Guest hankodie Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Also check the paw pads as well as in between the toes... also armpits are another places you need to check. I have a friend who lost her beloved dog to a tick, she checked him all over but somehow missed the tick hiding on the bottom of his paw. They are absolutely horrible little things, so sorry for your loss brunobella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillybob Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 I used to do it both hands and work from the nose back just feeling you will get the hang of it after a while. That's why I did it when they were dry in the mornings for the tiny ones and wet at night for the larger ones. I sat on the ground with them between my legs and work from the nose down, then stand them up and do underneath and tails and toes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystiqview Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 If you are over North side of Brisbane, I am happy to show you. Like others have said, run your hands through the coat, forwards, backwards, sideways. Feel for any lump or bump. My husband finds it easier for him if he is not looking and just relying on his fingers to feel for a difference in the skin. I use both. If you have a partner, both you of check one after another for ticks. The number of times Dylan has checked the dogs straight after me and have found one straight after and vice versa and found another is common. If you have a nymph or an unfed adult, they can be quite small and can be easily missed first up. Also a lot of vet surgeries have a stuffed toy BC advertising frontline or similar and it asks you to find the 10 ticks (glass beads) through the coat. Good practice next time you are at your local vet. At the moment, my guys are getting checked twice daily by each of us. We are finding up to 6 ticks per dog per day at present. They are currently wearing Preventic Tick Collars getting changed every 4-6 weeks (packet says 2 month collar), so goes to show it is not working in my area. Every two weeks or less they are being washed in Fidos Free Itch Concentrate through my hydrobath. The label (again I am not confident on their timings) says "up to three days" I am hoping more to kill anything that may be on them rather than use it to deter them further. Although if it does deter them, bonus. Cannot stress enough. TWICE DAILY CHECKS. It is the BEST way to stop your dog ending up at the vet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 I don't look at what I'm doing with a tick search either. Just feel my way. I usually reapply Advantx on the 13 th day. I don't wait until the actual 14th day to reapply. Twice day checks as Mystiqview has said. They are such a worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoBella Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 (edited) thanks for that info and sympathies. Bella getting twice daily checks .. currently looking for house urgently in Brisbane know of any rooms. Or house sitting jobs? Edited November 26, 2013 by BrunoBella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane J Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 As someone who just recently lost a young dog to blood parasites (Haemobartonellosis and Babesias) from a tick, I also think it's important that people are more vigilant and to check there dogs often. We never had a problem with them before but about 6 months ago we started finding them on him and quickly started on the tick preventatives which did work and we didn't see a tick since. He would've caught them when he was first bitten and just didn't show the symptoms but about 3 weeks ago he started showing symptoms and quickly went downhill from there. He passed away just over a week ago and it was devastating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 So sorry for loss Dianne J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teekay Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 I have a question. If the preventative spot on treatments do not really work, as it appears lots of people have said they don't. Is it worth subjecting our dogs to the fortnightly chemicals when we have to check them daily anyway. I have 3 coated breeds and am terrified of ticks although, thankfully, we don't seem to get many round here. I have found one on Jenna a couple of years ago. Judging by it's size it had probably been on her a couple of days, thankfully she suffered no ill effects. Also for those of you that get multiple ticks a day, do you know where they are getting them from. Is it just in your yard or when out walking? Is it from bushes in your garden? I'm intrigued because I don't really have any plants in my garden, just lawn, and wondered if this was why mine rarely get them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane J Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 So sorry for loss Dianne J Thank you. It was devastating to lose him at such a young age - he turned 2 in October. We lost our very first dogo to secondary problems related to Ehrlichia infection (also transmitted by ticks) back in thailand also at a young age, and after this latest one - we've decided no more dogs in SE Asia as we don't have the best luck here. My 9 year old daughter has been devastated over this recent loss, especially after the passing of our 11 year old dogo 18 months ago :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane J Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 I have a question. If the preventative spot on treatments do not really work, as it appears lots of people have said they don't. Is it worth subjecting our dogs to the fortnightly chemicals when we have to check them daily anyway. I have 3 coated breeds and am terrified of ticks although, thankfully, we don't seem to get many round here. I have found one on Jenna a couple of years ago. Judging by it's size it had probably been on her a couple of days, thankfully she suffered no ill effects. Also for those of you that get multiple ticks a day, do you know where they are getting them from. Is it just in your yard or when out walking? Is it from bushes in your garden? I'm intrigued because I don't really have any plants in my garden, just lawn, and wondered if this was why mine rarely get them. I do think there they are effective at stopping the ticks as we didn't see any ticks as soon as we started using them. Our boy was had white short hair so very easy to see them. As for where our got his from, we couldn't work it out as he daily walks were always on paths and he wasn't in contact with grass. We got the backyard and house treated as we didn't know how he was getting them. We finally worked out it was from visits to his dry food bowl by rats after he trapped one under his bowl and it was squealing in fear. We also worried about the chemicals on his skin but after discovering those ticks we became extremely paranoid and wanted to prevent what eventually happened anyway I think next time, we'll try to find a natural alternative as we're not really convinced of their safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluff1234 Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 (edited) double post Edited November 28, 2013 by fluff1234 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluff1234 Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 (edited) I check my pup every day, he is on frontline plus and so far no ticks or fleas and ONE of the several vets has pulled 126 of since July in our area they really scare me, he is so hard to feel with his thick samoyed fur. We keep our lawn mowed, dont go to Bush areas and walk in the middle of the road instead of the grass when possible. Edited November 28, 2013 by fluff1234 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cala Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 I have used a hair dryer on cold air only, start at the dogs head, slowly go all over the dog slowly the air parts the long hair and you can see right down to the skin, really good for long haired dogs, doesn't take long either. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sares Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 (edited) This may be a silly question and out of curiosity, I am guessing there is a minimum age for flea/tick treatment for dogs? what do you do about the younger puppies (eg Approx 12 weeks old)? Is there a safe method of preventing ticks on puppies. i would be hesitant to put the advantix on them? Edited November 28, 2013 by Sares Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 I have used a hair dryer on cold air only, start at the dogs head, slowly go all over the dog slowly the air parts the long hair and you can see right down to the skin, really good for long haired dogs, doesn't take long either. :) This would be a very effective way of finding ticks imho if you don't feel confident with the usual method :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliwake Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 This may be a silly question and out of curiosity, I am guessing there is a minimum age for flea/tick treatment for dogs? what do you do about the younger puppies (eg Approx 12 weeks old)? Is there a safe method of preventing ticks on puppies. i would be hesitant to put the advantix on them? we've used the scalibor tick collar since our pup was 8 weeks old. He's 9.5 months now and I'm yet to see a single tick. We have lots of possums, and bushy areas, and he goes to the dog park a lot, so I figure it's being fairly effective. We're definitely not complacent though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic.B Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 As someone who just recently lost a young dog to blood parasites (Haemobartonellosis and Babesias) from a tick, I also think it's important that people are more vigilant and to check there dogs often. We never had a problem with them before but about 6 months ago we started finding them on him and quickly started on the tick preventatives which did work and we didn't see a tick since. He would've caught them when he was first bitten and just didn't show the symptoms but about 3 weeks ago he started showing symptoms and quickly went downhill from there. He passed away just over a week ago and it was devastating. I am so sorry for your loss Ticks are the most hidious things and so deadly What are peoples experience with Fidos flea and tick rinse as opposed to other treatments? I use this for mine and although I have to do them every two or three days (fingers crossed) it seems to work well. I mix it up in a spray bottle, the dogs dont like it much though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sares Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 This may be a silly question and out of curiosity, I am guessing there is a minimum age for flea/tick treatment for dogs? what do you do about the younger puppies (eg Approx 12 weeks old)? Is there a safe method of preventing ticks on puppies. i would be hesitant to put the advantix on them? we've used the scalibor tick collar since our pup was 8 weeks old. He's 9.5 months now and I'm yet to see a single tick. We have lots of possums, and bushy areas, and he goes to the dog park a lot, so I figure it's being fairly effective. We're definitely not complacent though. Thanks Aliwake! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzabel Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 I have a question. If the preventative spot on treatments do not really work, as it appears lots of people have said they don't. Is it worth subjecting our dogs to the fortnightly chemicals when we have to check them daily anyway. I have 3 coated breeds and am terrified of ticks although, thankfully, we don't seem to get many round here. I have found one on Jenna a couple of years ago. Judging by it's size it had probably been on her a couple of days, thankfully she suffered no ill effects. Also for those of you that get multiple ticks a day, do you know where they are getting them from. Is it just in your yard or when out walking? Is it from bushes in your garden? I'm intrigued because I don't really have any plants in my garden, just lawn, and wondered if this was why mine rarely get them. I agree completely here. There is no point taking the risk of poisons on your dog when checking physically is necessary anyway. We lost our dear boy to cancer at 9.5yrs which is too young for an ACD. He is/was our first and last dog ever to wear tick collars. Maybe nothing to do with the collars but not taking the chance ever again.The really important thing is to know your dog and be watchful for any sign of symptoms or changes in behaviour. This is also the case if you live in snakey country, as we do. You can turn the nightly tick inspection into a massage session that the dog enjoys. As someone above said - close your eyes and just rely on your sense of touch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzabel Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 I agree, ticks will be a bigger problem with climate change.. I had never seen a tick as I come from Canberra. That's how I lost bruno Checking bella daily. Don't want to lose another dog... Is there somewhere where you can get someone to show you how to check for ticks? I have been doing it for two weeks but am still not confident of my skills. Hey BrunoBella, I live about 15 mins from you and would be glad to show you how to check your dog. Do you want to meet at a dog park or something? Please read up on the life cycle and habitat of ticks, really need to "know your enemy". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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