My Dog Is Infested With Ticks!

[HorsesRMe123]

My goodness; how terrible! So glad you and your sister were able to get rid of all those nasty insects.

I'm sure there are tons of ticks out on the trails and hiking spots here in the Bay Area, but luckily I don't go hiking and have never seen one in my suburban city. We have a poodle puppy and when she gets older and starts going on walks and adventures, I will definitely try to keep away from areas that could have ticks. Ticks could probably hide really well in long, curly poodle hair!

Definitely! You have to search through all the hair to find a small little tick. That’s why we’re having our dog shaved nice and short. I don’t think we’re going to take him on a walk for a little while until it becomes hotter and drier when the ticks start dying out.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh my goodness! That’s quite the story. That’s both hilarious and really really scary and sounds painful! I’m fine with snakes as well but ticks, I can’t do!! That story honestly sounds like something I would have happen to me too. When I find some bug on me I’m crazy and paranoid. When we find ticks on our dogs, we put them in a glass with water and drown them.

I can kind of relate to your story though last year me and my sister went to go visit our horses and it was spring time and our mare Misty was having a lice problem. Well anyway the story isn’t about the lice because horse lice can’t transmit to humans but there was some other bug in the air. A gust of wind blew and a minute later or so our heads started getting really itchy. It takes us about 15 minutes to get back to our house from our horses. And let me tell you, that 15 minutes felt like forever! We scratched our heads and whenever we felt an itch we could pinpoint a bug and we scratched and we would pick up a bug (ew! This story makes me cringe to this day). We tried identifying the bug but didn’t know quite what it was. I think that if they stayed in our heads they would have had their babies on our heads! So. GROSS! Anyway when we got home we rushed to the bathroom brushed our hair like crazy. Our mom made a formula with baking soda and water I think it was and we caked that into our hair. We leaned over the edge of the bathtub and every time we would shake our heads and go through our hair, a bunch of bugs fell out. Oh my god. So disgusting! And I came up with a song with my sister for our strategy of getting these bugs out and she just laughed the whole way through. I was singing this made up song so seriously to get these bugs out because it helped me cope with the situation. I know, a little weird lol. But we got all the bugs out and after over an hour of washing our hair like neurotic people we got them all out. I was so panicked that we wouldn’t get them out.

Eeewww! Was this in Washington state? How big were the bugs? The size of your pinky fingernail? Bigger, smaller? Did they have wings? Did they buzz? What color were they?

 

[HorsesRMe123]

Eeewww! Was this in Washington state? How big were the bugs? The size of your pinky fingernail? Bigger, smaller? Did they have wings? Did they buzz? What color were they?

Yeah they were in WA state. They were super small bugs probably as long as a rice grain but thinner. I don’t think they had wings, I’m thinking maybe they were larvae or something? They didn’t make any noise. Their body was a clear color and their head was black I think. Super weird bug. We tried identifying it but couldn’t find what it was.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Yeah they were in WA state. They were super small bugs probably as long as a rice grain but thinner. I don’t think they had wings, I’m thinking maybe they were larvae or something? They didn’t make any noise. Their body was a clear color and their head was black I think. Super weird bug. We tried identifying it but couldn’t find what it was.

Have you checked out this site?: https://www.insectidentification.org/insects-by-state.php?thisState=Washington

 

[Peaches Lee]

I highly suggest buying your flea and tick prevention from a veterinarian. I would avoid buying from online retailers (Amazon) due to the high prevalence of fraudulent/counterfeit products. If it's cheaper than the vet, there's a reason.

I also have several Tick Twister tools at my house. These are very useful and a must have for pet owners! Excellent to use on humans too!

https://www.ticktwister.com/

 

[cassie]

I use Brevecto (sp) on my dogs and it works pretty well. I get it from the vet. Guinea hens do a good job of controlling ticks in the yard but I can't have any. They like to stand in the middle of the road and as a result they don't live very long.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I use Brevecto (sp) on my dogs and it works pretty well. I get it from the vet. Guinea hens do a good job of controlling ticks in the yard but I can't have any. They like to stand in the middle of the road and as a result they don't live very long.

My chickens do a pretty fair job of keeping the ticks under control. I've had guineas before. Never again.

 

[HorsesRMe123]

Have you checked out this site?: https://www.insectidentification.org/insects-by-state.php?thisState=Washington

That’s a really helpful guide. But I couldn’t find anything that looks like the bug that infested us.

 

[HorsesRMe123]

I highly suggest buying your flea and tick prevention from a veterinarian. I would avoid buying from online retailers (Amazon) due to the high prevalence of fraudulent/counterfeit products. If it's cheaper than the vet, there's a reason.

I also have several Tick Twister tools at my house. These are very useful and a must have for pet owners! Excellent to use on humans too!

https://www.ticktwister.com/

That looks like a really helpful tool! I’m shocked Amazon would allow fraudulent retailers? We usually get ours from our local pet store. It’s expensive but definitely worth it.

 

[HorsesRMe123]

I use Brevecto (sp) on my dogs and it works pretty well. I get it from the vet. Guinea hens do a good job of controlling ticks in the yard but I can't have any. They like to stand in the middle of the road and as a result they don't live very long.

I’ve heard guinea hens are great for controlling ticks. Aren’t they really loud?