# Ticks!: One Woman's Tale of Phobia and Insecticide



## FunkyPuppy (Jan 27, 2011)

I began my grooming career in Vegas, NV, where I can remember about 3 tick dogs in the 3 years I was there. Since I moved to NM, it's a tick fiesta. 

I've tried to be brave, to overcome my phobia. I once took on a year old matted shih tzu with tiny brown ticks dancing atop the solid fur sweater. Pale and shaking, I continued to shave bravely, until my 10 blade nicked a hidden Grape (obese, dime-sized green tick). Hundreds of teeny ticks erupted and ran everywhere as blood spurted from the dying Grape... who waved its hairy legs defiantly as it died. I stammered something unintelligible, turned white, lost my balance... and was led away to a chair while another groomer with bigger huevos finished the job.

I have refused tick dogs ever since.

In the last month, I've removed 4 tiny brown ticks from Bonzai. 2 were firmly attached. 2 were dancing across her gorgeous foofy coat, trying to find their way down to the skin. I couldn't believe I was able to do it, but my tick removal was fueled by pure, unadulterated rage.

What do I do? I hate the idea of applying pesticides on my puppy, can I just treat the yard? and what do I treat it with? I've been told garlic is a natural tick deterrent, but I don't think I like the idea of perfuming my yard, my parent's yard, and Bonzai with garlic. What do I do?


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

When I bought my house, I kept finding ticks in the yard. hen I was finding them on me and on the dogs. (Had a friggin' deer tick embedded in my leg and had to endure 3 weeks of antibiotics and a lot of fretting over Lyme's Disease.) 

I hated to do it, but I ended up spraying my yard and fence with Cutter. I don't let the dogs walk on the grass for at least a day or two and I wipe their feet very carefully for at least a week after. Heck, I wipe their feet anyway so they don't track dirt into the house, but you get the point.  

It seems to have done the trick as I haven't seen any ticks since. I really hate using pesticides--I even go organic with my roses--but my hate for ticks and fear of Lyme's Disease is even greater!!! Those deer ticks are so small they're near impossible to see. So even if you do careful 'checks' of your dogs, you run the risk of missing one (and one infected tick is all it takes). 

I should note that I live in an area with a high prevalence of Lyme's Disease!


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## littlestitches (Dec 28, 2009)

I found a tick on my friend's golden retriever over the Easter weekend. That was the only time I had ever seen one and it was the grossest thing I have ever seen. It was firmly attached and bloated with poor Brie`s blood.

I have no idea how to treat your yard for ticks. 

My skin just started crawling, as I just realized that there will probably be plenty of ticks in Texas, where I am moving in 2 weeks. 

Paula


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## apriljean80 (Aug 23, 2010)

Wow, you ladies wouldn't last long here. I live it tick central. I guess you could get some chickens and guineas to take care of your tick problem rather naturally  We have to use frontline for ticks. Although I am way past the point of being freaked out by them any longer. They are rather nasty little buggers though. The big ones aren't nearly so bad as the tiny seed ticks we get here. Those are so small they can be nearly impossible to find.


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## FunkyPuppy (Jan 27, 2011)

Oh, im a big wuss and i'm the first to admit it. Its the hairy legs that get me.


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## apriljean80 (Aug 23, 2010)

I must say that if I shaved over one with clippers and it exploded with tiny ticks and blood I would be pretty grossed out too. Also, my dogs have never been covered in ticks. A dog that was infested would be pretty intense to have to groom.


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## SnorPuddel (Jul 8, 2010)

The only natural thing that you can do to keep ticks out of your backyard is Guinea Fowl, they eat ticks like crazy and are wicked noisy. 
Lime can also be spread on your lawn, and if you keep your lawn short that will help as well, ticks like to crawl up and be up high so that the can catch a ride. If you do intend on spraying your yard use a product that has pyrethrins in it, They are plant-derived repellents that are allowed in most states in farms that are "certified organic."

I live in tick heaven sadly and besides doing constant tick checks I use K9 Advantix on my guys. It is the lesser of two evils, I used to give my 2 the Lyme vaccine, but when Foxxy tested positive for the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, I decided against the vaccine as it didn't help her. She was put on doxy for a month and she is fine although she will carry the spirochete with her for the rest of her life, so I do blood work and run her liver and kidney numbers at least once a year.


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## Keithsomething (Oct 31, 2009)

I agree with the fowl, I was told that Chickens help as well...but that would mean adding chickens into the equation (I know nothing about farm animal upkeep o.o)
I don't like the idea of using any kind of flea/tick preventative on our dogs but because of where we live its needed otherwise our house would be flooded with parasites >.<


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## poodlemom2be (Jan 30, 2011)

Oh wow, my reaction probably would have been the same as yours plus I probably would have been on Xanax too! There are a couple of natural products I've heard of, one is called Diactomeceous (sp) Earth or DE, the Food grade kind, because I read there is another kind that's used for swimming pools that is toxic to humans/pets. I purchased some from this site called Dirt Works because of ants that decide to come in the house in the fall. I haven't used it yet though. I hate any type of insect, as well as my husband. If a bug does get in our apartment, NO ONE sleeps until it is hunted down and killed. 
Buy Diatomaceous Earth to kill fleas, ticks, bed bugs and parasites naturally
Another product is Neem Oil. I have this as well and purchased this on Amazon. You can get neem oil from Dirt Works as well. I don't know much about the neem, but before I go applying it to anything I'm still researching on it. Just a couple of options for you, hope this helps! 
A few links about the Neem oil
Neem oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Discover Neem Oil: Uses, Benefits, Recipes and Remedies


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

I like in tick central -CT. I put tick killer on my lawn (after checking with the vet that it was not going to hurt the dog - she puts it down too), I put frontline on once a month, I feed the dog garlic, and my dog gets the Lyme vaccine. Despite taking all the precautions I can I am picking ticks off all the time. This spring was very rainy so the ticks were very bad. One time after a ten minute walk I had to pull off two attached ticks and two that had not started to feed (and that was just off my toy Swizzle - I had two unattached on me). You think I would get use to it but I don't. The diatomaceous earth is a very fine powder I don't want Swizzle inhaling. I have used Neem oil on plants - never thought of using it on the dog. May be worth trying.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

Good stuff, Diatomaceous Earth. 

I'm a member of one dog forum but have been in gardening forums forever. And have been using it for years to combat slugs in the garden. It's made from ground up coral . . and for bugs it's like crawling over glass. It just shreds them . . so they back off. 

Completely harmless to anything larger . . but would u dust the yard or dust the dog? Dusting the dog would be the best use of it but I've never done it and would approach it with caution . . maybe even get a vet's advice. I can't see that licking it would harm a dog *it wouldn't harm me*, but I'm not a vet.

But the yard?? I generally dust my Hostas one plant at a time . . or a whole row of Beans maybe. And after every rain it should be re-applied. So a whole yard may be do-able . . but might be a chore. 

I've got an herbal concoction that the most experienced dog person in our group swears by. Basically, it contains essential oils of Lemongrass, Geranium, Palmarosa, Lavender, Citronella, Cedarwood, and Clove. 

I'll try it out myself in the Maritimes shortly.


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

poodlemom2be said:


> (snip).... *I hate any type of insect, as well as my husband*. If a bug does get in our apartment, NO ONE sleeps until it is hunted down and killed.
> ...
> Another product is Neem Oil. I have this as well and purchased this on Amazon. You can get neem oil from Dirt Works as well. I don't know much about the neem, but before I go applying it to anything I'm still researching on it. Just a couple of options for you, hope this helps!
> A few links about the Neem oil
> ...


You and me both--hate bugs! Especially those camel-back crickets. And the poodles are absolutely useless when it comes to catching those.  (I had to laugh, because when I first read that I thought you hated bugs along with your husband! LOL)

I use Neem Oil on my roses and other plants and it does a decent job of keeping the bugs off them. However, you have to reapply it frequently--especially after a good rain. I'm not sure it would do much to the ticks though. It sure as heck doesn't so much as faze the mosquitoes. 

I use Frontline Plus on my pups due to the severity of Lyme's in my area: http://www.vdh.state.va.us/clinicians/pdf/LymeDiseaseNewsletter.pdf

However, I don't apply it every 4 weeks but every 6 (in Spring - Fall) and every eight in the Winter, especially after we have a hard frost.


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

There are only a few things that totally freak me out, and ticks top the list. So I guess it's fortunate that I live in SoCal, in an area that might as well be bug free compared to, say, VT or CT. We don't have heartworm here, for example, and Lyme is extremely rare. Plus, Beau is mostly a city dog, and -- amazing to me -- just hates to get dirty. The one time I took him on a trail in the hills, he picked up a few foxtails and immediately sat down in the dust and refused to go one step further. Wish I had had a camera along, cause the misery in his expression was palpable. We turned back, and won't be trying that again anytime soon. You country folk can laugh at us all you want, but can I help it if Beau reminds me of Eva Gabor's character in "Green Acres"?


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## Spencer (Oct 7, 2009)

DE is safe to put on the dog itself, but avoid getting it in their eyes, or in their nose. DE is safe for both animal and human consumption and I give it to mine regularly (mixed with water) to de-worm and just keep their tracts free from anything possible. There are also are a few studies of diatomaceous earth actually helping dogs get rid of heartworms (I don't have links on hand, my mom read them to me a year ago when we discovered it). As for spreading in the yard, I do this every week or so - sometimes more if it rains - and put it in the seed spreader and just walk around with it.

It's also pretty helpful if you get ants or spiders to put in window sills (inside and out) and entrances of the house. I have to do those areas more often because A will find the DE spread out and clean it up  no telling how annoyed we both are from the process, lol.

As for the garlic, I add it to the dogs' food. It's kind of a controversial thing, but as long as you're not giving heaps of it, it's fine. Definitely look up how much to give your size of dog, because what I give TQ (26 lbs) and Tate (7 lbs) is completely different. Garlic keeps away fleas and ticks, and actually works better around here than Frontline has in awhile.

I also make in a body spray bottle a mix of 12 drops tea tree oil, 12 lemon oil, and 15 lavender oil (for smell) and (the rest is) water and mist the dogs with it a few times a week, then massage it in. They enjoy the massage, they smell good, and it kills fleas and keeps away ticks. Keep in mind if you have a licker (like Tate) to not spray the tea tree oil mix in places they lick themselves a lot, as ingesting large amounts of it can make them have a rumbly tummy and some loose stool.

Annnnd, this book was brought to you by TQ, seeing as she was somehow able to lick her shoulders and had a nasty reaction to the poison we put monthly on our dogs to get in their blood stream to kill other things. I caught her in time to make it to the vet before she had any seizures or long lasting effects - but she did throw up IN MY CASSETTE DECK AND CD SLOT on the way home from the vet - but I know someone whose dog ended up dying from licking her Advantix. So if you do use a topical, be careful!

et fin

ETA: I are no veterunariun, if yew takin' my advize, reserch amounts fer ya own dawgy.  Yar!


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## poodlemom2be (Jan 30, 2011)

Rowan said:


> You and me both--hate bugs! Especially those camel-back crickets. And the poodles are absolutely useless when it comes to catching those.  *(I had to laugh, because when I first read that I thought you hated bugs along with your husband! LOL)
> *
> I use Neem Oil on my roses and other plants and it does a decent job of keeping the bugs off them. However, you have to reapply it frequently--especially after a good rain. I'm not sure it would do much to the ticks though. It sure as heck doesn't so much as faze the mosquitoes.
> 
> ...


LOL Yep we are two of a kind when it comes to bugs, if it's giant and hairy we are both bolting with kids and poodle under our arms...:afraid::lol:
Some one needs to start a thread about scary bug stories, I have many, especially the one with me running holding my 9 month pregnant belly in one hand and a can of wasp spray in the other because a wasp had got in the house, LOL good times...


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## littlestitches (Dec 28, 2009)

Spencer said:


> but she did throw up IN MY CASSETTE DECK AND CD SLOT on the way home from the vet -
> et fin
> 
> ETA: I are no veterunariun, if yew takin' my advize, reserch amounts fer ya own dawgy.  Yar!


My parents dog did this when I was driving her home from the beach when I was a teen. My Dad said since I took her to the beach I had to clean it up. He took pity on my when I threw up in the drive way while cleaning....LOL

That was before having kids of my own. Barf does not bother me at all now....

Paula


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## Spencer (Oct 7, 2009)

littlestitches said:


> My parents dog did this when I was driving her home from the beach when I was a teen. My Dad said since I took her to the beach I had to clean it up. He took pity on my when I threw up in the drive way while cleaning....LOL
> 
> That was before having kids of my own. Barf does not bother me at all now....
> 
> Paula


Funnily enough, Paula, I was fine with vomit BEFORE I was a nanny, and after... Well... Now I gag (if it is gross barf) and my eyes water, and sometimes I have to walk away for a moment. It was a fateful night with regurgitated chic-fil-a nuggets that did me in, I think! Hopefully I can get over it when I have my own human babies!


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