I’m not destitute, but I hate to waste money. Even more than that, I hate to shove pills down my dog’s throat twice a day.
Stormy doesn’t like store-bought pill covers unless I put one pill in each cover. That would mean 6 covers a day and at $10 for 30 covers it would cost me $50 a month to purchase them. My homemade pill covers cost about $2.50 a month.
I can put all the pills into one homemade medicine ball and Stormy begs for her furosemide. Stormy is on the right in the photo expectantly waiting for her treat. (Truman Blue in the middle, and old Leala Bear on the left.)
It takes about 20 minutes to make the medicine balls. The size may need to be adjusted for smaller dogs, but Stormy who weighs 65 pounds can easily swallow a 1″ loaded medicine ball without chewing. The trick is to make the biggest ball the dog will swallow whole. Test several sizes until you find the right one.
Dog Medicine Ball Recipe (pill covers)
1 can smelly loaf dog food, mostly meat (I use American Journey Limited Ingredient Lamb Sweet Potato)
1 2/3 cup oat flour (don’t use wheat, but your dog may prefer other types of flour)
1 1/3 cup almond or pumpkin seed flour (start with 1 cup add more if dough is sticky)
Mix all ingredients with a fork in a bowl until smooth. If it is sticky, add more flour until the dough is still pliable but is not sticky.
Roll into about 60, 1” balls (or the size your dog can swallow whole)
Store 5 days worth of balls in a sealed container in the fridge
Freeze the remaining balls (on a flat pan not touching 1 hour, then into a freezer bag for storage)
Thaw enough balls for 5 days at a time.
Medicine Ball Treats 
A flattened ball with meds waiting to be formed back into a ball 
Freshly made balls freezing, waiting to be put into freezer bag.
Important Hints
When you go to put the meds in, flatten the ball, put the meds on the flattened ball, then reform it into a ball. BUT do not touch the outside of the ball with the fingers that handled the meds.
Before you start using loaded medicine balls, It is best to “trick” the dog by teaching him/her how delicious the balls are with ½ balls with no meds. (They love to be tricked like this.)
At each medication, I sacrifice one ball. I divide it in half, and give my two non-medicated dogs each ½ a ball before I give the loaded ball to the dog that needs the meds. (note the three expectant faces in the first photo). Alternatively, you could give your medicated dog an unloaded half before giving the medicated ball
Truman Blue Mysteries 