OK. So you’ve established that your dog has an allergy. You’ve been a responsible pet owner, and paid a visit to the vet. He prescribed dog allergy medicine, and even demonstrated how to get your beloved fluffy friend to take the dose. Trouble is, now that you’re home, you’re struggling to even get his jaws open, let alone get the dog allergy medicine down his throat, where it needs to be to do its job.

If your dog is otherwise healthy, you might never have had to give your dog any kind of medication, and dog allergy medicine might be your first attempt. What now? Luckily, we’ve got a few handy hints to make giving your dog allergy medicine a little easier!

• If your dog allergy medicine is in the form of a tablet or pill, the easiest way to get it into Fido is to hide it inside his favorite treat. Most dogs will gobble that up easily, without argument, taking the dog allergy medicine with it.

• Another trick that might work to get your dog to take dog allergy medicine is to toss it, as you would a treat, biscuit or ball. It sounds crazy, but I’ve had a dog who loved to catch, and who would not take any medicine unless we used this trick!

• If your vet’s given you dog allergy medicine in the form of a capsule, you could try opening it up, and sprinkling the contents over his food (check with your vet first, as this might cause trouble with medicines that need to dissolve slowly.)

• Dog allergy medicine in the form of a pill or capsule can also be placed in the dogs mouth, or, more precisely, pressed down his throat. Some dogs still manage to spit it out though. To get around this with your dog allergy medicine, have a syringe or dropper on hand filled with water, and squirt it after the pill. The dog will swallow, taking pill with water.

• In the case of topical preparations, you may not have as much trouble applying them, as keeping them put. Dog allergy medicines take time to work, and if your pooch licks them off all the time, you may need to resort to more drastic measures – an Elizabethan collar is a plastic cone, that fits around your dog’s neck, restricting his ability to lick or bite his body. If the area where you are applying dog allergy medicine is on his body, this should work for your dog. Otherwise, you might try bandages on a paw or tail.

The method you choose to use to get your dog allergy medicine into your dog may vary, but the important thing is to make sure that he takes it, in the doses, and at the frequency that you are required to take it. Consistency is key in treating and managing dog allergies, and if you only administer medicines sporadically, you may not get the results you need.