Dog Tic's

I am looking after my Grandsons  small cross Westie and Jack Russel terrier whilst they are away on holiday. I also walk him each morning and keep him until about 1700hrs . But this week I have found tic's stuck to him ,as the week went on they became more numerous. I did manage to remove 3 but now he knows what's going to happen and has started to growl, due to this I have used Doc Martin's clear Spot On tic and flea remedy . I have also ordered some tic removal tools. I wondered if anyone had , had, the same problem and how they deal with it , also if they used Spot On and the removal tools ? ?