A tic on Penny's nose!

[Deborah Brown]

Ack!  I'm still freaked out about it.  I looked down at her and saw a black spot on her nose.  It was a nice sized tic just sitting there.  It wasn't embedded and I was able to grab it off of her easily.  But where did it come from?  Do you think it was somewhere else on her body?  That she was biting at it and it got on her nose?

I'm now going to spend the rest of the evening going over every inch of these dogs.

I admit that I'm not very good about using flea and tic preventatives.  None of the dogs have EVER had a problem and I hate putting chemicals on them.  And until a week ago, it was still freezing here.  

Ack!  Ack!  Ack!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Wow, I'd be freaked out too! I've never actually seen a tick "up close and in person". 

Are we sure it was a tick? 

[Deborah Brown]

Pretty sure.  I looked up pics on the net.  First thing, I did was grab it and throw it in the trash can.  It was alive the the legs were wiggling.  I should have killed it so I need to take the whole trash bag out.  (I'm not going to search through it for a small bug.)

We were at one of the Lake County forest preserve dog parks on Monday so that was my first guess of origin but would it be weird to be hanging around since then and not imbedded?  I gave all the dogs baths when we came home since they were swimming and pretty stinky.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I grew up in the south with a farm so the concept of never having seen a tick or having to look up pictures is so strange to me! hah You are blessed to have never had to deal with them! Burning a tick or flushing it are the two ways that we always killed them as they are tough little buggers. 

[Deborah Brown]

I am clearly a big baby.  It's like the first time one encounters a mouse or spider.  LOL!

If there's a next time, it will get flushed.

[F, Calla & Luca]

If you have ticks in your area there is, I think, no way to ever find them all before they attach. I think a tick preventative is necessary. The tick on Penny could have been elsewhere on her body but it could have climbed onto her nose when she put her nose in some foliage. When I find the usually tiny crawling ticks on my dogs it is most often on top of their heads but it can be elsewhere. I find it hard to believe how these little ticks blow up to gun metal blobs when the attach and fill with blood. I hate putting the chemicals on my dogs but I see no alternative.

[Deborah Brown]

We've never had any before and I usually try to treat the dogs before a forest outing.  I just hadn't done it this year yet.  We got home from vacation on Saturday and before that it had still been cold.

Chemicals for all the dogs tonight!

[Mari Bezanson]

I think the best tick prevention is to check your pet regularly. There really is nothing out there that gives 100% protection. And the exposure to strong chemicals/pesticides is not worth it. We have an abundance of these pests in Nova Scotia. If you find one, remove it with a pair tweezers as best as you can. Try not to leave any pieces underneath the skin and then I always apply polysporin (as long as it is in a spot where the dog can't lick it) afterwards. I hope you don't find any more!

[F, Calla & Luca]

What does it smell like?

[F, Calla & Luca]

Thanks, sounds good.

[Jordan & Daisy]

SAME THING happened to me last week! I thought she had an eye "sleepy" stuck in her fur which sometimes happens but it was a tick! I used a "tick key" to get it out, it was actually attached but dead. So scary. We do use k9 advantix but I know that doesn't guarantee she will never have them. We live in MA, lots of ticks. :(