Dog Tick Spray

[Fallbeard]

My dog takes Nexguard Plus for fleas, ticks, and heart worm. It does a good enough job, but it requires the ticks to bite for the medicine to kill them.

My dog spends a lot of time inside our house. In conjunction with the chewable, I would like to apply a spray on his coat to deter ticks from even being on him. I’ve read the Sawyers (permethrin) is great on clothing and they have a dedicated bottle, my guess is it’s diluted, for dogs.

I’m going to inquire with my vet this week when I take him in for his annual shots, but I wanted to see what others have used to safely apply directly to their dog to deter ticks.

 

[BBob]

In the past they didn't have a dog specific. They had instructions on the website. Basically you sprayed your dog fluffing the hair so it penetrated to the skin avoiding eyes and sensitive parts. I've taken a rag spraying it and rubbing down the coat. Seemed to work. We had a kissing bug infestation a few years back. Using the Sawyer on the dog and the pest control concentrated permethrin in and around the house seemed to take care of it.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

If the outdoor area he frequents isn’t too large, I would consider also treating that area with permethrin. Add 2 oz of 36.8% permethrin concentrate to 1 gal of water to yield a 0.5% mixture for lawn/perimeter spraying.

 

[FuddRucker]

I've had success by just spraying regular sawyer's on my girl's coat. Its great as an additional preventative measure so she doesn't pick up so many and bring them inside. Not sure what kind of dog, but if they a thick coat you'll want to saturate it pretty good (but not dripping) except where its thinner around lower chest, pits, legs/paws, etc. Mind the wind and be careful not to get it in the eyes. At one point we were using Sawyer's exclusively before transitioning to chewables because she hated whenever I would use the little frontline applicator along her back.

Premethrin works and has not had any deleterious effects to speak of. She's still her usual (spastic) self. Its very bad for cats though.

 

[KurtR]

The less chemicals I can put on my dog the better so I just brush him before we come in the house plus keeps the wife happy less hair to vacuum.

 

[xrangerx]

I’ve been using bravecto (edible treatment and lasts for a few months) for a few years. I order it out of like Canada and it is like 1/3 the cost and comes straight in the mail be having to go to the vet

 

[Fallbeard]

He’s a Pudelpointer.

No cats.

I agree, less chemicals in general is a good thing. Yet we often apply chemical cocktails to ourselves. Lessor of evils, I guess.

While researching the topic I came across some instances where animals had adverse reactions to “natural” solutions. Now it’s got me a little paranoid. Ticks are thick in the SE right now and my dog makes sure he runs through every tall patch of grass. Last time I brought him in and gave him a good look over with a head lamp and found over 50 ticks. A lot of them the small kid (deer). Some dead, some crawling.

 

[KurtR]

That’s a lot I use bravecto but we only have wood ticks and most I ever find is a few . I don’t think I have found 50 on him the 5 years I have had him. I’m sure they stick in that hair worse than my lab.