You are probably aware that you should be checking your dog (and yourself!) for ticks after a walk in the woods in the summer. But are you checking as much as you should? Here are some things you need to know about ticks and your dog:
- You need to check more TIMES than you think – ticks are active any time the temperature is above 4 degrees Celsius. So in those warm days in winter, check your dog!
- You need to check after your dog has been more PLACES than you think. It is not just the woods and the wild places where ticks hide. They are anywhere there is vegetation for them to climb – such as your perennial border. Mice and voles coming into you yard can carry ticks with them, and the ticks will happily move onto your dog as he is snuffling around the yard.
- Where on your dog could ticks be? We tend to check the areas that we pet, such as the head and torso. But ticks can snuggle down into creases such as:
- where the ears flop over
- armpits
- between the toes (see picture)
- at the base of the tail.
So what do you do when you find ticks? See here for information on how to remove ticks.