Finding a tick on your dog can be alarming, but quick, calm action helps. If the tick is crawling, remove it from the coat.
If it is attached, take it out promptly with fine-tipped tweezers or a tick-removal tool. Clean the bite and keep the tick for possible identification.
Remove attached ticks as soon as you can, then monitor your dog for fever, lethargy, limping, appetite loss, or other signs of tick-borne disease. Most tick bites do not cause illness, but ticks on dogs can transmit infections. Contact your veterinarian if your dog has multiple ticks or seems unwell.
After removal, inspect your dog carefully. Review your tick control plan.
A vet-approved preventive can help kill ticks you missed. It also reduces future exposure.
Take Action as Soon as You Find a Tick
First, determine whether the tick is crawling or attached to the skin. Search your dog thoroughly and remove attached ticks safely.
Seek same-day veterinary help if the exposure or your dog’s condition raises concern.
Decide Whether the Tick Is Crawling, Attached, or Engorged
A crawling tick has not bitten your dog. Pick it up with a paper towel or tweezers and place it in rubbing alcohol or a sealed container.
An attached tick anchors itself to the skin. A small, flat tick may have attached recently.
An engorged tick looks swollen, gray, or grape-like after feeding. Remove either kind promptly.
If you cannot tell whether a bump is a tick, do not pull at it until you can see the legs or speak with your veterinarian.
Check Your Dog From Ears to Toes
Run your fingers slowly through the coat and use a flashlight for close inspection. Pay special attention to:
- Inside and around the ears
- Under the collar and around the neck
- Eyelids, muzzle, and head
- Armpits and groin
- Between the toes and paw pads
- Under the tail and around the anus
Excessive scratching, head shaking, focused licking, or a new firm bump can point to a hidden tick.
Know When Same-Day Veterinary Help Is Needed
Call your veterinarian the same day if you find several ticks, cannot remove one safely, or your dog is very young, elderly, pregnant, medically fragile, or already showing symptoms.
Seek urgent care for weakness, trouble walking, breathing changes, collapse, pale gums, repeated vomiting, or marked lethargy.
Remove the Tick Safely and Care for the Bite
Safe removal depends on steady technique. Use fine-tipped tweezers or a tick-removal tool and clean the bite afterward.
Avoid methods that irritate your dog or stress the tick.
Use a Slow, Straight Pull at Skin Level
Part the fur and grasp the tick with fine-tipped tweezers as close to your dog’s skin as possible. Pull upward with slow, even pressure until the tick releases.
Do not twist, jerk, crush, or squeeze the body. A tick-removal tool also works well when you follow its instructions.
Place the removed tick in rubbing alcohol or a sealed bag, label it with the date and location on your dog, and wash your hands.
Avoid Heat, Oils, and Other Unsafe Home Remedies
Do not apply petroleum jelly, nail polish, gasoline, kerosene, essential oils, or a hot match. These can burn or irritate your dog and may cause the tick to release more saliva into the bite.
Do not pour rubbing alcohol directly onto an attached tick. Reserve it for the container after removal.
Handle Left-Behind Mouthparts and Save the Tick
If a tiny piece remains embedded and you cannot easily lift it with clean tweezers, stop digging into the skin. The mouthparts may work their way out as the area heals.
Repeated probing can increase irritation. Ask your veterinarian whether removal is appropriate.
Wipe the bite with a pet-safe antiseptic and monitor it for increasing redness, heat, swelling, discharge, or pain.
Saving an engorged tick can help your veterinarian identify the tick species and assess possible disease exposure.
Monitor for Illness After Tick Exposure
A bite may leave a small red bump or scab for several days. Your dog may show no immediate symptoms.
Keep a daily eye on the bite and your dog’s behavior. Tick-borne diseases can take time to become apparent.
Watch the Bite Site and Your Dog for Three Weeks
Check the bite once or twice daily for worsening redness, swelling, warmth, discharge, or a growing lump. Monitor your dog for about three weeks.
Write down changes in appetite, energy, temperature if your veterinarian recommends taking it, and movement. Contact your veterinarian if the site worsens or your dog develops fever, lethargy, poor appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, pale gums, or unusual bruising.
Recognize Warning Signs of Tick-Borne Disease
Possible infections include Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and babesiosis. Signs can include fever, swollen joints, shifting or persistent lameness, weakness, swollen lymph nodes, bleeding, dark urine, or appetite loss.
Tick paralysis is less common but urgent. Watch for progressive weakness, an unsteady gait, voice changes, or difficulty breathing and seek emergency veterinary care if these signs appear.
Understand the Tick Species and Disease Connection
The American dog tick, brown dog tick, lone star tick, and deer tick are different tick species with different geographic ranges and disease associations. A deer tick, also called a black-legged tick, can transmit Lyme disease.
Other ticks may spread ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, or Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Species identification does not replace medical evaluation.
Tell your veterinarian where and when you found the tick, whether it was engorged, and whether your dog uses prevention.
Prevent the Next Tick Problem
Removing the visible tick addresses the immediate problem. Consistent prevention helps kill ticks your dog encounters later.
Your veterinarian can match a product to your dog’s weight, age, health, lifestyle, and local tick risks.
Choose a Vet-Guided Preventive That Fits Your Dog
Common prescription isoxazoline options include afoxolaner, sarolaner, lotilaner, and fluralaner. Brand examples include NexGard, Simparica, Credelio, and Bravecto.
These medicines kill ticks after they bite, so they do not replace prompt removal of an attached tick. Tell your veterinarian about seizure history, other medications, allergies, and your dog’s age before choosing an isoxazoline.
Follow the prescribed schedule exactly.
Compare Oral Chews, Topicals, and Collars
Topical products may contain fipronil or permethrin, including Frontline Plus and K9 Advantix II. Permethrin products must never be used on cats, and you should follow species and weight directions carefully.
Collars containing flumethrin and imidacloprid, such as Seresto, provide sustained protection when fitted correctly. Ask about Credelio, Bravecto, Frontline Plus, K9 Advantix II, Seresto, NexGard, or Simparica only after your veterinarian confirms the product suits your dog.
Reduce Tick Exposure at Home and Outdoors
Check your dog after walks, hikes, camping trips, and time in brush or tall grass.
Keep grass short and clear leaf litter and dense vegetation.
Prevent wildlife from gathering near your yard when practical.
Use the Companion Animal Parasite Council’s tick guidance to inform regional planning.
Combine yard habits with year-round tick control and regular hands-on checks.
Check household pets, wash outdoor gear, and remove crawling ticks before they reach your dog.
