Those are all good methods. MaG, thanks for the suggestion of giving them the treat without the pill before and after. That is a fantastic tip!
Another thing that has worked for us is to soak the pills in warm bacon grease. If you use room temperature grease, the dogs can just lick it off, but the warm grease sinks in. Just takes a second to cool off before giving to the dog.
We are blessed in that all our dogs just take the pills I toss into their dry food except Sky won't eat his Trifexis pill which is how I discovered the bacon trick.