finding ticks, and summertime shots

My pretty girl Spirit seems to be a tick-magnet. We are careful to keep her in shorter grass and check her daily - sometimes twice daily, and we keep finding ticks on her. They seem to like her ears so it's been pretty easy to find them & get them off... but with that thick double-coat I worry about the ones we DON'T find.

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I just got a call from the vet saying she's due for a heartworm check and they also reminded me that it's tick season & to consider a tick-collar or something like Frontline. We'll be making that appointment this week for her, and I'll ask them about this too but - am I missing any other sort of summertime bug-prevention for her? There are a LOT of feral cats in my neighborhood & while they all scatter when they see her, I'm sure my yard is crawling with all sorts of unseen nasty things and I'd really rather prevent rather than have to deal with anything she might catch. Also, we are hoping to take her camping late this summer... my church has an annual "bring your dog too" camping weekend and we're planning to take her along - which means she'll be with about 2 dozen other dogs, in high grasses & a small sand-bottomed lake during cooler-summer weather.

For those that don't know, Spirit is a 16 month old miniature American Eskimo... and we're in the upper Midwest (USA) with plenty of ticks, mosquitoes & all sorts of other water-loving, tree-loving, grass-loving bugs.
love,
mom

 

Ask about vaccinating her against Lyme's disease if that is a problem in your area.