My dog has a tick. Help?

I had a tick on me once and I got it out by covering its body in oil and turning a hair dryer on it. You just need to have someone grab hold of the body with tweezers first. The idea there is to make the thing uncomfortable until it pulls its head out as if to say “wtf?”

Take tweezers and pull it off. Make sure the head of the tick comes off too. Then burn that sucker.

restrain your dog, and cover the area with flour. The tick will pull out to try and breathe. Brush it away.
It is not true that you need to turn the tick counter clockwise to remove it without breaking off its head.

Pull it off with tweezers and squish it till it pops.

I have a friend who takes a lit match to it so the tick will retract. I’m a little nervous about doing that because I don’t want to burn my dog. Thanks for the suggestions!

Spread something on his body so he has to pull his head out to breathe. Then take him out and squarsh the sumbitch. Dad used to light a match, blow it out and touch the hot tip on the ticks hiney.

Douse a cotton ball with a heavy oil and cover it completely. Just be ready to snag the little sucker (Pun intended!) when it backs out.

Most people remove the tick with tweezers. (Common sense clause: Do not pinch the dogs skin or burn the tick while still attached to the dog. Do not do any procedure that can potentially hurt your pet.) If you are unsure about how to remove, call the vet or local animal hospital, most cities have at least one that is open 24 hours. After removing the tick, please take your dog to the vet to test for Lyme’s Disease and if he/she is not on any flea/tick meds, get your pet on something like Frontline or Revolution to protect your pet. The vet will make the proper recommendation. One prescription requires heartworm testing prior to prescription.

Here’s a gross story about ticks…I grew up out in the country so our dogs were always covered in ticks. My mom was sitting on the porch one day and pulling ticks off my dog Elvis and dropping them in a half empty can of Sprite my sister had left there. Mom thought Sis was done drinking it, I guess. Anyway, Mom decides the best way to get rid of these dozens of ticks is to drop them in that Sprite can so they’ll drown. Long story short, my sis gets her can of Sprite and takes a big swig of it. Needless to say…she only took one drink and it didn’t stay down long.

@knitfroggy – OMG…That has got to be the most disgusting bug story ever. Your poor sister. Man, I think I’m done with dinner.

@chicadelplaya It happened years and years ago, but I still laugh every time I think about it. I don’t know how mom didn’t see her get the Sprite and take a drink. She must have really been engaged in the tick picking.

Looks like smothering it with powder or oil so it can’t breathe is the best bet? Hmmm…if I use oil, won’t it be tough to get a grip on it with the tweezers?

All you have to do is take a pair of tweezers, grasp the body, and slowly pull straight out. I read that you shouldn’t use Vaseline or oil, though I’m not sure what the reasoning is.

OK, here’s the deal: when agitated, the tick will vomit its stomach contents into the bloodstream. This is how Lyme Disease happens. ONLY use tweezers, do not twist try to sneak up on it so it doesn’t bite down harder, and pull firmly even if it pulls. Do NOT use a lighter flame or the glowing end of a match.

For the last 30 years or so I’ve been reading that you shouldn’t pull a tick out with tweezers because the head can stay under the skin and cause an infection.

Personally, I’d get a moth and a bat together then yell “Spooon!”

See a phsyciatrist

People always say make sure you get the head, I have pulled out a bunch of ticks over the years, with tweezers and fingers, never performing this act in a specific fashion, just grab the thing as close to the skin as possible and pull. I don’t think they decapitate that easily!

Then squish until it pops or drown in clear jar filled with alcohol so your relatives can see what’s in it and don’t take a swig!!! (that is truly gross!!!)

I remember when I was a kid, we removed a tick from our dog that was the size of a grape! Little leggies sticking out uselessly on the side and all. It was pretty grotty. Dad Squashed it with a hammer just to gross us all out!

burn it with a just-blown-out match and then pull it with tweezers immediately after

DON’T BURN IT!!!! When you irritate ticks, they regurgitate their stomach contents, and thats how your pet will get lime disease!!

Your can put alcohol on the spot where the tick is in and then use tweezers to pull it out and then your good.:)

Tweezers and pull it straight out. There are other diseases on addition to lyme. My boxer just finished treatment for rocky mountain spotted fever. He started limping and was laying around a lot. Thought he just hurt himself playing with our other dog. They are treated with frontline so I was surprised. RMSF is some serious stuff.

My german shepherd gets ticks every once in a while. We always light a match and put it on the tick, and it usually either backs out or can then be pulled out pretty easily. But like everyone else said, if it doesn’t come out itself, and you have to pull it out, make sure you get the whole thing.

I always worry that we’ll burn him too, but he never seems to even flinch.

Just saw I typed lime, not lyme

Anyone ever tried this method of removal?

Seems like a lot of aggravation and very time consuming if the dog is covered with ticks. I just use the good ole tweezers or my fingers method. I have never had a problem with the head remaining in the dog.

@rooeytoo I just did, after getting tired of looking for tweezers. Other than having a sqirmy puppy until we got settled, it was really easy and it popped right off. :) Poor baby didn’t know WHAT I was doing when I was trying to hold him still.

So did you get it out yet?

LOL

when medics treat humans with ticks (eww) they swab them with pure alcohol, that gets them to release their teeth and its jobdone! :)