how do you take a tick out of a dog?

Answer 1

I live in the country and have outside dogs. I also have frequent visitors of the other dogs that live nearby. I've removed many ticks in my days. It is less likely that you'll get all of the tick off of your dog by using tweezers. When you use tweezers people tend to squeeze too hard and end up leaving the head of the tick inside the dog. It can cause infection. Not always but I've seen it many times. The best way I've found to remove them is with my fingers. You can wear a latex glove or be bold and do it bare fingered. :) It really works better. (Just remember to wash your hands afterward.) :) The pressure you will use with your fingers makes it easier for the head to come out with the tick instead of staying inside your dog. Do remember that the ticks do not die very easily. You can burn it, flush it down the toilet (I really don't like doing that. I always fear that they will crawl up and get my rear. It's probably a personal problem. :) ) Or you can put them in a container and drown them. Burning to me seems quicker and less cruel. All creatures have feelings. I wish you luck and hope for the best. Have a wonderful day!

Answer 2

So far, "sophialin..." has given the best answer! Of course, if you DO have the time & money for visits to the vet, that's more than ok, but you'll probably watch him or her take some specially formed forceps or even simply his/her fingers & pull the pest out! Heat methods like matches & cigarettes aren't always effective & more often than not burn the dog. That's particularly dangerous if the tick's in an ear or near an eye or lips, etc! The amount of alcohol it'd take to MAYBE cause a tick to voluntarily back out would probably inflict undue burning pain to the dog as well. Nail polish may kill the tick (or do nothing!) & seal the creature in, & pulling it out when dead raises the risk of leaving its head in & you won't be able to see it to get it out! You will have a mess to deal with!
A tick starts out as a tiny spider or crab-looking creature that pretty much buries its head into the skin of the dog, then as it sucks blood, a sac expands from its abdomen. To pull it out you don't want to grab or squeeze the sac, so fingernails are a real benefit here. You need to be gently pressing the tips of your fingers against the dog's skin to get a grip on the tick's body.
Gently, smoothly & rather swifly pull the tick straight away from the skin surface. DO NOT TWIST! Look carefully at what you have taken out. You'll see the rubbery looking sac attached to a tiny body with four little legs on each side. You will most probably see a really tiny head, too, sometimes still clutching a few flakes of flesh in its mandibles. (Don't worry, the "wound" is tantamount to less than a minor scratch!) If you don't see a head, you'll easily locate it & take it out as you would a common sliver or splinter~~with tweezers or a needle (sterilize either, of course). Finally, DAB a small amount of antibiotic around the area. Check your precious pet OFTEN for ticks (& foxtails &.......)!!
~~~& HAVE FUN!!

Answer 3

What works best for us is a "tick spoon". It's a great little tool. It looks like a small plastic round tipped spoon with a "slice" cut in the center. You simply scoop the tick out: Slide the "sliced" part of the spoon around the tick and pull upward. Sometimes it's tough and needs more of a yank. I don't think it hurts though because my dog never yelped or cried. The tick has always come out 100%, the head is never left in the dog with this tool. You can find them in pet stores for about $2 or less. Afterward, put some bacitracin on the dog. Sometimes if the tick is very small, it will slide through the slot on the spoon so you have to use a fingernail to hold it against the spoon while you pull.By the way, my dog has gotten ticks while on Frontline Plus, Biospot, or other brands but at least when I pull them out they are definately dead (the legs don't move)

Answer 4

Paint it with nail polish so it is suffocating and it will back out. You don't pull it if you do the head could come off under your dogs skin and cause a terrible infection that can be life threatening. There i snothing bogus about the head pulling off. I am over 50 had at least two dogs at any given time in my life. Have 13 now. The head will come off and it is dangerous for your animal!

Using a hot lighter is not advisable because the dog will get burned in the process. What people used to use was a match head. YOu strike a match blow it out then stick the tiny match head on the tick. but again the dog is likely to get burned.

You might also try putting salt on the tick. A bit of taclum powder. Alcohol.

Another sugestion is call your vet. But this is a holiday

Lastly once the tick has eaten and is full of blood it will drop off all by itself. So in time the problem will take care of itself.

Then get flea and tick stuff to keep the tics off your dog. I would not use what ever brand you were using. It didn't work well.

Answer 5

I put a drop or two of fingernail polish remover on the tick. Doesn't seem to bother the dog as much as alcohol and it helps make the tick release. Then use the tweezers and grab as close to the skin as possible. You might check to see if its a deer tick because they cause lime disease.

Answer 6

A tick looks a little like a bean on the outside. The tick is an animal on the inside of this shell. The quickest way to get a tick off is to light a cigarrette, hold the hot end on the tick and wait until it releases. Dont try to just pull the tick off cold as you will take the shell and leave the tick.

Answer 7

Grab it with tweezers or with your fingers(make sure you grab the head, a tick can live up to 2 weeks without it's head). Once you have it off put it on the ground(outside) light a match and burn the tick.After that give your dog a flee and tick shampoo bath. I strongly recommend "Hearts" shampoo.

Answer 8

The tweezers are probably best, but I just use my thumbnail as close to the dog's skin a possible. Pull it out slowly because you want to get the whole tick. If you leave any in the dog's body, that area will infect.
-MM

Answer 9

Just pull the tick out, use tweezers or your fingers w/ a paper towel. Once removed put tape on the tick and through it in the trash. DO NOT pain on nail polish or drench it in alcohol.

Answer 10

WAIT !
Tweezers are fine if you can take the head and body of the tic together. You have to press the tweezers into the dog's skin to get the whole tic. *** don't twist the tick out. a smooth straight slow motion to get the whole tick

Alcohol will make the tic let go a bit if it is still alive. ***Sorry, this part is wrong - see link

Check the dog for more tics .. if there is one, there may be more