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Paula N.
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« on: August 27, 2010, 05:17:29 PM » |
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I bought some fish oil for Sweet Pea - 60 gel caps - that's all Walmart had was the gel caps. Not knowing how to open the capsule, I got a big needle and stabbed the capsule inside her food dish which already had her supper kibble. The minute the needle went in to the capsule, SP let out a yelp - and I knew she was excited. I'm afraid it was a rather messy job - I squirted that seemed a very small amount of oil on the kibble, and then cut the gel capsule into very tiny pieces and left them in with the kibble. SP was absolutely crazy about her food with the fish oil - she kept lapping the dish, and a few times she was chewing rather laboriously - she must have had a single piece of the gel cap in her mouth. Since it is for people to swallow I figured it couldn't hurt her.
But how the heck do you do this without making a mess, and so that all the oil gets on the food?
All suggestions or instructions gladly and thankfully welcomed!
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Angel adopted 1-11-06 Sweet Pea adopted 5-27-08   |
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Eskiegirls
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« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2010, 05:37:08 PM » |
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I open the capsules with the tip of a steak knife and squirt the contents over my pups' breakfast. I do have to be careful that I point the opening towards the food, or it will squirt across the counter and possibly on my clothes  The pups love fish oil! |
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EskieMa
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« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2010, 05:44:25 PM » |
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Don't stab. Pierce slowly. Things to use to do that tip of a steak knife or the end tine of a fork. Usually I pierce the top of the gel cap so that some bubbles up and then I turn it toward the food and squirt.
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Mary in the Northern Neck of VA  My alter ego, my heart
Ch. Sierra Striking Raven, CGC, TDI, TT
female Standard 2/3/96 - 2/12/10
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Steve
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« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2010, 05:47:16 PM » |
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We just hand the pill to the dogs and they pop them (literally) in their mouth - they know they have to bite them to get the flavor. When we got Kittee we used a knife to make a slit in the pill so she could taste & smell it but after doing that 2 or 3 times she got the idea and started chewing them up on her own.
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"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." Winston Churchill Rev Dusty GG Kittee Suki  |
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casper_d_dog
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« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2010, 06:50:25 PM » |
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I use the tip of a steak knife as well just to puncture the gel cap and squeeze the contents out. I don't feed the capsule itself just the liquid inside.
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williesmom
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« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2010, 07:35:25 PM » |
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I've found that a pair of scissors works best to snip a hole in the tip, then I can squirt it on the food with no problem. I usually just throw the empty capsule in the food dish whole and the dogs eat it with no problem.
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Danielle & The Eskieteers  |
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Tonka
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« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2010, 08:05:12 PM » |
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My dogs will just eat the capsule. They played with it for a little bit the first few times until they figured out what to do with them. There is no mess doing it this way. If they won't eat the capsule (not all dogs will), take a pair of scissors and cut the end of the capsule off then pour the oil onto the food. It's much safer than using a steak knife of stabbing it with a needle.
If you don't like the capsules and don't mind the smell of fish oil, you can buy it in liquid form (ie - Cod oil, or Flax Seed oil) and pour about 1/2-1 teaspoon on her food.
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jeannette84xx
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« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2010, 10:41:27 PM » |
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I knew my friend's had a dog that was constantly underweight so they had fish oil squirted from a bottle onto her food as high calorie supplement. I just googled it a bit since you guys are talking about it and it seems it's good for normal weight dogs too... Should I give my dogs fish oil? Or is this a special time/circumstance that you guys do it?
What other things do you give your dogs besides their kibble?
I have a very good dry dog food, and I give some dog treats, and brush their teeth with chicken flavored toothpaste. Is there anything else I should be giving?
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snowballsmom
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« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2010, 11:22:53 PM » |
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honestly, i used to bite the capsule enough to pierce it, then squirt it over their food. pins and scissors and all that...bah.
my teeth are always handy. and they're not tough enough to hurt your teeth or be tough to bite into.
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Jen
Snowball & Snoopy, Resident Eskies 
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Paula N.
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« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2010, 08:13:52 AM » |
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Wow! Thanks for all the input. I used an old needle which had been used for sewing a turkey up after stuffing it, so it was pretty big. Also, I have kitchen shears which will cut just about anything, and that worked. I thought if I gave the gel capsule as well, that Sweet Pea would get more of the oil. It didn't seem like a lot of oil came out when I stabbed the capsule with the needle.
It says only 1 capsule per day, so I won't give it again until tonight. Tonka - the liquid sounds much easier. I didn't know cod or flax seed would be the same as fish oil. I've got 59 more days to go but will look around for liquid after that's used up. (I take fish oil myself, but the "odorless, burpless" kind, so kind of hate to take the regular, since I hate the taste of fish.) Will have to see if Sweet Pea is as thrilled with it tonight as she was last night.
Jeannette - I wanted to give SP fish oil because her coat is very dry. She must have been a puppy mill dog - she's not a well-bred Eskie (but I love her just the same) and her fur is curly, though it has straightened out some as it grew longer. The groomer always puts extra conditioning on her as she says her fur is very dry.
Thanks again for all the responses.
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Angel adopted 1-11-06 Sweet Pea adopted 5-27-08 |
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Steve
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« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2010, 09:57:17 AM » |
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Wow! Thanks for all the input. I used an old needle which had been used for sewing a turkey up after stuffing it, so it was pretty big. Also, I have kitchen shears which will cut just about anything, and that worked. I thought if I gave the gel capsule as well, that Sweet Pea would get more of the oil. It didn't seem like a lot of oil came out when I stabbed the capsule with the needle. Why not find out if they'll just take the capsule as a treat - seriously my dogs are as fired up about getting this pill as anything and you can hear them pop the capsule inside their mouth with a snap. It'll take a few days for them to get the idea but just cut the pill on one end so they know it's something good and hand it to them. Unless your goal is to specifically make dinner more appealing by adding the oil. ...Should I give my dogs fish oil? Or is this a special time/circumstance that you guys do it?
What other things do you give your dogs besides their kibble?
I have a very good dry dog food, and I give some dog treats, and brush their teeth with chicken flavored toothpaste. Is there anything else I should be giving?
....
Though we're out at the moment we typically give the dogs a multivitamin, zinc and jerky with glucosamine in it. |
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"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." Winston Churchill Rev Dusty GG Kittee Suki |
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Kathy
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« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2010, 10:35:33 AM » |
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I use Grizzly Salmon Oil in a pump bottle. http://www.grizzlypetproducts.com/index.htmlI get the 32 oz size for about $23 (I think). It seems expensive but I calculated that at 1 tsp per "serving", a bottle has about 190 servings. And I really think one pump's worth is only a half teaspoon, probably the same amount as in a pill. I just do one pump on top of their food at night, and really don't notice any smell (and I don't like fish either.) |
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 Kathy and the Snowpups CATCH UACH URO1 Shasta NA,NAJ,S-OAC,O-OCC,EJC,O-TN-E,S-TG-O,S-WV-O, UAGII UCD URO1 AltCH Kola NAJ,NAC,EAC,OCC,OJC,S-TN-O,TG-O,WV-O,CL4 |
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Steve
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« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2010, 11:48:43 AM » |
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that's a nice product  |
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"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." Winston Churchill Rev Dusty GG Kittee Suki |
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snowballsmom
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« Reply #13 on: August 28, 2010, 08:16:20 PM » |
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i agree, i had gotten salmon oil once very cheap somewhere and used it for a while and it was a nice result.
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Jen
Snowball & Snoopy, Resident Eskies
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DojiDog
Classy Puppy
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« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2010, 09:36:42 PM » |
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I buy Grizzly Salmon Oil. It makes Doji's fur soft and beautiful and he never, ever stinks. I ran out of it a while ago and really noticed a difference in the quality of his fur. It was not nearly as soft and shiny and it started to feel dry. I think I will always give it to him.
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