Well it’s tick season again. As I live in a very wooded area we have lots of ticks so I give my dogs NexGard chewables for flees and ticks. They work well, the ticks start to die very quickly after biting the dogs. After we go for walks I try and find any ticks that are visible on their fur before they have a chance to bite them, or jump onto me. They have very thick fur so I miss most of them.. When I’m petting or scratching them I often find scabs from where they’ve been bitten. My instinct is to scratch off the scab but I’m guessing I should just leave them to come off on there own, which will probably create less scarring. Any opinions on if I should take off the scab or leave them alone? I have noticed over the years that lighter colored dogs seem to attract more ticks then darker colored dogs. This is the 2nd time I’ve had 2 dogs, and both times the lighter colored dog attracts more ticks. As I write this I also have realized that both times my lighter colored dogs were bitches. Could it be this instead of the color that attracts more ticks? I’m honestly not thrilled to be giving my dogs pills that are poison, but the tick collars just don’t work as well, IMO, and if they weren’t on the pills I’d likely be getting bit more often too. They are also vaccinated against limes disease. I try and wear darker clothes if I’m out cutting firewood, or clearing culverts, so as to hopefully attract less of the evil creatures. I do find it strange that there’s a vaccine for limes disease for dogs but not for humans. I’ve probably been bit well over a hundred times over the years, probably many, many, more than that actually, and I’ve so far been lucky.
I have never found a tick on my dogs, though I did once find one on my daughter, many years ago in Scotland. I have a set of plastic tick twisters, just in case, but I'm pleased to say they are still unused. You can tell that I have no experience, but I always thought that you didn't get scarring if you twisted the little blighters off - they always say anti-clockwise, is this just a joke? Would the scabs come away any better if you let them soften with a little diluted antiseptic shampoo?
The NexGard is supposed to kill them within an hour of biting the dog. When I’m bitten I do try and pull them counter-clockwise, I don’t think this is an “old wives tale”. You are lucky to not get ticks, here it’s just a part of having dogs. I’ve even seen ticks on small lizards, they are just unavoidable. In the winter I now generally keep the dogs only in the fenced yard around the house, as the larger fenced area by my garage/workshop has many more trees and brush, and therefore many more ticks. I’d imagine the scabs on dogs are the same as on us, let them come off when they’re ready. Next time I go to vets to weigh the dogs I’ll ask them.
NexGard is a monthly pill against ticks and fleas. I used to use Frontline Plus Spot-on on both Lexi and Pereg but with such a short-coated dog like Tikva it was impossible to get it on her skin, so she has a Bravecto pill which lasts for three months. Lexi and Pereg were Frontlined on the first of every month, except for December and February, and Tikki's Bravecto pill coincides with her three-monthly Parkworm shot. As for tick/flea collars - Ram once convinced me to use the Seresto collar on Pereg as it lasts for eight months, but due to incorrect/incomplete translation [the Ivrit translation was put on the tins prior to importation, completely covering the original English instructions] it did not say the collar should never be put on a seizure dog. Bayer missed out the fact about Seresto being c/i for seizure dogs.
Only once one of our dog had a tick on his muzzle. We used to give them a tablet once a month, but they have to bite our dogs before they die. So i use a spot on treatment, now they only have to go on the our dogs. Also it's better for us and our home.
