Ticks

Effipro contains Fiprinol as does Eliminall which works against fleas.Scalibor collars contain Dimethrin  which works against tick infestations.We use both on Rita when we travel abroad.This is upon the advice of our vet.We also carry a tick hook with us.Following the warm,wet Winter ticks are on the increase and  there is also spreading risk of treatment resistant tick borne diseases in the UK .We have therefore fitted Rita with a Scalibor collar while travelling around the UK -again upon the advice of our vet.

We are in the Jura district of France and although Cassie has the treatment for ticks, fleas etc I check her every evening. Just now found one under her front leg (armpit), out with the removal hook tool, slid under side on to the tick, two twists and it fell away. Put some antiseptic on, gave her a treat for lying there and taking it and the same check will be done tomorrow. Damn things are a PITA 

yes thy are indeed a pita. The removal tools are excellent. During summer we check daily, luckily she is short coat and golden so there easy to spot. I have no idea how you find them on a black dog.

We have Westis and always keep his coat short this time of year to help spot the little rascals.

We find that spraying his legs with garlic juice helps as they hate the smell and taste.

we also use a Dorwest shampoo called Pennyroyal the ticks hate the smell, we give our dog a bath once a month with this shampoo.

Thank you for raising this and for the information provided so far.  Ticks really worry me - firstly because our neighbour's beautiful Golden Retreiver, some years ago contracted Lyme's Disease from a tick infestation and sadly died within a few days and secondly because the coat on our Cockapoo is so dense, that I think I would find it almost impossible to find a tick if she were bitten by one.  I was worried recently when we were on a site where our neighbours reported that their two Springers had been bitten by ticks, but I just couldn't see any on Meg.  I always thought that her monthly Advocate treatment would protect her, but from comments above, obviously not.  I'm certainly going to get one of the Scalibor collars which I wasn't previously aware of - so thanks for that.

One question I have - would her extremely dense coat give her any sort of protection against ticks - or does it simply make them more difficult to detect?

I always take a tick comb with me , and a small bottle of APPLE CIDER VINIGAR , they hate it and will let go very quickly , and it won't hurt the dog as its a good flea repellent if sprayed on the coat , a bottle can be made up of half water half vinigar , its a must for a dog first aid kit its good for sores ( but not open wounds ).

We use Advantix on our dogs every month and I also spray them with a neem tree oil spray if I am taking them out in grass for a walk. It is made for horses and dogs and even humans can use it. Here in SW France ticks are rife and it is real problem.  

Ticks are rife in Scotland as well as Brittany and Devon we have found this year.  I think a thicker coat seems to give a bit of protection or my GSD x Rottweiler doesn't taste as good as the black labrador the lab gets far more of the beasts. 

Hi, we use Bravecto for our black lab. It's a chewy tablet given every 3 months and only obtainable on prescription from the vet. we know it works as on our last trip to the lakes we found a dead, shrivelled up tic on his face. shortly afterwards we noticed a sore patch on his upper lip and when this didn't heal we went to the vet. She has diagnosed an infection and thinks it is very likely to have been caused by the tic which subsequently died.We are on day 2 of the antibiotics so hopefully it will clear up. Off back there next week so will be very vigilant.