Outwitting Molly

Molly Brown, our chocolate Lab, HATES taking any kind of medicine. Currently she's on an antibiotic, in pill form, and getting the pill into her is a major challenge. We tried sneaking it into her food. She ate her food but left the pill in the dish. We tried putting it into a glob of peanut butter. She ate the peanut butter but left the pill. We tried hiding it in a glob of peanut butter inside a cracker "sandwich." She ate the peanut butter and crackers but left the pill. 

In desperation I called Molly's veterinarian. His assistant said, in a perky voice, to "just have someone stand over and open her mouth, then have the other person pop the pills in." Sounded so easy!

Ken held Molly and tried to force her jaws open. When Molly clamps her jaws shut, however, ain't no opening them. It's like trying to break into Fort Knox, although I've never actually tried that.

Persistence is paying off, though. With lots of "Good girl!" encouragement, Molly has begun to open her jaws a teensie bit. At that point we can pry them open the rest of the way, and I pop the pill in just before Ken clamps her mouth shut and waits for her to swallow. The first couple of times we tried this technique, we congratulated ourselves and rewarded Molly with a biscuit. Later in the day, we found the pills, mutilated but intact, secreted away in a corner of the kitchen or living room. Molly had actually stored the pill in her cheek and waited for the opportunity to ditch it. Once we caught onto that, we became more thorough in our approach, to the extent of my running my finger around her gums to see if I'd come upon a hidden pill. Unless we've overlooked a mutilated pill hidden in the house somewhere, we think she's swallowing them.

Only six more days of this, twice per day.