Dog ticks

[dchris]

Does anyone have any good sugestions for getting rid of brown dog ticks. We've dipped the dog, run the stuff down her back, green light powder all over the grass. She is still covered everytime she goes out in the yard.

 

[firehog6305]

Re: Dog ticks

I dont know if it will work for the ticks back east, but with the ticks out in the west, we use white vinager on our hunting dogs *springers*just pour some in the cap, then hold the cap on the dog for about 30 seconds and they back out, hope it works

 

[rentalguy1]

Re: Dog ticks

That works here in TN, too. You can also put about a capful of white vinegar in the dog's drinking water every time you fill it up. That helps their coat, also.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Dog ticks

Are you using Frontline or Advantix? The over the counter stuff is crap and you need the Vet prescription stuff. Be certain it is for fles AND ticks.... the majority of the treatments out there are for fleas.

Be very careful the prescription stuff is toxic and it will kill a cat.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Dog ticks

We use Frontline and it seems to work well for us. Ive also was told that
feeding your dog garlic works well but Ive never tried it.

 

[valkyr]

Re: Dog ticks

Did you know ticks can paralyze a dog? We had a dog that got several on him (you'd think it would take hundreds) and we had to pull them off him. I can't remember what had happened but we weren't able to get them off of him for several days (maybe we were out of town on vacation or something).

After a few hours of having the ticks removed he was back to normal. The vet said it was pretty common among long-haired dogs where we lived at the time (on a farm in the North West NC).

 

[luckyinkentucky]

Re: Dog ticks

You can do several things. Being a Wildlife Biologist I get a lot of these questions .... quite often.

First, be sure to use a product like Frontline or Advantix. You DO NOT want to use over the counter medications for these types of parasites. It would be like you and I taking an Advil for a root canal. It just wouldn't do any good. Also, be sure to have your dog tested for Heartworms, and put him/her on a heartworm medication every month. Even through the winter. Fleas usually accompany ticks along with mosquitoes who carry heartworm. You need to act fast since Lyme Disease can debilitate or kill a dog, and it is quite prevalent from the Eastern US along the Southern States to the Pacific Coast.

Another thing you might consider is if you have an infestation sometimes Nature is the best weapon. Guinea Fowl are birds the size of Turkey, and their primary food source is insects. They are actually quite popular amongst organic growers. They only have them around to tame the insect populations in their fields. If you live in a Rural area .... this might be your answer. A Guinea can clear a field measuring 200' X 200' in a day. No more ants, spiders, or ticks.

 

[woosterken]

Re: Dog ticks

"sugestions for getting rid of brown dog ticks"

get a black dog!
sorry woosterken

 

[rwise]

Re: Dog ticks

get granulated sulfer and starting at your house working out spread it evenly across your yard. Then water just enuf to melt the sulfer a bit, we even put sulfer in the water for pets (bout a spoon per quart). Yes it will smell for a few days, no it will not kill anything, but it will make them wish to be elsewhere (works for flees too) and the sulfer water will make them taste bad to bugs. I use frontline on my animals and sulfer in the yard.

 

[MikDee]

Re: Dog ticks

When I was a kid, my dog used to get them a lot, back then we used either alcohol, or put the end of a lit cigarrete near the back of them, and they'd back out.

 

[speedwrench]

Re: Dog ticks

If all you neighbors within 3/4 mile are deaf you might try the Guineas, they tend to get a little noisy (they never shut up) and roam wherever they please.
You have been warned.

Dave

 

[bootle]

Re: Dog ticks

get granulated sulfer and starting at your house working out spread it evenly across your yard. Then water just enuf to melt the sulfer a bit, we even put sulfer in the water for pets (bout a spoon per quart). Yes it will smell for a few days, no it will not kill anything, but it will make them wish to be elsewhere (works for flees too) and the sulfer water will make them taste bad to bugs. I use frontline on my animals and sulfer in the yard.

Where do you purchase the granulated sulpher?

 

[orion25]

Re: Dog ticks

Try scott's summerguard fertilizer on the yard. It has a pest control product built in. Both of our dogs (Lab & Pug) are on Advantix and I use summerguard around July 1 and we have never had a flea or tick problem.

 

[rwise]

Re: Dog ticks

Where do you purchase the granulated sulpher?

Any feed store, I get mine at *farmers feed* but any should have it. The powder will work but washes away easy. Atwoods should have it ifyou have one near you. I also use sulfer in the garden.

 

[_brad_]

Re: Dog ticks

We use Frontline and it seems to work well for us. Ive also was told that
feeding your dog garlic works well but Ive never tried it.

Frontline is great stuff! I recommend it to every dog owner.

 

[v1_0]

Re: Dog ticks

Well, once you treat the dog with frontline the ticks will go looking elsewhere for food. (That could mean YOU!)

We bought a house/property that was neglected for a bit. The property was infested with ticks - we'd have nightly tick checks and pull 4-5 off the kids each evening. I'd have a few now and again.

One of the ones that got me gave me some illness and I ended up in the hospital for 4 days, my white blood count was below '1' (k, I think).

So I did a bunch of research on what to use to 'get rid of them' without spraying a bunch of chemicals (we get our water from a well...). Here's what I found:

(1) Cut your grass often and short. Shorter grass does not retain moisture - ticks need a bit of humidity so will prefer other areas. (This will not totally remove them).

(2) Remove 'leaf litter' wherever you can. This is where ticks breed/hide.

(3) Create a 3 foot 'barrior' between lawn and any surrounding 'nature' areas. This barrior can be something like sand, pine needles, etc. A moat, if you can afford it would work too.

(4) Put a fence up. This is to deter animals from wandering through your yard - size/type of fence would be determined by the type of animals that could go through your yard. A deer, for example, can have a large number of ticks on it - of course, the ticks drop off & breed when they have enough blood. A deer fence will decrease the number that drop off and breed on your property.

(5) In the fall: there is a product (haven't gotten it yet, but will soon) that is basically a cardboard tube filled with cotton balls that have been coated with a chemical that kills ticks. Animals such as mice will take the cotton balls and line their nests with them. Mice/rodents are a prime way that ticks 'overwinter' - but with the cotton balls in the nests, the ticks are killed.

(6) We got a small flock of chickens - 10 to be exact. Once we let them free range there was a *drastic* reduction in ticks. A fence helps: not so much for the chickens, but to keep wandering dogs out.

I haven't had to pull a tick off anyone (dogs, children, myself, etc) since July.

If there are any other things that can be done - with a minimum of chemicals, etc. I'd love to hear about them and add them to our "defense in depth"...

-V