Found a tick on my dog and am freaking out!?

Calm down. I live in the Appalachian Mountains and I get at least 10-20 ticks a day off my dogs, cats, horses, and myself combined. It's not a big deal. Lyme disease is carried by a tick only if it bites an animal, such as a deer, who is already infected with it. So odds are maybe 1 out of every 300 ticks will be carrying it. If the tick was black, it was probably only on for a day.

The ticks will start out black and as they stay on the animal longer they will swell according to how much blood they've sucked up. It goes black -> brown -> green. Green ones are hard to miss and grow to about the size of a fifty cent piece. When they get too big, they explode. The head will stay in the animal and it's body will regenerate. Usually an animal will only get Lyme disease (if the tick is carrying it) if the tick has been on for a few days. I don't recommend you use tweezers to get them off because the head breaks of easily. I just pick them off with my fingers. To kill them you can either burn it with a lighter or cigarette, put it in a cup of alcohol, or do what I do and flush it down the toilet. I've used flea/tick treatments and they don't work for me. Just check your dog every day. The most common places to find them are on the ears (or in them), face, belly, legs, and private area. For people I've had them on my shoulder, knees, scalp, and one on my eye lid while I was sleeping.

I really hope this helps. Ticks aren't that big of a deal as long as you check your dog daily. They can't do much damage in a day. I've gotten big green ticks off a neighbor's dog and it was okay. I've gotten brown ones off my horse's tail. If you're concerned about the bitten areas you can put some alcohol on to keep any infection at bay.

There are several kinds of ticks. From what you describe, it sounds like a dog tick. The good news is that dog ticks do not carry lyme disease. Lyme disease is carried by deer ticks, which are smaller (about the size of a grain of rice). However, dog ticks can carry various other diseases. It's not uncommon for a dog to become lethargic after being attached by a tick, even without disease. If the lethargy continues for more than a few days, take your dog to the vet...she may have developed an infection or something else. If you're very concerned about it, take her to the vet for an examination/blood work.

Give them both a bath with flea and tick shampoo. It may be a deer tick, so make an appointment with the vet to get your dogs a vaccination against Lyme Disease. But don't freak out, relax, give them baths(make sure to leave the medicated shampoo on for the recommended amount of time specified on the bottle) Then maybe a flea and tick spray after they dry. Search for more ticks. If you find one you can put Vaseline all over it. This cuts off the air supply of the tick and it will back out of the dog's skin and you can kill it.

Green Ticks

very informative. This helped me with a tick I found on my dog. It looked brown. Was big. Had blood in it but not full. I just took her for a walk and she was panting really bad so I wanted to cool her off. So I hosed her down and decided to give her a bath when I saw the tick on her neck. I used tea tree shampoo. I squirted ut on the tick and went in the house to get a tick remover. She rolled in the grass as I went inside. When I looked for the tick, it was gone. I found it late on my kitchen floor! I kept it in a closed container to figure out what kind of tick it was. As it shrunk down it looked different. Green with yellowish spots and a white head. Its 3 days later now and it finally died. The next day I was checking the area of skin where I found it. And found a hard scabby lump. I don't know if its from the tick or something else. Really freaked out!

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RE:

Found a tick on my dog and am freaking out!?

I have no idea how long the tick has been on her. She is constantly being petted and no one felt it. At first thought it was a spider, but i couldnt get it off the dog. I was able to get it out using tweezers. It was about the size of a pencil eraser and is black. My dog has been really lethargic ...

Relax. If the lethargy continues, go to the vet. It's not likely the family will get lyme disease; ticks have to stay on the body for a long time to get lyme, so people usually find the ticks in the shower before anything happens (that's IF the tick is even carrying lyme). I got lyme disease once, but I was living next to Lyme, Connecticut, so you can imagine it was a high-risk zone. I went to the doctor, got antibiotics, and it went away.

As for the dog, again, go to the vet.

Just relax. My dogs get ticks almost every time I take them to any wooded area. Just be sure to inspect your dog every time it ventures into bushes or wooded areas. Your dogs probably won't get lyme disease. You are likely correct in assuming it is the heat that is causing your dog to be less active. I have two dogs and both have been laying down more and moving less since it has become a lot hotter very suddenly wear I live (south Georgia). But just in case, here are the symptoms for lyme disease that you should look out for: http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/infectious-par...

Your dog will be fine you can take her to the vet and they will tell you if she has a problem. My dogs you to have a lot of ticks but now we use a tick medicine called K9 Advantix and it works well.

I HATE ticks ewww. But if the ticks not big and swollen (they usually turn white or green when full) it probably just attached. http://www.ehow.com/how_4846417_tick-off-dog.html this website shows you how, I always have my hubby do it. make sure to clean it after you get it out to avoid infections.

***After you get it off throw it in a cup of rubbing alcohol or burn it to kill it