Any tips or tricks for giving a particularly wily dog a pill?

I have found that peanut butter works very well too. My late dog wouldn't go for cheese at all, but put the pill in a lump of peanut butter on a spoon, and he'd like the spoon clean. I've used this with several of the dogs I've cared for via Rover (with owner permission of course) and it's never been a problem.

Try tossing the pill (wrapped in something yummy that's also moldable and tossable - velveeta is a good option, maybe things like cream cheese, liver sausage or pate' cat food too). A pill-savvy dog will normally check anything handed to him, but catching it he will normally swallow it without thought. Change up the things you wrap the pill in daily. Toss him the tasty things without pills in them too, so he never knows exactly what has a pill in it.

I'm not sure if you've tried a Pill Popper, but if he won't allow you to pill him - he probably wouldn't like that either.

If you're giving it with food, always make sure to have a 'chaser' that you present right after the pill-containing food is in their mouth. Then they usually rush to swallow the pill so they can have the next bite of food.

My old dog who passed a year ago got to the point where he didn't want to eat much of anything, so we ended up using one of those plastic 'pill guns' that we could load with all his pills and just shoot them down his throat. I know that sounds a little rough, but it was a quick and painless process, much more so than trying to negotiate how to get 6-8 pills in him one at a time!

Best of luck.

You can always crush it and mix into food.

I have a dog that will chew through mostly anything and then spit the pills out. She's a freakin' genius. But I found the trick is it should be something SO GOOD that they just MUST inhale it lol Pill pockets have worked wonders for me, not sure why so many people downvoted Andree for it. Other then that I would try a teaspoon of bacon grease with the pill stuffed inside or put it inside a piece of turkey/chicken and have them do tricks. Then when they get the 'treat', they're not expecting the pill because they worked for it.

Give the dog several pieces of the hot dog or soft cheese (Velveeta or cream cheese) FIRST. Always do this before dinner time, when he is very hungry. After the 3rd of 4th piece, give the one piece containing the pill.

I second the peanut butter! I had a boarder that would eat the "cover up" and then spit the pill out. With peanut butter, the dog has to work so hard to swallow it (instead of chewing) that the pill usually goes down too.

My dog has to take anxiety meds everyday. He tends to get board with peanut butter, eats only the cheese, and pill pockets are expensive. I have been making my own pill pockets or other no bake dog treats and I have been altering the recipe here and there to make it interesting for him.

My previous dog had a medicine cabinet rivaling most nursing home residents' when he was being treated for cancer. Pair that with a declining appetite and his 2-3 times daily pill routine was a nightmare. He started out being fine with pills, allowing us to place him at the back of his throat, and swallowing with only a little coaxing. Sometimes he'd take them with food. He inhaled his kibble generally, so we could sometimes just toss small pills in the middle of the bowl and he'd suck them up with the rest. Later on it got harder. When he wasn't hungry and was having trouble keeping things down, the easiest solution was to put the pill as far back as I could, tilt his head back, and use a plastic syringe to trickle a small stream of water into his throat. This almost always forced a swallow that took the pill with it, though for his chemo pill he'd often resist until bright yellow chemo drug water oozed out the sides of his mouth.. ugh. You may also ask your vet if this medication (or something comparable) can be given as an injection. Subcutaneous injections are often easier on human and dog alike, if you're comfortable trying it.

Vienna sausages do it for my dogs.