Mere mortal no match for 2 lbs of Yorkie!

[enavarra]

My little 11 week old Yorkie threw up her heartworm medicine after getting her vaccinations. The vet sent another 1/2 pill home and told me to wrap this little treat around it and feed it to her. YEAH, RIGHT!! After 20 minutes of Yorkie wrestling, holding the snout shut, rubbing chin and throat, and I had to give up. The little wrap around pill was sticky, so the dog was FILTHY from the struggle. That meant a bath.

The only thing Sugar hates more than taking pills would be taking a bath. The vet told me to stop using the sprayer, and that a pitcher of water poured over her would be more soothing. YEAH, RIGHT! My little girl was trying to scratch her way out of the sink. She was terrified, shaking and cold. So I try to blow dry her (low setting like the book said). She started crawling up my body so fast I was afraid that she would fall.

Traumatic evening for both of us. I am taking her back to the vet tomorrow--THEY can shove the pill down her throat.

Please tell me the bath thing gets easier!!!!!


Elizabeth & Sugar

[tumismom]

i usually break the pill into smaller pieces and hide it in a creamcheese. My girls love cream cheese so they just swallow the cream cheese right away..

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by enavarra

My little 11 week old Yorkie threw up her heartworm medicine after getting her vaccinations. The vet sent another 1/2 pill home and told me to wrap this little treat around it and feed it to her. YEAH, RIGHT!! After 20 minutes of Yorkie wrestling, holding the snout shut, rubbing chin and throat, and I had to give up. The little wrap around pill was sticky, so the dog was FILTHY from the struggle. That meant a bath.

The only thing Sugar hates more than taking pills would be taking a bath. The vet told me to stop using the sprayer, and that a pitcher of water poured over her would be more soothing. YEAH, RIGHT! My little girl was trying to scratch her way out of the sink. She was terrified, shaking and cold. So I try to blow dry her (low setting like the book said). She started crawling up my body so fast I was afraid that she would fall.

Traumatic evening for both of us. I am taking her back to the vet tomorrow--THEY can shove the pill down her throat.

Please tell me the bath thing gets easier!!!!!


Elizabeth & Sugar

Sounds like sugar is strong!!! When they dont want something they WILL let you know, the first time I gave peanut his heartworm meds he threw up too!! Then I gave him it again and threw it up, then I changed from heartgaurd to sentinal. When I give peanut a bath I do it in the tub, just fill up some warm water and use a cup, and do it like that, that way he doesnt hear the water noise, I think that scares them...the more you give her a bath the more she will tollerate it peanut hates his but he puts up with it, he does try to crawl up my arm too!! When I blow dry him I just put a towel in the sink and put him in there, he loves it he burys his head in the towel and tries to make a hole and stuff, by the time he is done playing I am done with him anyways!! Yea its easier to give them cottege cheese or cream cheese with a pill and crush the pill, that way they dont eat the treat and spit the pill out!! just make sure you crush the pill and only put a little bit of cream cheese or whatever you use so they eat the whole thing. Good luck

[charlottes web]

I think as they mature, they learn to like or "tolerate" bath time. Bonnie hates bath time. I think I get as wet as she does Patsy, on the other hand, just loves to get a bath. She likes being rubbed and loved on. Now the blow dryer is another subjectWe won't even go there.

[QuickSilver]

It will get easier. Thor and I have had some days like that.

I use a pitcher too in the bath too, which Thor hates a little bit less then being held under the faucet. I saw a groomer use the shower nozzle, but she held it all the way up to the dog's head before she turned it on, so it wasn't the same sensation as water thundering down on the dog's head.

I usually heat up a towel for Thor in the microwave and he loves to wrestle / be wrestled in it right when he gets out. For the hair dryer, I turn it on all the way up, but I let Thor stand a couple feet away from me and just aim it in his direction. He likes the heat as long as he can move while he's experiencing it.

Also, just a note, I noticed that Thor is much calmer if I fill the sink up first and then plunk him into it.

Final note on baths: speed is the key. You'll have it down to a science soon enough.

[Mom to Hot Rod]

It will get easier. Hubby wraps their pills in a big chunk of cheese and the love it. Watch and make sure she eats it though. Hot Rod has been known to chew the cheese off around the pill--that's why it hubby's job to pill them. lol.

Baths do get easier. Do her head last. Once you wet their head, they start shaking off. I wait until the very end to do their heads. The dryer will get easier too, promise.

[nanahas3]

We use the heartguard that looks like a small puppy treat vet suggested it. Laddy loves them and for his size we just give him a third of one at a time. He gobbles it right up. You might try those. They are just called Heartguard chewables.

[shannonroselive]

Do you have any little kids?
Curly Mac hates a bath. She's 12 weeks and 1.8 lbs but you'd think she was a full grown bull dog the way she fights to NOT bathe. Anyway, the other day I put her in the tub with my 5 yr old, Jack, and she had a ball! She attacked the scrunchie and swam and played with Jack and got clean as well. They were both happy!
Hey, whatever works huh!
No idea about the heartworm meds though, sorry.

[SweetViolet]

Puddin' isn't too keen on bathing, either, but she doesn't fight...she just droops and gives me those sad, betrayed puppy eyes. It breaks my heart, but she gets smelly because she hasn't learned not to walk on the wet spot on the puddle pad!

Brushing her "petticoats" is what sets her off. She weighed 1.8 lb at her last vet visit ten days ago, and last night it took two of us just to brush that one area...one to restrain the pup, the other to wield the brush. Please tell me this gets easier...my Peke loved being groomed, even the fluffy bits on the backs of her legs that picked up tangles. Yorkies, obviously, are not on the same page as Pekes!

[jeanietoo]

It would be a good idea to have the vet tech show you how to give a pill. There will be lots of times in her life that you may need to medicate and if you can't do it when she's weeks old you will have your work cut out for you

[threelilmaggots]

My vet told me to crush up the pill mix it with a little Corn syrup- just a little to make a past- and load it in a tiny Syringe and pop it down their mouth!
It works!! They won;t spit it out and they'll want more!

[QuickSilver]

Thor looooves to be brushed. It makes me feel better that we can bond after I've subjected him to the horrors of a bath.

Thor's feet and legs get dirty all the time, that's when I just dunk him in the sink in a couple inches of water. He completely doesn't mind, and no more pee pee paws.

Now if he gets poo stuck to his backside, that's a whole other matter entirely. Then we are both sad.

[AvyQuinn]

I crush his pill up and mix it with some canned food!
He's odd cause he'll LOVE something for a week and then never touch it again one day, outta the blue. So I tried to give his very first one in some peanut butter and he almost turned up his nose at me. I was scared I was gonna have to mix the peanut butter with some canned food. /wretch

[Katylou]

Cheeze Whiz (that icky cheese in a jar) works great. Put the pill in it and it slips right down the throat. My vet suggested it. I use as small amount as possible - just enough to hide the pill.

[Mommy_2_Roxy]

Originally Posted by tumismom

i usually break the pill into smaller pieces and hide it in a creamcheese. My girls love cream cheese so they just swallow the cream cheese right away..

Wow! That's a great tip!!!! Thanks for sharin