I live in the woods of Pennsylvania and run my dogs on my land every day when we are not hunting. Ticks are a fact of life. It is a rare day I don’t pick a few ticks off the dogs – and I’ve had 30 or 40 at one time per dog.
Neither the dogs nor I have had Lyme, even though it is prevalent around here.
Here’s what I do.
First, I use Frontline regularly – no less than once per month (except when the temps are consistently below freezing). The does absolutely nothing to prevent ticks from getting on the dogs, but it does supposedly kill them before they have been attached long enough to pass on disease. It seems to work when fresh (first couple of weeks), but loses potency rather quickly.
Next (and this is my main line of defense), I very carefully examine the dogs and pick off any ticks before I bring them into the house after a run. They live inside and they are Brittanys with longish hair, so this is a project, but well worthwhile – you don’t want the ticks dropping off in the house and then getting on your wife, your housedogs, etc. Ticks are hard to kill, I keep a wide mouth jar half full of rubbing alcohol and drop them in there – it kills them.
It is not uncommon to miss one or two, so I check them frequently. I also check carefully and constantly for any imbedded ticks. I’d say that, in combination with the Frontline, I find 99% of them before they become engorged.
When I find an imbedded tick, I just pull it off and drop it in the alcohol jar. If I went to the vet each time I removed a tick, I’d have the richest vet in history and that’s all I’d ever do. I don’t think it’s necessary. Nor do I think it makes sense to try to burn them or the like – just pinch them with your fingernails as close to the dogs skin as possible and pull them off. Never had a problem in many years of dealing with this.
