Tips on Removing Ticks from Your Dog

You and your pup are excited to get outside and enjoy the warm weather this spring. But along with all the nice green grass, colorful flowers, and sunny weather, spring also means the return of lots of little critters like bees, wasps, fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks…just waiting to latch onto your dog and hitch a ride.

Tick bites carry diseases so it's crucial to get them dealt with right away.

Even unremoved ticks can pose a health risk to your pup, because ticks carry diseases like Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. 

Did you know that there are around 200 tick species in the United States. They can survive—and thrive —in beach grass, woods, forests, lawns, and even urban areas.

Fleas and ticks also differ in numerous ways, including the parasite type they are: A flea is a wingless bug with six legs that may jump. Ticks, on the other hand, are arachnids, meaning they have six to eight legs and are linked to spiders. 

Here are some easy tips for on how to remove a tick from your dog, courtesy of Blue Buffalo. Be sure to check their website for the full article and lots of other great pet care information.

• Is your area known to have cases of tick borne illness or tick borne disease? Before you just dispose of the removed tick, you can pour some alcohol in a small lidded container and save the tick to take to your vet for testing. This is especially important if your dog develops symptoms after removal.

• Protect yourself by wearing disposable latex gloves, available in the first aid section of most grocery and drug stores. Direct contact with the tick and/or tick bite area can put you at risk for tick-borne diseases, too. You can get infected through a cut on your hand, or even by touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

• Have another person help you hold your dog still during this time, if possible.

• Remove ticks safely by using a tick removal tool (sometimes called a tick key), or a good pair of fine-point tweezers on hand before you start. Most household tweezers have blunt tips so slanted tweezers won’t work as well as those with a pointy tip.
• Spread your dog's fur and rub alcohol on the tick and surrounding area.
• Remove a tick by using the fine-point tweezers or tick removal tool as close to your dog’s skin as you can get. Pull straight up using one even and steady motion. Try not to squeeze the tick or wiggle it around, this can release body fluids or make it more likely that the mouth parts or tick's head remain attached.
• If the tick's mouth or the tick head remain in your pet's skin, don’t use the tweezers to dig them out. Clean the bite site area with rubbing alcohol and then place a warm compress on your dog to help release the parts. 
• Don’t forget to clean your hands and the tweezers after the tick removal process.

• Hang on to the tick you saved in alcohol and check the site of the bite wound for a few days. If you see redness and inflammation, you can take your dog (and the tick) to a licensed veterinarian for a test.

Removing a tick, or worse, ticks from your dog may be unpleasant, but it is critical to do it promptly and in the right way.

Should you still see an attached dead tick on your dog's skin, remove it right away as dead ticks embedded on your dog's body can still transmit disease.

Tick Prevention is the key to effective tick control. Prevent ticks by checking your dog's skin for ticks regularly and get on to removing them right away so you can stop it from becoming worse.

There are many commercial products that you can use to not only get rid of adult ticks but also their eggs. These products can also instantly kill any present ticks on your pet for up to two weeks.

Remove a tick safely by using natural methods. Because natural flea and tick management is gentle, it is safe for your pet. For maximum effectiveness, natural prevention and control methods should be used in combination with one another.

Fleas can be caught before they latch on to your dog's skin by regularly combing using a fine flea comb. Vacuum rugs and furnishings as well as wash pet bedding on a regular basis.

Look for lawn products that contain nematodes, which are beneficial microbes that consume flea and tick larvae. They are safe for your grass, pets, and beneficial insects such as ladybugs.

If your dog has fleas, here are some easy Homemade Flea Shampoo Recipes you can do.

When you're always with your doggo companion, getting dog hair on your shirt is inevitable. Turn it a fashion statement instead with our This Is My Dog Hair t-shirt! Perfect tee to put on when you go out to the park to brush your dog! 

Shop gifts and apparel for dog lovers! 25% of proceeds go to animal rescues and sanctuaries.

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