Does anyone know how to remove ticks from dogs?

Question

My Lahsa Apso keeps getting infected with ticks, even though he is protected with "Frontline" which is a flea and tick treatment.

Answer 1

Burn them all!!!!

Answer 2

Frontline won't prevent ticks from biting your dog; it'll kill them but only after they've fed. I think it also prevents them from breeding.
The easy way to remove the tick is to coat its body in vegetable oil or baby oil. Insects breathe through their skin, and when they start to suffocate they don't feel like feeding any more, so they just drop off. Remember to hoover frequently (Every day in this weather, it'll help mop up the fleas as well.)
Never pull of a tick, even with a tool. The body WONT grow back any more than yours would if someone pulled your head off; but it will turn into a festering sore if its left behind. The oil trick is fail safe.
Remeber to reaapply Frontline regularly (I think its once a month) and part the dogs hair so it gets on the skin.

Answer 3

1. Using a pair of pointed precision tweezers, grasp the tick by the head or mouth parts where it enters the skin. DO NOT grasp the tick by the body.

Etched or rasped fine-point tweezers may not be effective in removing deer ticks. Choose unrasped fine-point tweezers whose tips align tightly when pressed firmly together.

2. With a slow, smooth motion, pull firmly and steadily outward. DO NOT twist the tick. DO NOT apply petroleum jelly, a hot match, alcohol or any other irritant to the tick. This can cause the tick to burrow more deeply, and expel more bacteria into the blood.

3. Place the tick in a jar of alcohol to kill it.

4. Clean the wound with disinfectant. Monitor the bite for a rash for three to 30 days. Be alert for other symptoms of Lyme disease. If a rash or other early symptoms develop, see a physician immediately.

Answer 4

Ticks seem to be the product of one of Nature's foul moods. A real little nasty critter, it hides out in grass and catches the unsuspecting passerby. Crawling up to bare skin, or digging for it, if you're a dog, the tick will bury it's head under the skin layer and proceed to drink all the blood it can get.

If you live in Tick-country, a daily check during the summer season is essential. Rub your hands all over your dog's body, and your fingers through his fur, applying pressure, enough that you can feel any abnormalities in the skin. If you feel a small lump, pull the fur apart to investigate it further. An embedded tick will look like a small black or brown pimple, sometimes flat-ish, depending on location, and sometimes legs are visible.

How to Remove a Tick
You've located the little vampire and now you need to get him out of your dog. There's a couple of ways of doing this, depending on what you have on hand, any of these methods should work well.

Important Note: If you live in an area where ticks are a common hazard, check with your veterinarian and find out if the Lyme Disease vaccine is available.

Some species of ticks carry Lyme Disease, and you may need to take the removed tick in to have it identified by a veterinarian.

Tweezing it Out
Pull the surrounding hairs away from the ticks body. Take the tweezers and grasp the tick as close to the buried head as you can possibly get. Do NOT squeeze, but pull gently up and away from the dog, slowly to be sure not to break off the head of the tick. Toss tick in toilet and flush. Wash your hands and your dog's skin with anti-bacterial soap.

If you suspect you may have left a piece of tick still embedded under your pet's skin, please seek veterinary care immediately. The resulting infections could be horrible, and ticks carry a plethora of nasty diseases.

Note: Burning the tick out is NOT recommended. You are more likely to burn yourself and your dog than to remove the tick.

Answer 5

To remove an attached tick, use a pair of fine-tipped tweezers or special tick removal instruments. These special devices allow one to remove the tick without squeezing the tick body. This is important, as you do not want to crush the tick and force harmful bacteria to leave the tick and enter the pet's bloodstream.
Grab the tick by the head or mouth parts right where they enter the skin. Do not grasp the tick by the body.

Without jerking, pull firmly and steadily directly outward. Do not twist the tick as you are pulling.

Using methods such as applying petroleum jelly, a hot match, or alcohol will NOT cause the tick to 'back out.' In fact, these irritants may cause the tick to deposit more disease-carrying saliva in the wound.

After removing the tick, place it in a jar of alcohol to kill it. Ticks are NOT killed by flushing them down the toilet.

Clean the bite wound with a disinfectant. If you want to, apply a small amount of a triple antibiotic ointment.

Wash your hands thoroughly.

Please do not use your fingers to remove or dispose of the tick. We do not want you in contact with a potentially disease-carrying tick. Do NOT squash the tick with your fingers. The contents of the tick can transmit disease.

Once an embedded tick is manually removed, it is not uncommon for a welt and skin reaction to occur. A little hydrocortisone spray will help alleviate the irritation, but it may take a week or more for healing to take place. In some cases, the tick bite may permanently scar leaving a hairless area. This skin irritation is due to the irritating and destructive tick saliva. It is not due to the tick losing its head, literally. Do not be worried about the tick head staying in; it rarely happens. The swelling is due to toxic saliva, not toxic heads.

Answer 6

Frontline is only effective on ticks for 2 weeks, fleas longer, just got some for my dog as had 'Yahoo resolved tic problem' last week, took out wrong way (by hand) as had never seen before and took to vet where they took a bit out with alcohol., then strimmed all my long grass, these answers here all sound good , think I may try the yeast one, ALSO Tea Tree OIL is a good deterent

Answer 7

You can buy a tick remover from a good pet supplies. It's a small item that you slip under the ticks head and would fit into your pocket or what ever. If you live in an area where you dog is likely to keep picking these up, it might be wise to get one.

Answer 8

Our dogs get Ticks all the time and I use a little plastic Tick remover. It has two prongs that you put around the tick twist it gently a couple of rotations and usually the thing comes out head and all.

Very simple to use, the hardest thing is to get the dog to stand still. I bought mine from our local vet - suggest you try there first or a major pet store.

It's worth perservering tho - both my woofers have had tick fever and its not nice.

Good luck

Answer 9

I got a tick remover from the pet shop. Looks like a normal pair of tweezers but has a spring in it. Trouble with ticks is that when you spot them, they have usually got their heads well buried in your dog's skin, and resemble a wart! You can use the tweezers to grasp the body part and the handle at the end of the spring allows you to gently rotate the tick and remove it, head and all. I generally drown the little bli*trs down the plug-hole, but each to their own! Try to keep your dog away from sheep droppings, Dave.

Answer 10

Do not just take them out, cause part of the tick will remain in the dog. There are special pliers which you have to turn around and they will remove the ENTIRE tick. Get them from a drug store and read the manual.

Answer 11

You need a O tom hook you can get from your vets its small and plastic with a groove which you place over the tick and twist and that will get it out safetly. you can also pick up a pack of Advantix while you are at the vets. Ticks wont come anywhere near your dog. Hope this helps.. you really get some silly answers on here dont you? hope this one helps you