It’s Wood Tick Season, How Will You Protect Your Dog?

I read on Facebook that a friend had been hiking in the woods for Mother's Day and found a wood tick crawling on his sock.  EWWWW!  With the anticipation of spring and summer comes the realization we need to protect our pets from fleas and ticks.  There are several different options, however I don't have a choice.  Due to two unfortunate incidents that occurred after my dog got shots at the vet, we HAVE to use the "juice on his back" method.

We got our "juice" over-the-counter, but I do know you can purchase it from your vet too.  It deters both ticks and fleas, but I will have to deal with remembering to do it on a monthly basis.  For 24 hours after I administer it we need to keep him from trying to lick his back or rub his back on the couch and carpet.  Both of which he was doing this past weekend!  Oh, and suddenly, no one else in the family wants to pet him and he's starved for some loving so he comes to mama!

Because we camp, I may choose to put a tick collar on him too.  It will just be an additional preventive measure we can use.  Remember, they are mainly only useful for protecting the neck and head from ticks and they don't always smell the best.

I'm a bit leery to give Bauer pills because we've found he's so sensitive to medication, but they are available.  Again, you'll have to give it to him on a monthly basis.  We do that with the heart worm pills already.  The plus side to this method is no mess for you to deal with on the couch or carpet and if you have small children you won't have to worry about them touching the medication on the animals back and then putting their hands in their mouth.

You could kill two birds with one stone and bathe your pet.  Just use a shampoo that contains the medication that generally kills ticks on contact.  While it's a little work on your part, it can be very inexpensive.  Plus, you will need to repeat the process about every two weeks, otherwise the effectiveness will wear off and leave your pet unprotected.

When you're doing your lawn care/maintenance be sure to keep your grass short, and bushes and trees trimmed back.  That will help reduce the population of fleas and ticks in your backyard.

And finally, check your dog often for signs of fleas or ticks. Pay close attention to the "nooks and crannys" like inside the ears (look at my dogs ears, there's LOTS of room for ticks to romp), between toes and in their "leg pits".  (hey, they don't have arms!)

Oh, and if you should find a tick on your dog and remove it, make sure you get ALL of the tick, like the head too.  Otherwise you could be dealing with infection after a few days.

Good luck!  Our dog is part of the family and we will do whatever is necessary to ensure he can enjoy summer like the rest of us and still stay healthy!

Info from PetMD.com