Tick & Lyme Disease Season

[Desert Arabian]

Yesterday I found 30 ticks on Missy & 13 on Baxter. We have had a mild winter with only 7 days to count below zero to freeze the ticks out. There is a bumper group of them already. The veterinaries office said they are seeing on the average of 3 dogs a week coming in with Lyme disease. I picked up some Front line & set up appointments for both dogs next week to get checked for Lyme disease & to receive their immunizations for Lyme's.

I know your pain - the ticks are terrible right now where I live too. Franny goes in next friday for her Lyme and Leptospirosis vaccines and was tested two weeks ago at her annual exam, luckily she was negative for both. I am not a fan of Frontline though because it does a terrible job of repelling ticks. Frontline is not effective until after the tick bites and injests the blood containing the medication, by that time the dog will already contract Lyme's. I think I am going to give K9 Advantix II a try - I have read a lot of good reviews on the product and supposidly it deters the ticks before they bite.

A trick I use on myself since ticks find me to be very attractive and tasty is fabric softener sheets! If you rub them on your clothes you will not get ticks! I tried this out last turkey hunting season after hearing about it and it really worked! I took two sheets and stuck them in my boots with just a little corner hanging out for extra scent. I wonder if you rubbed it on a dog if it would work!? I would just be worried about the dog licking her fur and injesting some of the fabric softner. (And yes, I have tried every bug spray on the market for myself....nothing works.)