How to give a dog ear medicine

[dexterpet]

My dog is a beagle who has a bad ear infection. The vet gave us liquid antibiotic which we are supposed to put in his ear using a syringe, but he won't let us get near him. The vet has to muzzle him to put medicine in. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting the dog to let us put the medicine in his ear?

Thanks!

[Fundog]

First: Instead of you going to him, (he feels threatened and cornered that way) get several delicious treats, and make sure he knows you have them. Go sit down, and invite your beagle to come to you. When he does, give him a treat. Pet him and give him another treat. Now have a helper put the medicine in his ear, while you are constantly treating him--- it will be easier if this treat is a "lickable" treat, like peanut butter on a spoon. One ear down, praise lavishly, treat some more, take a five minute break. Repeat the same steps for the second ear.

*IF* he is not cooperative enough for the "easy" way, we may need to resort to the "hard" way. I'm loathe to suggest it, because although it is quick and will get the job done, it is likely to cause trust issues. (It's the same method we used to get medicine into my cat, when he was alive-- he always forgave us, though)

[Suzette]

Any chance you could ask your vet to give you an oral antibiotic instead? I personally find it much, much easier to pill a dog than to try and put something in their ears when they are fighting you tooth and nail (sometimes literally).

[Sarah83]

When I first got Rupert I had to get ear drops in his ears. I used a Halti, arm around the back of the neck holding the Halti under his chin and used my other hand to get the drops in. Or got someone else to hold him while I got the drops in. This isn't my preferred method but no treats in the world would entice him near me when it came to ear drops and it had to be done so I got it done as quickly and with as little fuss as possible.

As soon as I was able (once the infections had cleared up) I started working on desensitzing him to me touching his ears, working up from me reaching a hand out towards them to touching with one finger and all the way up to me turning them as though I were going to put drops in. I also kept a bottle the drops came in and got him used to me handling his ears while holding it, touching his ears with it, pretending to put drops in etc. He's actually on ear drops for an infection at the moment, he sits quietly in front of me and lets me put the drops in and massage his ear for a minute, in return he gets fusses and a special treat. He doesn't like them but he tolerates it.

[dexterpet]

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions! I'll let you know how they work out. For now, my husband waits until the dog is laying on the right side and quickly goes up to him and squirts the medicine in.

[Fundog]

Sometimes, you gotta do what ya gotta do. The important thing right now is to get that medicine in, any way you can, and clear up that infection. Later, when time isn't so critical, you can work on desensitizing him, the "Positively" way.

[runlikethewind]

This video is a very good explanation of the correct process so that the dog does not become suspicious of what is going on - as can happen when the food is presented before and during the procedure. Here the food is always presented afterwards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_VzNv7TC9U