Need help -- giving medicine to Lhasa Apso

[LhasaApsoOwner]

Dear All,

I would appreciate any advice. My Lhasa is 10 years old, recently he was prescribed an eye cream and drops; if they are not applied daily he would eventually get blind. It is just impossible to even approach him with the bottle in a hand; he's became very aggressive and he bites.

Otherwise, with an exception of grooming and the current problem, he is a good dog; quite obedient and sweet.
Thank you very much for your help.

[uberglamorous]

What you can do is gradually get your dog used to the presence of the bottle in a pleasant context so that he doesn't form negative associations with it.

You can have the bottle present when he's eating or doing other normal activities. When he gets around to sniffing the bottle, you can offer him a small treat along with words of praise as a means of positive reinforcement.

This way, the bottle will be associated with something pleasurable rather than threatening.

This will be a gradual process and you can't rush him to get used to the presence of the bottle overnight.

In the meantime however, I think you can try using a muzzle when you're actually administering the treatment in order to prevent him from biting you. With enough gentle persistence, he'll eventually outgrow his fear of the medicine bottle.

When he does accept the treatment with noticeably less resistance, try offering him a treat as well so that he'll see the medicine as a precursor to food, which of course is a good thing.