Tick Tricks

It's that time of year again. Dangerous and deadly tick diseases on the rise.    

To keep things simple Earth Heart has created an infographic to help you identify different ticks and some handy tricks for taking care of those nasty ticks so you and your pet can enjoy the great outdoors. 

Did you know?

• If you can get a tick off immediately it cannot transmit a disease. But you only have from 6 hours to a few days at most, depending on the type of tick, to remove it and not have to worry about it transmitting a disease.See infographic below.

• Most chemical laden pesticide based or topical flea/tick collars take 2-3 days to kill a tick that is already attached, rendering collars ineffective in preventing an infected tick from infecting your dog with dangerous tick diseases.  

Preventing ticks is the best program but if you have ticks get them off as soon as possible. Be sure to check your pets as often as possible particularly after they have been out in a place that is known for ticks.

There is only one way to safely keep ticks off your dog - by making your dog less attractive to them.

• Treat your yard or lawn. Diatomaceous Earth (food grade only) is a wonderful, healthy and safe powder product that you can sprinkle in your yard to effectively kill ticks.

• Concentrated Garlic Spray can be sprayed around your yard, effectively repelling ticks.

• Ticks are attracted to a host by body heat, odor from the skin and carbon dioxide that people and dogs exhale. Using an essential oil based spray on your dog with neem seed oil as the main ingredient can make your dog unattractive by altering its scent.

• Check your dog immediately after being outside, time is critical.

• If you don’t immediately find a tick, check again after 1.5 hours, before several tick diseases can be transmitted.

• If you find a tick, safely remove it by using round-tip tweezers. Grasp the tick firmly at the base of the head. Then gently and steadily pull on the tick. Be careful not to break the mouth parts of the tick off and leave them inside your dog because infection is likely.

Earth Heart strives to help you and your dogs live healthier, happier lives. We hope this information helps you understand and prepare for the second tick invasion during late summer and autumn. 

Sources: PetMD, WebMD, GVMA, Parasiticpests.com

Download Tick Tricks Infographic HERE