Protection against Dog Ticks

Unlike most people think, ticks don’t belong to the. They belong to a class of spiders or scorpions actually. They bite and suck on the blood of their host and this is why they are so harmful. Through their salive, they can transmit a number of painful diseases such as lyme disease, Anemia, Tick Paralysis or Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Most of the time the host is not aware of their presence since they numb the area on the skin before they bite.

These parasites can show up basically everywhere in the world. Their most common places are deep woods and bushy areas, but you may find them in your own garden too. Ticks like to attach themselves to dark, warm places on the body such as armpit, between toes or the inside and outside area of the ears.

The symptoms of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases that ticks may cause are sometimes very difficult to recognize. The first symptoms may appear after several months of the actual infection, and they may get mistaken with other conditions. That is why dog owners must perform constant checks on their pets. Better safe than sorry. It is easy to miss a tick because they are very small if they haven’t fed yet. But as the feeding process goes on the tick will grow.

What can you do?

The best protection against dog ticks is prevention. If you live in an area where ticks are present, don’t wait until they attack your dog. There are great pest control products that will keep the ticks away. There are products that will protect against both fleas and ticks. Don’t forget to ask the opinion of your local vet before you use any product on your dogs because some of those products may cause some serious reactions on dogs. There are products that can be even deadly to other animals. Different dogs react to different medications in different ways. If your dog happens to have a bad reaction to a certain medication, try to wash it off immediately.

As a dog owner, you might want to learn some techniques on how to remove ticks if they already attached themselves to your dog. It is important that those ticks are detached as soon as possible to reduce the risk of infection. There are cheap and simple tools, twisters that you can use to easily and safely extract ticks from your dog.

You should grab the tick where the mouth part attaches to the skin and pull it straight out. Be careful not to pull it apart or not to hurt it. You want to remove the tick in one piece. Do not try to use any chemicals or toxins on the tick, they won’t work.

We all want the best for our dogs so getting rid of fleas and ticks must be a number one priority. Dog tick removal is a very simple procedure and I encourage every dog owner to take the time and learn it because it can save the life of your dog.