What is the best way to get a tick off my dog's face?

Question

Just got back from the river and my dog managed to get a tick right above her eye and one on her muzzle

Answer 1

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.

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.

Answer 2

Most vets and some groomers have specialised tweezer-like instruments for removing ticks, and being professionals, they can ensure complete removal of the parasite. I advocate visiting a professional for ticks on your dog's face. Poking around your dog's head, especially her eye, could be more danger than it's worth.

The problem when tick removal leaves the head behind has nothing to do with the tick growing a new body - that's an old wives' tale. The problem is that infection can occur, and remaining toxins at the bite area exacerbate the likelihood of this occurring.

If you really must do this yourself, I'd recommend the following wikibook extract link below. It may also assist you to understand how the tick is attached to your poor doggie: the second link shows how a tick feeds.

Good luck, and best wishes for your pup.

Answer 3

When removing ticks it is best to wear latex or rubber gloves to prevent any of the tick’s blood from getting onto your skin because Lyme disease and other diseases could be spread this way.

Ticks should always be removed as soon as possible. Prompt and complete removal of ticks helps prevent illness. Firstly, bath the tick in surgical spirit. Then grasp the tick firmly with tweezers where the tick’s mouth meets the dog’s skin. Slowly and steadily pull the tick, trying to get the whole tick at once. Don’t twist the tick or jerk as you may break the tick’s body and risk leaving it’s head behind. After removing the tick, clean the area with an antibiotic, alcohol or another disinfectant.

The tick should then be killed by soaking it in a jar of alcohol.

If part of the tick remains buried, try to get the rest out by using a needle boiled in water for five minutes, the way you would remove a wood splinter. Afterwards, cleanse and disinfect the area as before.

Do not try to remove a tick by burning it off as this does not work, may hurt your dog and may cause the tick to regurgitate its potentially infectious fluids back into the skin.

Ask you vet about effective tick control (spray, powder) or anti-tick medication for dogs, especially if you often walk your dog in wooded areas. Dogs should be checked thoroughly for ticks after every such walk. Pay close attention to ears, face, eyes, legs, and belly.

Answer 4

There's a couple things you can do.
1. Put a hot match on it
2. Use tweezers to get it out
3. Put either petroleum jelly or peanut butter on the tick which causes him to not be able to breathe and he'll pull out of the dog and you can then grab him.

Make sure you get the whole tick out (head and body) or it will just grow new parts and become even worse. If you can't get it out then go to your dog's vet.

Answer 5

Do not use tweezers to pull it off. It tears off the ticks Head and leaves it in your dogs skin, possibly causing an infection. You can touch a lit cigarette to it, making the tick let go (kinda gross and scary for the dog) or the slow way is to SLATHER THICKLY petroleum jelly on it smothering the tick. But then you have to monitor the dog closely to monitor the tick! lol
Also, you can put on rubber gloves and place your index finger on top of the tick just like it were a button and then with gentle pressure, spin the tick in a circle. It makes the tick let go.

Answer 6

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The first is simple; you must win your dogs mind. If you don’t achieve this first then you will be struggling the all the way. When I talk about winning your dogs mind what I really mean is that your dog looks to you for all the decisions. Before you do anything else watch one of the amazing video sites that show you the 5 Golden rules to establishing yourself as the pack leader. If you aren’t putting these in place then you are setting yourself up to fail. Just at the crucial point where you really want your dog to listen they will go and do their own thing. For sure your dog may play ball occasionally or even most of the time, you may even have a dog that is obedient 99% of the time, however if you want a dog who always listens to you and does as you ask then you need to win your dogs mind.

The second key to success is to motivate your dog. It is really important that you discover what it is that your dog enjoys both in terms of exercise and play but also in terms of a reward. If you can make the experience enjoyable then you will both achieve more and look forward to training.

Some dogs love to fetch, others love agility, and other dogs simply love obedience training, or swimming out into water and retrieve. At least to start with find out what your dogs love is and help them develop this, what I am saying is work with your dog. The other point to recognize is to make training enjoyable reward your dog.

Answer 7

My dog went thru the same thing.

First, get a friend to help by holding her down so she doesnt wiggle.

Take a match (a wooden one works best) light it, and then blow it out. While it is STILL HOT, touch the back of the tick. Using tweezers, immediatly pluck the gross bug off your doggies face.

The match burns it and makes it let go, so plucking it off with tweezers is safe. DONT pull it off yet if it is still stuck, try to burn it again. If its mouth/jaw piece becomes detached from its body, your poor pups face could get an infection.

After you get the tick off, follow up with Neosporin or another pain-free antibiotic. And a dog treat :)

Good Luck!

Answer 8

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After I started training my dog, he became very attached to me and loves to stay by side as long as he can. But just going to them won't help. You have to practice what they teach you outside of the class and you need to keep up with it at least every now and then after the class ends otherwise they'll just go back to previous habits. This course is a really good place to go for dog obedience classes. It get's your dog around other people and dogs to socialize while getting the training you need. As for electric collars, I would say to not get one. In my experience, they're only a negative effect on your dog. I mean of course you're going to need to correct your dog, but being positive and encouraging your dog works a lot faster and easier.

Every dog is different, so unless you have a german shepherd or a really smart dog, it might take a while to train her. You might get frustrated with her, but go easy. She's still a puppy and has a lot of energy. A backyard or somewhere to run will help her get rid of a lot of energy that might cause her to misbehave from boredom.

Answer 9

I've heard off sticking it with a hot match-that it will come and crawl off...but you'd be getting your dog in a sensitive spot. I'd let a vet or groomer do it because if the head stays attached it will grow back

Answer 10

Use tweezers and pull on the body. Make sure the ticks head comes out when you pull. Then burn the tick with a match or a lighter.