my dog will not stop getting ticks... i have to pick them off of her when i take her to a field to run around, and when i take her to my parents' house. the stuff that goes on her back doesn't work... i put in on her yesterday and there were three ticks in her ear and probably about seven on her paws today. i'm going to get her another flea and tick collar and i'm goign to give her a bath tonight, but making her smell good makes her want to roll around in goose eggs and dead birds (which she did today too... ugh) what have you guys found to work the best for ticks, or do you not have a problem with them? i never noticed them around here before i got her, but my god my dog seems to attract them.
I found out Frontline wasn't doing the job. I have 9 dogs. So I shaved a couple with the electric clippers and I vacuum the fleas off with a shop vac. Certain dogs are more attractive to parasites. Shaving the 2 I have that are taking on fleas more...... i can see the little bloodsuckers are coming on even after I cleaned most of them off. So I'm vacuuming off these 2 dogs every chance I get. They are really more calm and cool this summer than they have ever been I think.
I shaved off as close as the clippers could go, feels like velvet now. Only the butt, stomach, tail and the back up to bout halfway. I think the fleas try to breed on hot asses and genital areas.
my dog has her belly shaved when she got fixed recently... it looks really good now kinda growing back in and she has a verrrrry thick black coat, so maybe clipping her fur isn't too bad of an idea... hmmm. i can't really see the ticks except in her paws and on her ears and when i randomly touch one when i'm petting/scratching her... anyway, i'll look into k9 advantix too
oh yeah forgot to mention, if you use a shop vac to suck the blood suckers off, make sure you plug up the hose end if you don't empty right away......thsoe smart little buggers will no doubt hop outthe long tunnel tube.....I have seen fleas in a 1 foot black dot go along a sidewalk and under a tight fitting door into a house, those little buggers are somehow finding places animals live.
Flea and tick collars never work. The bugs will just migrate to the back of the dog anyway. Frontline Plus is what I use and have very good to great results. My dogs still get a tick or two but usually by the time I find it it is already dead from the meds.....and if I do ever find one alive it's usually just one or two every couple of weeks and only because they just latched on. Good luck....ticks are gross.
Oh, God! I HATE ticks! >< I have a large, flat-coated retriever, Missy(looks just like a Golden but she's pitch black), and a golden retriever named Lucy. Missy, I've had for 7 years and I've found ONE tick on her in the entire span of time, and that one wasn't even biting her, it was just on her fur like it had just jumped onto her. Lucy, however... is almost the exact same kind of dog, she is the same weight, same build, same height, same fur length, the only thing really different is her fur color and breed. She's about 8 months old, and so far I've plucked 3 ticks off of her, and I cannot figure out why. I talked to the vet, and he explained the difference between the K-9 Advantics and Frontline -- apparently Frontline makes the dog's skin taste really bad, so when the fleas/ticks bite it, they jump off or get poisoned or something. K-9 Advantics makes the dog's fur unbearable to the flea, or something like that, so they jump off. We use that Frontline stuff you get at Wal-Mart, and it's worked really well for Missy these past years. I think the problem with Lucy is that we've been using the puppy medicine and she really isn't a puppy anymore, so we may have to up her to a higher dose... I don't know. But I totally feel for you. Ticks are horrible. I take my dogs to a field behind our house all the time, too, and I love just setting them free for a while, it feels great, so I know how sad the dog would be if you didn't do that with her. Good luck!
Frontline Plus is the one which prevents fleas and ticks. Regular Frontline is for fleas only. If ticks are such a concern I would certainly use a spot on but it is important to switch between brands IMO and IME since parasites can develop immunity if repeatedly exposed to the same pesticides for long periods of time. You do not ever want to use the stuff from Walmart or the grocery store. It is not Frontline and not the same as Frontline. There is a much higher chance of a reaction or health problems from the cheap brands and many are extremely toxic to cats. I understand the Frontline, Advantage and the such are more expensive but they also tend to work better and be all around safer. You can order them much cheaper than vet price from catalogs such as: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/?ref=...PC-_-Google-_-DFS Keywords-_-foster and smith http://www.omahavaccine.com/ http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/default.asp?cm_mmc=Google-_-N/A-_-N/A-_-jeffers http://www.jbpet.com/Shopping/category.asp?catalog_name=JBWholesale&category_name=DogFleaTick&page=1 Shaving dogs is not always a great idea. Most dog's coats help insulate them against heat as well as cold. Shaving them in the hottest parts of the year as many people do can actually increase the risk of heat stroke in some dogs and leaves others more prone to sunburn on the skin. Shaving also over time tends to change the texture of the coat (weird as that sounds). Shaving will also not get rid of parasites and flea products such as spot ons or sprays will still need to be used. http://www.ccndr.org/library/shaving.htm A hair dryer can be used on dogs with thick coats which are hard to see fleas or ticks in. Ideally a hair dryer which has an option to not use hot air. Use it to blow the coat apart as you brush.
