Ticks, Ticks, Ticks!!!!

[Mrs.F]

I can't seem to take my dogs out for a minute without one of them picking up a tick! /ubb/smilies/frown.gif Frontline kills them supposedly, although I've never waited to see how long that would take. I always remove them while they're still kicking /ubb/smilies/sick.gif It doesn't seem to repel them.

I've seen 'tick collars' for sale in catalogs - supposedly they repel the ticks. Have any of you tried them? Did they work?
I kind of hate to put a toxic collar on the girls because they wrestle and play and chew on each other all of the time..... I have truly picked at least a dozen ticks off of Penny in the last 3 weeks, though. Maggie stands just a little taller, so perhaps that's why she's had fewer. All harmless wood ticks as opposed to deer ticks but yucky none the less. Any advice?

[Penny's Aunt]

I would assume that they are stronger stuff than flea collars? And flea collars usually had a lot of warnings on them: don't keep in a room with people with breathing problems, wash hands after handling, etc. And they usually just kept the fleas from the front of the dog; the hinie was on its own. I think I would pass, myself.

Even though they're icky, even deer ticks won't pass on Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever (& hopefully, Lyme Disease) unless the tick is embedded for 24 hrs.

But I do wish there was something that was PERFECT!

[Boonech]

For a couple of weeks, Grethchen and Annie were picking up ticks daily. I tried the Biospot (a couple drops between the shoulder blades where they can't get to it with their mouths.)

Although the directions called for a whole vial, I split one between the two dogs because I felt the whole vial might be too much insecticide.

They haven't picked up a tick since and it has been 2-3 weeks.

[wireweiners]

We have used the preventic collars on the farm dogs with a lot of success but they are toxic if ingested. If your babies chew on each other I would not use the tick collars. Stick with the frontline. Or I could send you some fire ants. We have them down here and they eat the flea and tick larva. The down side is that they build big mounds and if they get on you they sting like h**l and leave little blister./ubb/smilies/ksmile.gif

[Tina]

Last summer I used preventive collar for my old rottie (she did not let any dachsies mess around with her collar)and Frontline-spray for Helga and they did not have any ticks the whole summer. This year I tried that Biospot-stuff (it is called Exspot here) for all the dachsies. They got it in the beginning of May and so far I have not noticed a single tick. They are soon due to their second portion.

[Mandy]

Okay, here I go again for Bayer.

We use Advatage which is manufactured by Bayer. We have never had a flea or tick problem since using it.

My husband worked for Bayer and spoke with the man who discovered it. I know for a fact that Bayer spends millions and millions on testing tehir products before ever marketing them and releasing them. This is what my husband did when he was there.

I feel very confident using Advantage. The dogs shake and carry one when you first apply it between their shoulder blades. This helps to move the product across the dog's coat. It works for a month and you can bathe in between without taking away the effectiveness.

You might think about trying it.

[Mrs.F]

Hmmm...lots of food for thought. Until I read Penny's Aunt's post I didn't realize that the ticks had to be imbedded for 24 hours before diseases can set in. That's a relief! Since I've already purchased enough Frontline to take both dogs through the entire summer, I guess I may just hold tight for another week or so and see if the tick situation improves with the weather. Our vet had us use Frontline because he feels it's most effective against ticks - he also sells Advantage - so Mandy, your post was a surprise! /ubb/smilies/smile.gif I may try Advantage next year, I've used it for our indoor cats in the past.
We used BioSpot last year but Penny lost some hair and got red, flaky skin at the application site. She's eating California Natural now and her skin and coat are much healthier now, but I'm not sure I dare try the BioSpot again even though I do believe it's a great product. (The cats did quite well with it and it was much more economical....)

Oh, and Wireweiners, I think I'll PASS on the fire ants, thank you. When our daughter was 11 months old we moved to Fort Polk, Louisiana. We arrived in mid June and Beth fussed and cried from the heat as I unpacked boxes and settled in. On our second day my husband decided to surprise me and set up a lovely picnic meal on a blanket in the grass behind our new quarters. We Yankees had never seen fire ants before and had no idea that our backyard was a fire ant metropolis....I'm sure you can guess where this story is going!
I'll take the ticks!