What to Do if You Find a Tick on Your Dog, According to Vets

Whether your dog loves to hike or always wants to run around in the nearest field, they probably can’t resist a patch of brush-filled woods or a patch of tall grass. The only problem? Ticks love those environments, too.

These teeny-tiny parasites can latch onto your pup and potentially transmit serious diseases like Lyme disease. With the proper precautions and awareness, you can help keep your pup safe from ticks. Here's what every pet owner needs to know about identifying and removing ticks, plus how to recognize the signs of tick-borne illness.

"Ticks are obligate parasites," says Robert B. Kimsey, Ph.D, an entomologist with the University of California, Davis. "They subsist solely on blood; they don't even drink liquid water." Ticks can target humans, wild animals, and pets alike.

Dogs can easily get them in rural and suburban areas, especially in areas with tall grasses and thick brush. But dogs can also pick up ticks in public parks or even in urban areas if another tick host brings them there.

Yes, ticks can transmit diseases like Lyme disease, ehrlichia, anaplasmosis, babiosis, bartonella, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, says John de Jong, D.V.M., a veterinarian in the Boston area and the former president of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

This happens when an infected tick bites a dog and proteins in its saliva get into the dog's bloodstream, he explains. Some of these diseases can get quite serious without proper treatment.

"Lyme disease can be very detrimental to kidney function, and can cause what's called Lyme nephropathy," de Jong says. "It's a destruction of the kidneys, and eventually they will fail and the animal will die."

However, it's important to remember that not all ticks carry pathogens. Certain tick-borne diseases also predominantly occur only in specific parts of the country, Kimsey stresses. Being aware of which tick-borne illnesses are most common in your area, checking your pet frequently for ticks, and taking the right preventive measures will help protect your pet.

The clinical signs of tick-borne diseases like Lyme, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasmosis generally share many similarities, de Jong says. They include:

• Swollen joints
• Pain
• Lameness, like favoring one leg over the other
• Loss of appetite
• Fever
• Neurological issues, including seizures

Talk to a veterinarian if you're concerned about your pet's health. They can perform tests to identify or rule out a disease.

As for the tick bite itself, you'll often find engorged ticks latched on around the neck and ears, but de Jong has found them everywhere on dogs in his practice. Always check your dog thoroughly for ticks to make sure you don’t miss any hiding in long fur. You may also notice some redness, swelling, and scabbing after removing a tick from a dog.

The best way to remove a tick on a dog is to pluck it off as fast as possible, de Jong and Kimsey agree. Here's how:

1. Grab a pair of fine-tipped tweezers. "They also sell commercial tick removers, but basically they all do the same thing," de Jong says.
2. Grab the tick really, really close to the pet's skin—as close as possible.
3. Gently pull straight out to get the tick free.

Finding and removing ticks quickly is important because it affects the likelihood of disease transmission. "The tick actually has to bite the dog and stay attached for a minimum of 24, but typically 48, hours before the proteins that cause Lyme disease transfer from the tick into the dog's bloodstream," de Jong says.

For that reason, he does not recommend using other methods, such as covering the tick with rubbing alcohol or vaseline, as they won't make the tick detach on its own.

"The first form of saliva that the tick elaborates is actually a glue," Kimsey explains. "It actually attaches the mouthparts to the surrounding tissue. The tick can't back out on its own volition."

And definitely don't try another popular myth: the hot match. You could singe your dog's fur or even burn its skin. If the mouthparts of the tick (or what some people call the "head") get left behind during the removal process, don't worry. It may cause a little swelling, but it usually resolves on its own after a while, de Jong says.

There are two ways to prevent ticks from transmitting illness to your dog: "You should be vaccinating your dog for Lyme disease and using a good preventative," de Jong says. "Nothing's 100% and you just want to make sure your animal is fully protected."

Yep, that's right—unlike humans, dogs can get vaccinated for Lyme disease. Your vet may decide to administer the vaccine depending on where you live. (Lyme disease is predominantly present in the Northeast as well as Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to the Centers for Disease Control.)

Preventative products add a second layer of protection. "If you're using a reputable tick preventative product like Nexgard, Frontline, or Advantix, the tick will ingest the blood and rapidly die," de Jong explains. And since it can take a day or more for an attached tick to transmit a pathogen, these substances help ensure there isn't enough time for that to happen.