Thank you to all who took the time to answer me. This morning I was showing these taggy things to my husband and we noticed little legs wriggling at the base. This I presume to be ticks. Never having had a dog before what do I do next please. I'm sure my vet thinks I am a neurotic owner, so before I hot foot to the surgery, is there anything I can do to get rid of these yucky things. I'd appreciate some info about them too please if anyone can give me some background? We have just returned from the Scottish Highlands where Bramble has been romping through woods and fields.
He does have a Frontline treatment every 2 months.
P.S Can these be passed to humans??
Email: deekalirai@nutshell83.freeserve.co.uk

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Thank you for your understanding on this matter :)


It is also worth noting that frontline needs to be given once a month in order to prevent ticks and not once every two months (The instructions on the packet will confirm this)

Yes, they can be passed to humans.  I've had a tick on my arm in the past and it's not very nice :-o  You can buy "tick pickers" from various places which you can pull the ticks off with.  There are also lots of solutions you can put on the tick to kill it and it will then drop off - vaseline, white spirit etc, but if you are using frontline on him, I would just dab a little bit of it directly onto the tick with a cotton bud.  Frontline will work against ticks but I think it's only for 1 month.  Good luck, I still get squeamish over ticks and have to ask my husband to deal with them.

BTW, you should register as the visitors board was only meant to be used for visitors, asking one question and not for replying.  You will then be able to ask more questions.

Helen

Didn't I just say most of that? :p :p :p :p

It was only after I posted it, that I realised you were posting at the same time.  :-p

Helen

There are 'tick hooks' you can buy from vets or many pet shops, which have instructions as to which way to turn it to 'unscrew' the little blighters so that you don't leave the head in (important). You can spray Frontline directly onto the tick, which will kill it and it will drop off in a few hours. It is worth remembering that, when they are full they will drop off anyway and wait till the next 'meal' comes along, whether it is dog, cat, sheep or human ...

One thing not mentioned is that in areas where there are deer and sheep you will be more likely to get ticks on your dog. Do also be aware that ticks can carry Lyme Disease.
If you hook out the ticks as another has already said to make sure you do it correctly, as if the head or part of head get left in the skin it will set up a nasty infection.

I have found that the best way to remove ticks is to first cover them in Vaseline and wait a while, then get a pair of tweezers and twist the tick anti-clockwise . This is because the tick when it bits, twists its jaws in a clockwise direction.  Make sure that all the legs are out, as they can cause an infection if they are left in.

sarah xxxx

A local keeper has been hospitalised with Lyme disease - apparently about 5% of the ticks carry it, and he was unlucky.    If you remove them, don't squash them between your fingers to get revenge on them, as they could be the ones carrying Lyme disease!

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Hi Jo, thought the tick needed to actually pierce/feed on the blood of host to pass on disease/s?? Also thought something like Babesia(?) needs the tick to be hooked on for more than 24hrs for nemetodes? to be passed on to host???? Probably a bit mixed up with diseases & parasites right now cos its late but principle is the same, thats why its important to remove ticks as soon as you see them. How do they pass on disease if they don`t inject it by piercing the skin & getting it into blood stream? Same goes for all blood sucking parasites I thought? Either need it injected or a cut already on the skin, not just infected blood on the skin?

Christine, Spain.

It's also a good idea to keep the tick in a jar once you've removed it (date it so you know when it was removed) as Lymes disease can take some time to develop, and the tick can be tested (so I'm told) to rule it out (or in).  The symptoms can be very like 'flu, so be careful out there :)

Yes thats right Digger, not all ticks/sand flies etc are carriers, they also have to have been infected with the said disease which takes time to develop in them to pass it on to other hosts & some of the diseases then have another long incubation period in the final host. Hope that makes sense :D  :D

Christine, Spain.

Keep them in a jar?? Dead or alive??

Also, how do other people dispose of them?  I have removed engorged ones, squashed them in a tissue (messy when they pop! :p) and flushed them down the loo, horrid little b***ers. 

My SIL can kill those that haven't latched on yet, by cracking their backs with her thumbnail and forefinger but when I tried I couldn't do it because my nails were too soft so had to resort to stamping on them on a tiled floor.

Finding them on a black dog before they've latched on is actually very difficult, but very satisfying! :)

Ooo, I feel all itchy now!! :rolleyes:

I put them on a piece of paper and squash them with them end of the tweezers, another good reason to use them. ;)

Not a good idea to squash 'em - Lymes disease is not nice, and you can catch it from squeezing ticks :)

Ok, so how are you supposed to kill the wretched things then?

Sadly, I have a friend whose dog died from Lyme Disease due to a tick.  It's not a disease which is immediately obvious and the results are not nice.  She is a very experienced dog owner, used to ticks and still had this tragedy.

It's probably a bit late for me to say it to the original poster, but if you do go to somewhere where sheep and ticks are in large numbers, make sure something like Frontline spot-on is applied every month, at least.  One of my dogs got a tick a day and a month after his Frontine treatment.

Also, if you have a dog with ticks, have been in a risk area and have never coped with ticks before, get a vet (or someone else who knows how to do it) to take them out and show you how to do it.  Don't experiment yourself.  If the dog has any unusual behaviour after having ticks, go to the vets.