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You can’t completely prevent your dog from encountering ticks — populations are growing, causing the blood-suckers to show up in backyards and parks, not just deeply wooded areas. However, you can take steps to protect your pet and reduce the likelihood that they’ll get a potentially dangerous illness like Lyme disease, which is more common than you might think. In fact, about one out of every 30 dogs has tested positive this year, according to the Companion Animal Parasite Council. Read on to learn about the best tick preventatives for dogs according to veterinarians, and other steps you can take to stop the parasites from hitching a ride on your pet.
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There’s a handful of ways to protect your dog from ticks, but routinely checking them for the parasites and putting them on a year-round preventative are the most important. It’s also crucial to get them vaccinated against Lyme disease, which is the most common tick-borne disease and the only one that there’s a vaccine for, says Dr. Lindsay Kendrick, the medical director at VEG ER for Pets in Boston.
Before answering all your tick-related questions below, I curated a list of products that you’ll need to check for and prevent the parasites. A note about the tick preventatives on this list: I added options that meet expert guidance; are highly-rated; repel and/or kill multiple types of parasites; and are EPA- or FDA-approved. Some tick preventatives are sold over-the-counter, but many are only available via a prescription, which you’ll need to get from your vet.
The easiest way to check for ticks is running your hand over your dog’s body and feeling for bumps, but to be even more precise, use a fine-toothed comb. As you drag it through your pet’s coat, it surfaces ticks, which tend to be quite small, so you can easily see them. Young ticks in particular are tiny, so you may not feel them on your dog’s body but find them with a comb, says Kendrick. She added that the comb is a must for dogs with thick coats — all that padding makes ticks easy to miss.
Tweezerman’s comb is technically made for finding fleas, but it works for ticks, too. It has stainless steel bristles with rounded tips that are gentle on skin, and a handle that’s big enough to get your hand around for a comfortable grip.
My dog has a very thin, short coat, so I can’t use a comb when I check her for ticks. Instead, I rely on the Tick Mitt, which is a glove made from a special type of textured fabric — the brand says it works like Velcro for parasites sitting on people and pets’ skin, as well as those clinging onto clothes, shoes and other items. You put the mitt on your hand and slowly sweep it across your dog’s body, inspecting it between passes to remove any ticks you caught.
The Tick Mitt works best for dogs with short coats, according to the brand, but if your dog has a thick and/or long coat, brush them first, then use the mitt to grab any ticks that surfaced. It can’t remove ticks embedded into the skin’s surface — for that, use tweezers.
You can use any tweezers to remove ticks from your dog’s skin, but you might want to keep a dedicated tool in your bag while you’re on the go, or put one by your door so you can get rid of parasites before entering your home. TickCheck’s Tick Removal Kit comes with two stainless steel tools in a little case: a fine-tip tweezer for removing small ticks and a grabber tool for removing larger ticks that are deeply embedded in the skin. The set also comes with a card that helps you identify what type of tick you likely found.
All the dog parents at NBC Selected, myself included, give our pets NexGard’s Chewable Flea and Tick Protection every month and have been doing so for years. They’re FDA-approved to kill multiple types of ticks, as well as fleas. The chewables are beef-flavored, so my dog thinks they’re standard treats and eats them immediately.
NexGard requires a prescription from your veterinarian, which the online retailer you purchase from will collect at checkout.
Frontline Plus’ Flea and Tick Topical Treatment, which comes in pre-measured applicators, are FDA-approved to kill ticks as well as fleas and chewing lice. To use it, you part the hair at your dog’s shoulder blades and squeeze out what’s inside one applicator. You have to keep your dog dry for 24 hours post-application — after that, the topical treatment is waterproof for a month, according to the brand. It comes in packs of three, six and eight.
Think of over-the-counter tick collars as an additional layer of protection against the parasites, not your dog’s primary preventative, says Kendrick. She recommends giving your dog a prescription preventative year-round, like the chewable and topical ones I recommend above, and putting a tick collar, like Seresto’s, on them if you’re bringing them into wooded or grassy areas. That’s exactly what I do — knowing that my dog has two lines of defense against ticks when we’re outside gives me peace of mind, especially during the peak season.
Seresto’s tick collar, which also protects dogs against fleas, is adjustable and unclasps as needed. It comes in two sizes: one for dogs under 18 pounds and one for dogs over 18 pounds. I only use the collar when I take my dog to grassy, woodsy outdoor areas, so when I’m not using it, I keep it in the sealed container it comes in because it lasts for up to eight months, according to the brand.
