Ticks Remedies

[rf53]

Ticks are drawn to dogs. I know that. It is difficult to believe, however, that no truly effective remedy exists. Frontline and Advantix do some good, but they over rate their effectiveness and are by no means fool proof. Treating the yard also helps, but unless you keep your dog cooped up and never go for walks or out into the world for other reasons ticks are still a potential problem. I do all I can to combat ticks (use monthly products, fumigate the yard, fumigate the house), but from time to time they still appear. What are your remedies...or is this just a cost of doing business when you own a dog?

[smkie]

YOu can get ticks in your back yard. Many a lyme patient will attest to that. Don't forget if you seeing them they may be biting you too. Watch out for symptoms.

Ticks stay on the end of plants hoping for any creature that passes by. As long as you have red blood they don't care if your four footed or two. Like tiny hitch hikers they are glad for any ride.

My brother once saw one walking across the table cloth in a fancy restaurant. Must have fallen off someone's clothing as they passed by.

[Dogelp]

No method is going to be a fool proof way of getting rid of ticks. You just have to take as many reasonable measures as you can to solve the problem or at least get as close to that as possible.

Even though Frontline and Advantix may not work 100%, I don't think it would hurt to use them. They do have some effect like you said. Now, if they are costing you too much that's another story. Don't buy what you can't afford if it isn't even doing the job you need.

[rf53]

We have used Frontline and currently use Advantix. Advantix claims to not only kill ticks, but repel them. As with most products these claims are overstated. We have only seen a couple of ticks, but as the old theory goes...if you see one, there are many more somewhere. Since we live in South Florida, the weather is always warm and there is plenty of sod and brush for the ticks to thrive. Treating the yard is a must because of the environment. I was hoping that there is some other non-chemical based alternative. At the end of the day, all these chemicals can't be all that great for the pets or the humans.

[Amanda885]

It wouldn't hurt to use Frontline or Advantix ....so give it a shot..but boy or boy are those ticks surely pests!

[Pomp]

Yard treatments work very well, at least the one I had done. I recently moved from a big city to the burbs, so I basically went from a tick-free zone to tick paradise. Since the yard has been treated, I have not found any ticks (knock on wood). I also have a fenced in yard, so it keeps out deer and keeps my dogs in a controlled area. When I walk them outside of the yard, I usually take them to a beach, which is mainly sand. Not a whole lot of vegetation there.

But, like you implied, ticks are just something you have to deal with when being a dog owner.

[Back40]

Frontline Plus on my dogs and flea/tick granules broadcast once a month in my backyard has worked very well for me. They also get a good inspection whenever we return from our walks.