A Spoonful of Sugar makes the medicine go down

Those of a certain age may remember seeing the movie, Mary Poppins and hearing the iconic voice of Julie Andrews singing, “A Spoonful of Sugar”, and as we know from the lyrics:  

         A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
         The medicine go down, the medicine go down
         Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
         In a most delightful way.

And now it’s time to digress…

My clients often complain that they can’t get their dogs to take medication without a fight, and as you can imagine, it takes only one bad experience to create a very unpleasant association between the dog and the human who forces pills down their dog’s throat!

Knowing that this is not good for the cause, I  shared the “Spoonful of Sugar”wisdom that I use for my own dogs which entails using three pieces of high value food. The first piece is a peace offering, so to speak; the second piece has the pill hidden inside, and the third piece is a chaser that the dog smells in anticipation of eating it, so she quickly swallows the food-pill without ever tasting its bitterness, because as we know, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down in the most delightful way.”

I’ve been very successful with this, that is until one of my dogs became seriously ill and stopped eating.

Without having an appetite, my little trick to get her to take pills was failing miserably, and failing was not an option because the medication was critical for her recovery. Even with the tastiest liverwurst to hide the pills, she was not motivated. Sad to say, I had to resort to forcing the pills down her throat, which while a horrible choice, it was my only choice given her situation.

The good news was that she made a full recover and the bad news, as you may have guessed, was that she could no longer be enticed to take medication the “fun way” with delicious food. You see, I unwittingly created a food aversion, and believe me, I tried every different tasty food and she would spit it out in disgust!  Just as bad, my other dog, who was keenly observing this chaotic circus unfold every morning, also stopped taking his daily medication after seeing her reaction to the food!

I was at a loss because I now had two dogs refusing their medicine…And then the idea came to me that I was going about this all wrong. Similar to the way a parent makes a fun game when feeding their toddler, I decided to “jolly up” my dog kids in the same way!

Everybody sing:

         Who wants a thrill? Does Fonzie want a pill?

         Okie dokie, but first we’ll dance the Hokey Pokey

         Does Fanny want some food? Would that put you in the mood?

         How about some cheese? Would you first say please?

In addition to the singing, I also jump and flap my arms like a chimp on crack.

This clown show, by the way, which includes feeding both dogs and cats takes around 60 minutes, so don’t expect to see it on TikTok.

What began as a little ditty about taking a spoonful of sugar, has turned into doing the full on Hokey Pokey, to the amusement of my dogs. The cats, well, I think they’re embarrassed for me.

         You put your right foot in,

         You put your right food out,

         you put your right foot in,

         And you shake it all about.

         You do the Hokey Pokey,

         And you turn it all around,

         That’s what it’s all about…

 HAPPY TRAINING & ENRICHMENT

© Fran Berry CPDT-KA, UW-AAB all rights reserved 2024