My friend has a great Dane approx 2 years old and has not eaten for 5 days !!

She has taken him to the best and said the stomach and small intestine is full of gas but has small pockets of air in!

They have been given tablets to give to the dog but he won't eat anything not even ham to give the dog tablets!!

Any ideas how to get the dog to have tablets without food???

They have Ben told not to feed the dog properly at all!!

Need answers ASAP if possible

Many thanks ahead!!!

I rarely rely on food to feed tablets - I just open their mouth wide, lob them down the throat, then hold the muzzle shut whilst stroking the dogs throat.  The only time I have difficulty is if the tablets are the 'dry' type with no coating as they sometimes stick to the tongue.  However you can cover these in a small amount of butter to help them slide.

If your friend doesn't know how to give tablets in this way - and can't get to grips with it - tell her to take the dog back to the vet for a lesson.  It's easy when you know how :)

Exactly like DAB but I always put a bit of butter on them to make them slide down easier :-)

>Any ideas how to get the dog to have tablets without food???

Same as the others; smear some butter on the tablet, open the dog's mouth wide, push the tablet as far down the throat as you can (beyond where you can see) then hold the mouth shut and stroke the throat until the dog swallows.

Your friend could try one of those pill pusher doser syringe type gadgets, it's like a syringe, you put a small amount of water in it, the pill it held in a small clip and you jet it into the dogs mouth, then hold muzzle shut gently rub the throat and wait for the swallow action to take the pill down

I was told by my vet that stroking the throat to make the dog/cat swallow is just an old wives' tale (try stroking your own -does it make you want to swallow? It doesn't for me) -you just need to hold the mouth shut and wait. Certainly I've done it that way for the past 30 years and have never noticed a difference. :) For REALLY difficult animals it can hep to squirt a tiny (HAS to be tiny to not choke) amount of water after the tablet, that will make them swallow for sure.

> I was told by my vet that stroking the throat to make the dog/cat swallow is just an old wives' tale

Yes I expect it's more to distract or calm them than anything else - although most of mine have all been pretty quick to swallow we did have one that would wait ages! :)

Thanks to all!! I have told her this but that are struggling to open the dogs mouth as we are talking about a great Dane and a stubborn one at that!

An aside I would be watching him like a hawk with this to make sure it doesnt change to bloat and torsion espically given his breed
Anyone else and thoughts or am I off track

I would learn as much as you can about bloat firstly and hints to avoid such situations, types food etc .The pill pop syringes are good , if not .....
You need 2 people .Sit your dog down . One person go behind to hold the dog steady .If you press down on a dogs tongue ..poke your finger through the side of their large canines, they usually open their mouth. There is a large pocket either side of their lower jaw, teeth ,gums,usually quite large in a dane.I push tablets down with an index finger down the side of this pocket (in marg/butter if you want), down the side of their throat , rather than on the back of the tongue , or middle of the throat .( I have practice over the years pushing clients dogs worming tablets down etc etc.)
You could mash the tablet into liquid (with small  amount of water ) or ask the vet for alternative liquid . Even in semi comatose state, laying on the floor , a dog can be given a teaspoon or syringe mls in the lower pocket of their mouth , nearest the floor, lift the dogs head and let it trickle down gently. this way it is not crossing the tongue , back of the throat and won't end up in the dogs lungs.

>down the side of their throat , rather than on the back of the tongue

I agree with Stevensonsign.  For years I have found it so much easier to whip my finger down the side of the throat.  I find that I can get the finger down further, and it naturally gets swallowed.  Far less struggling.

Tell them to get their finger in right at the back of the lips and push finger back, you should be able to get the finger in where there are no teeth and this should help open the mouth!

Thanks so much to everyone they managed to get the tablets down him yesterday and he finally had a very sml amount of chicken and pasta!! Another trip to the vets today to check the gas in the stomach is decreasing ! 

Yes they are aware of bloate as the family have had Danes in the past ( not quite as stubborn as this one) they are very corcerned about this that is why they needed to get the tablets down him to try and shift some of the gas without an op!

Thanks again for the advice will be setting her up with her own account very soon :D