How do I get rid of ticks naturally, what's your opinion on Frontline, and what vacs. for a pup

[anomaly13]

We have 2 dogs, one is about a year and a half and the other is 6-8 weeks old I think. Well the older one got taken to the pound and came back with ticks and possibly other stuff and the little one came with fleas unbeknownest to me. DH rescued her from some folks who couldn't care for her and the rest of her litter had been eaten by owls in the night, she was next. Anyway they both have ticks and possibly other critters. We do not want to use and of that nasty poison wash/dip stuff as we also have 3 kids ages 4, 2, and 5 months. So how can we get the bugs to die? Tried feeding them a little bit of raw garlic, they ate it once but won't eat anymore. Also tried some neem oil soap, thinking straight neem oil mixed with other oils like tea tree and water might be better/stronger. Any tips or proven remedies?

Also what is the deal with frontline? does it work? is it safe for dogs and for humans to be around? is it a pill? Saw somthing called bio spot that was a liquid applied to the skin but again with the little ones I don't want poison just on my dogs like that. A friend said we should use it cause it helps with preventing heart worm, is that right? any and all info would be great.

also we plan to give the pup her vacs. ourselves other then rabies what do we need to give her? we actually have to get rabies from a vet.

[stardogs]

STAY FAR AWAY FROM BIOSPOT!!!! It has caused a TON of problems in dogs - seizures, etc.

I use Frontline Top Spot on my dogs and Frontline Plus on fosters who have active fleas (the Plus has an additional ingredient that kills larvae which of course my dogs don't need since they don't have fleas). IMO it is one of the safest spot ons, but it is still chemicals and kids should not pet the dog until the treatment has dried. I usually put it on at night so that it is totally dry by the time we get up in the morning. Some people find that they can go 2-3 months between applications for flea prevention, just a month for ticks though.

If you want to steer clear of chemical flea preventative I've heard great things about Miracle Coat No Fly Zone spray and Natures Guardian. They are "natural" products, but the plant derived active components may cause allergic reactions in some pets (and people).

A healthy diet can also go a long way toward keeping your pets flea/tick free - what are you currently feeding?

You generally *must* use a separate heartworm prevention, regardless of what spot on flea/tick treatment you use (except Revolution I think) - I prefer Interceptor since it also catches all worms except tape worms and my holistic vet says it's gentler on their system.

I use a limited vaccine protocol based off the AAHA recommendations. Here's a link to the pdf: http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocumen...s06Revised.pdf

I do caution you on doing vaccines at home - parvo and distemper are still very real risks for young pups and if vaccines aren't handled correctly you risk them not being effective. I worked at a shelter for a number of years and we saw a number of dogs vax'd at home who got parvo because they were unprotected. It's not a risk I would take with a puppy.

HTH - let me know if you need more info on any of the above.

[anomaly13]

Originally Posted by stardogs

A healthy diet can also go a long way toward keeping your pets flea/tick free - what are you currently feeding?

We are feeding the older one Costco Brand adult dog food and he get a raw egg every day with it. As for the puppy she has had some of the same but we are going to get her puppy food today. Our older dog has never had a problem with fleas/ticks in the 10 months we have owned him, they definatly came from the pound when he got impounded for about 26 hours last week. The food the pup has gotten has been her first since her mom's milk, part of the reason we took her was that her mom's milk had dried up. The fact that the pup brought ticks and maybe fleas home just didn't help trying to get them off our older dog, and vice versa.

I am going to reread the rest of your post and may have some more questions.

Here's one have you ever delt with Sentry Natural Defense products for fleas and ticks? I know they have a spot on product but I don't think it does much in the way of internal worms or anything. Will look into the other products you suggested.

Thanks!

[SquishyKitty]

For ticks, we do Advantix. It's just too bad around here for anything weaker. We also end up pulling a few ticks every couple of days. There's really nothing you can do to prevent them except to never let your dogs outside during tick season. You can lessen your instances by staying away from tall grassy areas and woody areas, but you will probably still end up with a few. Also, brush your dogs every time after they have been outside. We can usually get the majority of the ticks off before they have time to get stuck in, that way. I don't think there's much you can feed them that will cut down; they jump off from the grass and stuff. Keep the grass/weeds in your yard short, it does help.

At the height of tick season, we just use the tick tweezers and check them every night. We had been using frontline for years with the cats, but it just wasn't enough for the dogs who ventured all over the place around our house (surrounded by woods). Advantix really did a great job keeping the ticks to a minimum.

[stardogs]

Advantix is not safe around cats I think, so do check before using it if there are any cats around. We've not had any problem with ticks while on Frontline, so I've not really looked into other things there.

You will NOT find any products that cover heartworms OTC - they are prescription only. If your older dog has not been on prevention they will need a heartworm test before starting prevention. Heartworms are VERY serious and the risk of the preventative is much lower than that of contracting heartworms. The treatment for heartworms involves a drug that is related to arsenic and is very rough to go through. Please talk to your vet about heartworm prevention asap!

The Kirkland food you're feeding is one of the better ones - good pick!