Easy Tick Removal Tips for Dog Owners

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In my experience, one of the most frustrating parts of dog ownership are ticks. Living in a coastal area in Helsinki Finland, ticks abound whenever the average temperature rises above 5 degrees centigrade. This is why every trip to the forest or park is terminated with tick inspection at home. The record number of ticks I discovered on Eve’s fur after one trip is 17, six of which had already attached to the different parts of her body!

Eve, a happy Hovawart dog, enjoying her freedom in a Finnish forest.

What diseases do ticks carry? #

The biggest risk ticks pose for your dog is of course her catching a tick borne illness, such as Lyme’s disease. In practice, I have some bad and good news for you. The bad news is that yes, your dog can catch Lyme’s disease from ticks. For example, my previous Hovawart, Helmi, caught it why we were living in France. She was medicated and did not suffer from any ill effects, but it made me wary.

As a result, I searched for researched information on the issue and the good news is that according to US National Health Institute, for your dog to catch Lyme’s disease the tick must be attached to your dog between 36 and 48 hours. A second pathogen causing anaplasmosis on the other hand will carry over between 4 and 24 hours.

This is why I believe that pesticide’s are not really needed and in my experience they rarely even work 100%. Of course, if you feel that you want to use tick control products I am not saying you shouldn’t. Pesticides, such as Fipronil or Fluralaner, are often effective and can help in this equation, but the only way to be sure is for you to regularly inspect your dog’s body and remove any crawlers or attached ticks from it. N.B. when I say regularly, I mean every day. Dog ownership is about you taking the time to care for your dog and as a result they will add so much happiness in your life.

Easy Tick Removal Tools #

Nevertheless, tick lassos or hooks are things you should carry in your pocket and keep handy at home when you end up removing ticks from your dog. They are inexpensive, effective and safe and can come in handy should any human or cat in your household end up having a tick attached to them as well.

Ticks are nasty parasitic arachnids, but they are here to stay and the only rational thing you can do about them, is protect your loved ones from them. Tick inspections for humans are not a bad thing either!

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