P I L L S
GidgMom: Always conceals the pill (from monthly heartworm to antibiotics) in some food -- either chunks of chicken or some bread dipped in yogurt or cottage cheese. Lately she’s had success with canned tuna -- putting some on a piece of bread and then holding out another chunk for a tuna chaser that Gidget can't get to fast enough so she'll ignore any hint of a pill in the bread.
September 2011 update: In getting antibiotic capsules down Gidget’s gullet, GidgMom is having great success with Costco’s “Daniele Assortment Pack” of Capocollo, Sopressata and Genoa Salame. Designed for hor d'oeuvres, these meat slices are extremely thin. GidgMom rolls a pill up in one, tearing off a small piece for a chaser and Gidget gulps it all right down. Yay!
GidgMom’s first Samoyed was more attuned to deception. Was harder to sneak pills past Buck’s radar.
Theo/ShaylaMom: Squeezes the pill into a strawberry... She always start with a “virgin” strawberry, so that they don't get suspicious. Then, the next berry has the pill. The pups are smart and will figure it out, unless more bites have no pill. And, they get strawberries every morning, so they don't start to distrust the system.
RigelMom: Does not resort to deception. She’s “somewhat brutish” in her methods (her words). Open mouth, place pill really far back on the tongue, hold mouth closed, wait for swallow. The flavored heartworm pill simply is added to her food at mealtime.
Harry/IrishMom: Uses “Pill Pockets” for big pills. Otherwise tucks a pill into a piece of chicken. It needs to be something so good they'll swalllow it quickly rather than risk losing it to one of her other dogs. She is thankful that more pills are now manufactured with beef or liver flavoring.
DaffyMom: They happily eat their chewable vitamin C (orange flavored) everyday. Otherwise they are healthy and have not needed anything. If they do need something....a piece of cheese or lunch meat always makes a nice camouflage.