I have a 9 week old Boxer and an 11 month old. The 11 month old has been having bites around his head over the past week or so, and i had just noticed the young pup had two small bites yesterday on her head also. I went to vets on Saturday and told vet about bites but also that the pup had a tick on her coat last week which i removed. After a long discussion we decided to treat the dogs with frontline mite/flea treatment as no other ticks had been found. Today i found about ten small ticks underneath the pups tummy and of course was v. worried. I called vets who said because i had treated them with frontline that the vet would have to pull them off manually tomorrow as they couldn't get her in today. Has anyone else experienced so many ticks in one go as I don't know anyone who has. They play in the grass an awful lot and we have a big country garden, so she must of got them from lying around. The oldest dog hasn't had any ticks but has bites, do you think they could be tick bites but they dropped off before i saw them?? Or could they be mites from the garden? Any help please would be greatly appreciated. Also can i spray the garden with anything to prevent this from happening again?
Tina

hi,
they may of come from your garden (specially if you live in the countryside) hedgehogs and foxes are probably the culprits that have deposited these ticks in your garden (thats if they have been caught from your garden).
cant you remove these ticks yourself??? your puppy will be feeling very uncomforable,but still take them BOTH to the vets.
i dont know of anything you could spray down in the garden to prevent them,couldnt you ask your vet???
im sure someone else will be along shortly.
jane:)

Hi,

I live in Scotland and my dogs always have ticks, from the heather and bracken. It is unlikely that your bites are ticks that have fallen off - they fall off when they are full and you would see them before this, they are a large size by that time. On a smooth coated dog it is easy to find ticks, I usually do so just by normal petting and patting and rubbing my hand over them for any small bumps (though more than once I've been on the verge of tweaking off a nipple - it's good to look before you attempt to yank it off!). You can remove ticks easily by yourself, you don't need the vet. Just make sure you get them low down so that you don't leave the head in. If the tick is quite small I sometimes use tweezers as they seem to be more firmly embedded when they are small. Could the bites on your dog's head be midges? They are biting at the moment, especially around the dogs' eyes, if you are in midge country. :)

I was told that vaseline was good for removing ticks, smother it over them and they can't breathe, so are easier to remove.
Thankfully I've not had to try it....yet :)

liberty