TICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[OUTDOORNUT]

Just a FYI for everyone out there. I was in the Crosslake area (and North) doing a little duckin' and grousin' (but mostly sidding a buddy's house) we were hunting grouse yesterday morning and when we made our way back to the truck we all started to realize we are COVERED with TICKS!!! DEER TICK for that matter. Between three guys and three dogs we picked at least 300 off of us and the dogs!!!! Even though our dogs were all FRONTLINED (mine two dogs were near the end of their month) we went and picked up a heavy duty, waterbased tick spray and sprayed the dogs. Needless to say I applied another treatment of FRONTLINE to them last night, even though I haven't seen a tick around Duluth since grouse opened!

I still feel them on me.......is that one??....hold on!! .....nope. Please check your best friend (dog) for these little pests.

[catman71]

thanks for that. Now I feel them on ME!

I was out with the dog this weekend around Royalton. Didn't SEE any ticks but that doesn't mean they aren't there. Lots of SKEETERS though, just a reminder to keep up the heartworm until well after bug season!

[ccarlson]

I live in that area (Nisswa) and know what you mean. We have them thick around here.

Remember the best thing to do is have your dog vaccinated although that is not foolproof and dogs can still contract lymes.

Second is to remember that Frontline is not a repellent, it kills the ticks once they bite your dog. There may be some repellent quality to it but I have found ticks that have attached to my dog at any time from right after application to a month later. Many will be found attached and dead and will sluff off. Others are still alive. Overall, I'm not real impressed with frontline. I just spent $24 on two applications for my dogs and it seems futile.

Third, Don't panic. I've picked thousands off my dogs. The nine year old has never had lymes. The one year old has. Statistically a very small percentage of deer ticks carry any diseases but the ones they do can be a pain.

Fourth, look for signs on yourself and your dog of feeling achy, fatigued, temperature etc. Get tested if so for both lymes and erlichiosis.

Welcome to Central Minnesota, the highest concentration of lymes disease in the country.

ccarlson

[Mr. B]

I have been very impressed with Frontline. Growing up in Brainerd my dog always had ticks.

My parents still live in Brainerd and my lab spends a great deal of time in the area and we have never found one tick on her while in the Brainerd area. Maggie is 3.5 years old and we have only found 2 ticks on her. The first was when we picked her up as puppy before she was on Frontline and the second was about a year later.

I am hoping that between Frontline and the Lymes vaccination that I am giving Maggie the best possible protection.

[ccarlson]

Sounds like the frontline works better for you than I have experienced.

I wonder if the type of dog and the coat make a difference.

I have two english setters. Their coats and skin are dryer than say a lab or other water type dog that has a more oily coat. I know the frontline spreads itself around the dog using the lipid layer of the skin. It would make sense then that a dog with a more oily coat would spread the treatment better than a dog with a dryer coat.

Anyway, I applied a dose of frontline 2 weeks ago at the first sign of the fall tick season and last night I pulled at least a half dozen live ticks off each of my dogs plus there were some more dead ticks that the frontline killed. I kept the dogs out of the water for 2-3 days after application too.

One thing about ticks is they don't like areas with a lot of pine trees. My sisters dog up near crosslake never has ticks but their yard is full of pines and I have all hardwoods.

ccarlson

[Ranger Rick]

Try using Bio-Spot. It's cheaper than the Frontline and I think it works better. It's not waterproof, though, so you need to apply it after bathing the dog, or after a few weeks of hunting. It repells ticks, not just kill them once they bite. My area in Northcentral Wisconsin is terrible with the deer ticks, so I have plenty of experience with a long haired dog and ticks.

[Big Sky]

Please help me out. Just found a tick on my lab, that was super small. Pin size head, but the body was full of blood. I tried my best to pull it out slowly so nothing stayed in the dog. I think I was successful, but hard to tell as it looked so distorted by the size of the body. We just applied tick protection, but it obviously didn't work.

My question is..What do I do now? Should we go to the vet?

[Ranger Rick]

My dog is now full of scars from pulling ticks after forgetting to apply the Bio-spot before hunting an area notoriously fowled with deer ticks. Adding insult to the ticks I had to pull off the dog, we also ran birdless.

Your dog will be fine. No need for a vet visit. I recently pulled an imbedded tick from my shoulder and while the area itches like a mosquito bite, I'm not worried about me, either. Not until I see a bad rash, at least.