Need tips on finding ticks - Page 1

Put some Frontline on her.  Dogs with thick, full, dark coats are very tough to see through and chances are by the time you find it, it's already embedded and then you'll have to sell your dog or leave the state.

Opal,
When they first get on the dogs I can see them on top of the fur, legs, and belly.
I look, but mostly I feel with my hands, or fingers to be more precise. And I do it often (grooming), the dogs love the attention.
Every square inch including the vent area and between toes and pads.
I do not like using tools or tweezers, I use my fingers.
You don't want to squeeze one to get it out as you might using a tool, or lose the head.
Sometimes I use peroxide on the site if I think it needs it.

Then you wash your hands.

I burn them usually, I love to hear their tiny screams..aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh !!
Or flush them down the toilet.

I have refrained from using the Frontline this year.
The ticks here are bad, I never get them all the first time and they do dig in.
I get my share of tick bites too.
And mosquitoes, deer flies, nats, no end to insects that bite here.

I thought you were in Alaska.

Moons.

i live in Lyme CT, tick capital:)  I do nightly tick checks, but have to say, the ones that cause lyme (and now we have higher incidence of equii erhlichia, aka anaplasmosis than lyme)  or other tick borne diseases you will most likely never see or find since they are so minute.

unfortunately the lyme vac does not cover all the other TBD's, and sometimes is not effective against Lyme either.

Here, when it's spring time, we do a SNAP4, vs just a lyme test, the snap 4 covers, heartworm, lyme, canine erhlichia and equii erhlichia (which I must say again, is rampant in these parts! and I think worse than Lyme!).

diane

I have mine tested for TBD's already once a year.
I on the other hand will probably just have to have symptoms before I see a doctor.
Did make the doc give me shots once for Lyme's, he didn't know what it was back then, probably still isn't up to date.
Got Rocky Mountain Spotted fever here from time to time also.


I'll trade you ticks any time, this place is infested.

I agree Moons, regular brushing helps a lot - when I do find a tick they are between the toes or around the face and ears.   I use Seven DUst around the kennels to keep ticks under control but the tracking fields and walks in the woods is where they come from most. 

Moons - we moved back to the  midwest about a year and a half ago.  All of our extended family is here, and we have better access to medical care for our son.  The tradeoff is more bugs and worse allergies, but cost of living is quite a bit less.


Georgia did have a heartworm test, but I'll have to check with the vet to see what it covered since I remember him calling it a "snap test."   I'll just have to be extra vigilant with the checking and make sure to keep up with the Frontline.   When we last lived in tick country we had 2 white shepherd/husky mixes and it was really easy to spot ticks.

Opal

Opal,
I should have remembered that, but the minds slipping away........a year and a half.
It's hard to keep up with everything sometimes.
I hope your son is ok.

Anyway before I mislead you I should say my dogs do have ticks on them, but me too.
And I've found them in the house also.  
I'm just staying away from the chemicals this year for me and the dogs, for various reasons

Basically I run the same risk, maybe higher, of catching something.

I do keep up with heart-worm preventative tho, and test once a year in the fall after the season has passed.
Mosquitoes are almost as bad as the ticks lately.

Frontline always seemed to work, but sometimes it didn't last a whole month and I was seeing what I believed to be resistant ticks biting.
Dip has it's limitations as well and they both have health risks.
Sevin dust works but only as long as it will stay on the skin, better for fleas and mites than for ticks.

Ticks dislike petroleum products, oils, fuels.  Timber cutters use exhaust fumes from their chain saws on their boots and pants while in the woods.

The little bastards hate fire, its their only true enemy in nature.
I hate them so I burn them, I itch, they can die screaming.
Still scratching last years bites, now I have new ones.

Good luck with whatever you try.

Moons.