Ticks are a nasty little arachnid pest that attach to your dog and can be
very irritating and soar for your pet. They carry many different diseases that
can be mildly dangerous to your dog and other members of your household. Some
diseases take up to twenty four hours to pass on to their host so getting rid of
the pests easily and quickly is essential.
There are a lot of ways that
you may have been taught as a child to get rid of ticks from the skin, the most
popular is probably to burn the tick into releasing his grip of his own accord
so no further problems can arise of having the jaws still stuck into the
skin.
The second way often taught to get rid of ticks is to smother them
in oil based liquids of Vaseline to help take the tick out in a similar fashion
to the way noted above.
These ways are both wrong and can be very
dangerous, the first is dangerous, can be painful for your dog and will more
than likely scare your dog into behaving in a bad manner. The second is also
dangerous and unneeded, the idea is to keep your skin and around the area of the
tick as clean as possible to avoid further infection or disease.
The way
to remove the tick properly and with little damage or pain is to use sterilised
tweezers to dislodge the critter, it takes patience if the tick is stubborn and
doesn’t want to move but it is the safest way to remove the pests.
Be
careful not to pull on the ticks body wile pulling him out, if you pull too hard
on the body it will come off separate to the jaws and mouth of the tick causing
it to be harder to dislodge.
Start by cleaning the tweezers with alcohol
or burning over a flame if alcohol is not available. You may want to also put
alcohol around the area in question to keep it clean. Once this is done try to
get as close to the skin of the dog and grab the tick at the jaws, to do this
you will need to place the tweezers from the side into position. If the tick
refuses to budge, try moving from side to side to unhook the jaws wile pulling
away from the skin. Doing this and keeping constant pressure on the tick will
cause him to tire and give in, releasing the tick in one go.
Finnish off
by cleaning the area with alcohol or soapy water and you job is complete.
John William is a dog trainer out of the UK you can visit his site here: John's
Site