How to Find and Remove Ticks on Dogs

It’s springtime again, which means we are facing the start of tick season, which occurs during the warmer months of the year. Depending on where you live, that may mean all year round, or primarily from March to November. Ticks become active when temperatures rise above freezing, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. If it was a mild winter, they may become active earlier. 

These eight legged parasites need a host to feed on, such as deer, mice, birds, or….your dog.  They feed by sucking the blood from their host and can carry a variety of diseases that can be transmitted through biting the host within hours.

When a tick bites a dog, they can transfer any infectious disease that they are carrying into it, such as Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, or ehrlichiosis.  They attach firmly by biting the host, feed slowly, and may go un-noticed for days while feeding, all while possibly transmitting disease. The bite may start as an itchy, irritating welt. Or you may not even notice that your beloved pooch has been bitten.  

How to Check a Dog for Ticks

This is why it’s so important to do routine tick checks on your dog and moreover check them thoroughly after spending time in wooded areas, areas with high grasses, or where there are a lot of dead, decaying leaves. The Center for Disease Control recommends checking your pet daily for ticks.  But how?

To find a tick on a dog, start by gently running your fingers over their entire body. Feel around for any bumps. If you find any, part the fur and get a visual on that area. Look for a black or brown bug. You may only see a body, or you may see legs too.  

Some ticks can be as small as a pin head, such as the Deer Tick. Some ticks can be rather large when engorged, and are easy to find, like the American Dog Tick. These can swell up to the size of a small grape if it’s a female that has been latched on for a bit and well fed. You can also use a fine-tooth comb to skim through their fur. But if it hits a suspicious spot, stop and part the fur and look. Do not use the comb to try to remove the tick.  

Be sure to check these areas closely: 

Head and ears:  

Dogs are curious, and use their snouts to explore through grass, brush, and leaves. Many times, ticks are found on the face or head when they first get picked up.  

• Check the ears, inside and out, very thoroughly. There are a lot of crevices in the ears, and they are good places for the tick to hide. 
• Be sure to check your dog’s eyelids and even in the mouth.  
• Check under the collar, too!

Armpits and inguinal groin:  

Ticks like dark, moist places.  

• Armpits and groin areas are a perfect climate for them.  
• Be sure to check around the anus and under and around the tail base while you’re feeling around down there.  

Toes and webbing:  Again, ticks like dark, moist areas.  

• The webbing in between your dog’s toes provides the perfect environment as well as a great hiding place.  

How to Remove a Tick from a Dog

While inspecting your dog thoroughly, ICK! A tick!! Now what? You need to remove the tick from your dog as soon as possible.  

You can call your veterinarian if you are not comfortable removing the tick. Usually, a nurse or technician can remove it for you. But it’s not a hard trick to learn, and best to do so because you never know when you may find one of these blood sucking parasites that need to be removed.  

Try to remove the tick in its entirety: Body, head, and mouth parts. If the mouth parts or head are left behind, it could cause irritation and continue disease transmission. To remove the tick, you will need:

• A tick removing tool, which work very well, or a pair of fine tipped tweezers
• Antiseptic, rubbing alcohol or soap and water
• A pair of latex gloves
• A container that can be sealed in order to dispose of the tick 

Here we go…

1. First, gather all your supplies so that they are at arm’s length. 
2. Put your gloves on. 
3. If you are using a tick removal tool, gently press the “forked” part under the tick, as close to the skin as you can get. Do not pull straight out, this could cause the tick to break apart and leave the mouth parts imbedded in the skin. Instead, turn the tool clockwise multiple times until the tick releases its grasp from your dog. If you are using tweezers, grab onto the tick as closely to your dog’s skin as possible. Pull straight upward in one steady motion with steady pressure. Do not yank, or jerk, or twist, as you can cause the tick to break up and leave the mouth parts behind.  
4. Once removed, place the tick into the container and seal it. You may want to bring it to the veterinarian for identification purposes, as different ticks transmit different diseases. Or you can hold onto it for a few weeks just in case your dog starts to show symptoms of illness.  
5. Now you can clean the bite area with the antiseptic, a rubbing alcohol wipe, or soap and water.  
6. Do not clean the bite if it is near your dog’s eyes! Clean the tick removal tool or tweezers with rubbing alcohol.  
7. Remove your gloves and wash your hands thoroughly.  

What Not to Do

There are a few old folk remedies regarding tick removal that should be avoided: 

• Do not burn the tick out with a lit match or other hot object. 
• Do not smother the tick in petroleum jelly or nail polish remover to suffocate it. 
• Do not crush or squeeze the tick, as this can cause it to break up and leave the mouth parts in the skin.  

When a tick is burned, squeezed, or irritated, it can regurgitate its stomach contents into your dog’s bloodstream. This increases the risk of transmitting  tick-borne illnesses. 

What to Do After Removing a Tick from a Dog

Once you have removed the tick successfully from your dog, you will need to monitor the bite site for a few weeks. Look for redness, swelling, itchiness, the classic “bullseye” pattern on the skin surrounding it, or other signs of infection. Feel the skin to make sure it’s not hot and irritated or painful.  

Over the next few weeks, keep an eye out for any symptoms of tick-borne diseases, such as: 

• Lethargy
• Fever
• Lack of appetite
• Joint pain
• Stiffness
• Lameness 

It is always a good idea to inform your veterinarian that you removed a tick, so they can note it in your pet’s medical records. This way, if symptoms appear over the following weeks, they have an indication as to why. This is also why you want to hold onto the tick after removal. They may want to identify which type of tick it was, and what diseases it naturally carries. They may also recommend blood tests a few weeks after the initial bite.

How to Prevent Ticks on Dogs

There are many things you can do to avoid having to go through all this. First, keep your yard and lawn mowed well and short. Ticks like tall grasses. Keep your bushes and shrubs clear of decaying leaves. Use pet friendly tick repellents in your yard. But if you are an avid outdoors person, and like to take your dog into the wild, make sure they are on year-round tick prevention.  

There are many effective products available on the market or through your veterinarian:

• NexGard is an oral chew given once a month to your dog that is highly effective in killing five species of ticks. It is safe for puppies eight weeks of age or older, weighing four pounds or more.  
• Frontline Plus is also a monthly medication but is a topical application rather than a pill or chew your dog eats. It gets applied to the skin between the shoulder blades once a month, and is effective in killing four different species of ticks within 48 hours of application.  
• There is also Bravecto, which is an oral chew that lasts 12 weeks, rather than 30 days.  It is effective against five different tick species, and is vet-recommended ().  If you’re looking for a product that lasts even longer, then Soresto Collars may be for you.  They are effective against 4 different tick species, and they last for 8 months.

How to Remove a Tick From a Dog: Final Thoughts

Now you are a tick pro! Remember to do daily tick checks on your dog for overall healthy maintenance. Check them thoroughly after going into a wooded area, or other high-risk areas.  

It is great practice to have your dog on a tick preventative, and there are many options available for your lifestyle needs. If you find a tick, be sure to remove it in its entirety, and remove it as soon as possible to cut down on the transmission time of disease. Monitor for symptoms of tick-borne diseases for weeks after a bite and alert your veterinarian of any issues.