Ticks on my dog – how do I get rid of them?

by Shane
(Avondale, Arizona)

I have a 2 year old Rotten Rottie named Ryleigh who about 90 pounds. We’ve had her from 8 weeks she has never had any medical problems nor parasites until this past summer when we noticed her itching and scratching more than normal. So we find she has ticks and we look around the house and of course we have ticks.

We had a relative staying with us at the time who purchased another dog but did really take care of them in my opinion and my thinking is this is how Ryleigh got ticks (this is the only explanation i can come up with). Needless to say I was mortified and I’ve got and arsenal of things that i do but she is still itching and it drives me BONKERS!!.

I vacuum, sweep, break out the hvac, bath her, rub her down to check for them i have about 2 or 3 bottles of alcohol in the house with tweezers so if someone feels something pick it off immediately, put teatree oil on the wounds to disinfect them. So they are not as bad as when we first started out. We have taken her to the Vet to see if any diseases have developed, and they keep giving a clean bill of health but i still see ticks, Recently I read up on Microplant powder and how it dries out insects including ticks and kills them so i sprinkle a good amount in the carpets around all her beddings( she has more beds than rooms in the house) and favorite places she likes to lay and that has really helped, so ‘im getting ready to rub it in her coat to get these few straggelers.

I also have been giving her the Brewers yeast and garlic tablets which i crush and put into her food. I am so ready for this things to be GONE!! The one thing I haven’t tried is Flea and Tick shampoo and that’s because i’m not sure of what to get and when i read reviews its all about how it kills fleas and nothing about it’s effectiveness on ticks… although i still give her regular baths and now it’s every few weeks or when i see she’s scratching uncontrollably it breaks my heart to know these things are eating her..

Any help will be greatly appreciated. These ticks are having and extended spring break in my house and they need to be evicted immediately..

Hi Shane
I totally understand your worries about these nasty little parasites! Unfortunately they’re pretty hardy little creatures, breed very fast and can be difficult to eradicate. This past Spring was the worst I’ve ever known in our area and I also had to use an arsenal of weapons to keep my dogs tick-free.

All the things that you’ve tried can be partially effective, but in my personal experience the only way to completely kill them off is to use one a preparatory product or products. Up until this year I was using Frontline Plus on my dogs, but it was no longer being effective so I switched over to K 9 ADVANTIX, and used it every month. It took about a week to begin to work but once it was working, a monthly application was enough.

One of my dogs seemed to be especially attractive to ticks, so I also made sure she wore a Preventic Collar For Dogs , you can use both Advantix and the Preventic collar together safely.

If the combination of these isn’t quite enough (for example if there is an infestation that is fairly ingrained, or there are a LOT of ticks) you can also use a Pyrethrin Dipicon at home.

Again you can combine any/all of these products safely (this is based on my own Veterinarian’s instructions), but don’t use a flea or flea/tick shampoo as well.

You can call a pest control company to treat your home to kill any ticks that are lurking in corners, carpeting etc., or you can use one of the ‘foggers’ sold in pet stores and online. Before tick season begins this year you may want to ask them to treat your yard to make sure that fleas and ticks don’t multiply again as soon as Spring begins.

Hope this helps and I wish you lots of luck in your battle.

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Feb 11, 2013

tick on my dog NEW
by: pramod

i have ticks on my aagratha she is just 9 months. i found the ticks on her. so i am applting cisa-tix to get rid of them is this enough?


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About The Rotty lover 2159 Articles
My name is Dr. Winnie. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Duke University, a Masters of Science in Biology from St Georges University, and graduated from the University of Pretoria Veterinary School in South Africa. I have been an animal lover and owners all my life having owned a Rottweiler named Duke, a Pekingese named Athena and now a Bull Mastiff named George, also known as big G! I'm also an amateur equestrian and love working with horses. I'm a full-time Veterinarian in South Africa specializing in internal medicine for large breed dogs. I enjoy spending time with my husband, 2 kids and Big G in my free time. Author and Contribturor at SeniorTailWaggers, A Love of Rottweilers, DogsCatsPets and TheDogsBone