started licking like a mad dog. He licked my hand for a good five minutes (some of the oil spilled out on my fingers). He licked up the pill, chewed it, put it back on the floor so he could lick it some more, picked it up again and repeated this a few times until he finally swallowed it.
Perhaps this will make our pill taking endeavors end. Maybe tonight he won't participate in operation challenge! We shall see!
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