"You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!"

- Dave Barry

Is Your Pet Suffering From An Invisible Threat? What You Should Know About Ticks

Basset Hound

Ticks are creepy crawlers that are disgusting and entirely unwelcome on your pet or in your home. In order to help prevent these creatures from clinging to your pet or infesting your house, it helps to know a bit about them.

For starters, there are two types of ticks: soft ticks, and hard ticks. They have four stages of their life that include egg, larvae, nymph and adult. When ticks mate, it usually occurs while they are on top of the host animal. The female then drops off the host and deposits her eggs somewhere on the ground. Once the eggs hatch, they enter the next stage of life: larvae. Once they arrive at the larvae stage, they spawn 6 legs and find a host to latch on to. The larva then fastens itself to the host and receives its first meal from the host animal; that is, blood. It then drops the ground and grows 2 more legs (totaling in 8), and successfully emerges at a nymph.

On dogs, ticks tend to attach themselves around the head, ears, neck, and paws; however, they can latch on anywhere. Ticks are often carried indoors by their host and they can easily drop to the floor and begin infesting the house. They are most often found along baseboards, around hanging curtains and windowsills, and even inside and around furniture! Because of this, whenever your pet comes inside from being in the woods, in a field, or has simply been outside for a long period of time, make sure you always check your dog thoroughly for ticks.

If you find a tick inside your home, you will want to take action immediately. Vacuuming does wonders, and if you have any ticks on the floor hiding in your carpet, they will quickly be sucked up and taken care of. Also, regular professional application of insecticides truly helps protect your home indoor and outdoors. Washing the curtains and furniture covers is also a good idea�you don�t know if tick eggs have been laid or not.

If you find a tick on your pet after they have been outside, it is a good idea to check the rest of their skin for additional ticks; often there is more than one found on their body. Next, you will want to get some large tweezers or forceps. Grip the tick as close to the head as possible; this way, it will cause less irritation for your pet as you slowly disengage the tick, in addition to giving you a more secure grip. If you feel slightly uncomfortable with using tweezers and prying the tick from your pet�s skin, there is another option available: nail polish remover (acetone). Simply smear it on your pet�s skin and the tick should disengage itself and fall right off. If you do this though, you need to make sure you are able to catch the tick and destroy it immediately.

Knowing your enemies helps you defeat them; now you can help keep your home and precious pet safe from these creepy crawly critters.