The most effective way to protect your dog from ticks in Pennsylvania and New Jersey is to apply a veterinarian-recommended oral or topical preventative year-round medication.
When taking your dog on trails or out in public, it’s always important to do a tick check and consider sending the tick to the East Stroudsburg lab for testing if it’s swollen or enlarged.
However, you can greatly reduce the risk of tick encounters at home for you and your pets with a professional yard spray and by keeping your lawn mowed.
With the recent uptick in tick hospitalizations in the Northeast, including the proliferation of the Lone Star tick, and scrutiny over the safety of name-brand Soresto collars for dogs, tick prevention has never been more important for pet owners.
In this guide, you’ll learn five helpful tips to reduce your dog’s risk of tick-borne illness and how professional tick control in New Jersey and Pennsylvania can greatly reduce your risk of exposure.
Common Ticks Found in New Jersey and Pennsylvania
The most common tick species found in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are the American Dog Tick, the Brown Dog Tick, and the Blacklegged tick, also known as the Deer Tick.
The Blacklegged tick is the most common vector of Canine Lyme Disease. Other tick diseases that impact our furry friends include Ehrlichia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Canine Anaplasmosis.
These illnesses are not limited to pets and can easily be transferred to humans as well. The best way to combat a tick problem is by protecting yourself and your pets. Here are the top seven ways to stop ticks.
Other ticks, such as the Lone Star Tick, which is now established in the northeast, are responsible for Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS). However, non-primate mammals, such as felines and canines, are not affected by AGS.
What Should You Do If You Find a Tick On Your Dog?
Since pathogens like Lyme disease typically require 24 to 48 hours of attachment to infect a dog, immediate and safe tick removal is vital.
Follow these steps if you discover a tick on your pet:
- Use fine-tipped tweezers: Grasp the tick as close to your dog’s skin surface as possible. Avoid using blunt tweezers or your fingers, as you need precise control to ensure a clean extraction.
- Pull upward with steady pressure: Pull straight upward with even, steady pressure. Do not twist, jerk, or squeeze the tick, as this can break off its mouthparts or cause it to regurgitate infectious fluids into the bite site.
- Clean the bite area: After removing the tick, thoroughly wash the bite site on your dog with rubbing alcohol, iodine, or soap and water to disinfect the area. Clean your hands and the tweezers as well.
- Preserve and test the tick: Place the tick in a sealed container or a plastic baggie with a small amount of rubbing alcohol to kill it. Note the date of the bite. You can consider submitting the tick to the Pennsylvania Tick Research Lab at East Stroudsburg University for testing to determine whether it carries any harmful pathogens.
- Monitor your dog for symptoms: Keep a close eye on your pet for the next three to four weeks. Watch for common signs of tick-borne illnesses, such as shifting lameness, lethargy, fever, or loss of appetite, and contact your veterinarian promptly if any appear.
Never use petroleum jelly, nail polish, or heat (like a hot match) to force the tick to detach. These methods can stress the tick, causing it to immediately release pathogens into your pet’s bloodstream.
5 Tips to Protect Your Dog from Tick-Borne Illnesses
The best way to protect your dog from Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses is to reduce their risk of exposure via veterinary-prescribed preventatives and safe yard treatments.
Here are five tips to protect your furry friend from potentially dangerous illnesses from a tick.
1. Use Veterinarian-Recommended Tick Preventatives
Investing in vet-recommended tick preventatives is one of the most effective ways to protect your pets from tick-borne illnesses.
Depending on your veterinarian’s advice, you can choose from various prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) treatments designed to repel and kill ticks, fleas, and mites.
The most common types of tick preventatives include:
- Monthly Chews: Oral systemic treatments that are easy to administer.
- Topical Ointments: Spot-on liquid treatments applied directly to the skin.
- Treated Collars: Wearable protection that provides long-lasting defense.
One thing to keep in mind is that households with multiple pets should have treatments for all pets, whether they are indoor or outdoor.
If one pet is allowed outside, it can easily bring pests into your other pets. Also, when selecting a treatment, be sure to check the labels; some topical treatments for dogs may be harmful to cats and children.
2. Check Your Animals Daily
Depending on how often you take them out and where you live, you should check your pets daily. Whether you want to give them a quick brushing or an all-over body check, you want to be sure they aren’t bringing any unwanted pests inside.
If you live near the woods or in areas with unkempt growth, it’s a good idea to check multiple times a day.
If your pet has a ton of hair or a particularly thick coat, check under the collar, behind the ears, under the tail, and on the belly.
Ticks are drawn to dark, warm areas. So, check between the toes and the lower extremities, where ticks can grab hold.
3. Apply Professional Tick Yard Spray Treatment
Professional tick yard spray treatment should be applied monthly from April through October to reduce tick populations around the home’s perimeter.
Professional applications target the vegetation zones where blacklegged tick nymphs and adults inhabit
Studies of acaricide yard-spray programs in Lyme-endemic areas of the Northeast, including Connecticut and Pennsylvania, report 68 to 100 percent reductions in tick encounter rates on treated properties compared with untreated properties during the treatment period.
For high-risk properties where dogs have daily access to tick habitat, the combination of on-animal tick preventatives and professional yard treatment provides overlapping protection.
4. Keep Your Lawn Mowed
Ticks are drawn to overgrown and tall grass, which is a prime spot for them to hang out.
Most ticks climb onto their hosts at the feet, and high grass is a great way for them to find a blood meal.
To protect your animals and yourself, keep the grass cut and short. Ticks will have a tougher time reaching out from low-cut grass.
5. Have Your Pet Tested Annually
Pennsylvania is currently the worst state for Deer ticks, known for carrying Lyme Disease. Even the most vigilant pet owners can make mistakes or forget sometimes.
If you are a frequent hiker, have a pet that loves being outside, or live in a tick hotspot, it’s wise to get your pet tested yearly.
In addition to getting your pet tested, you can opt for vaccines to help prevent tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease. Sometimes the best way to protect your pet is by being proactive.
FAQs
What is the correct way to remove a tick from my dog?
Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to your dog’s skin as possible. Pull straight upward with steady, even pressure without twisting or squeezing the tick. Afterward, disinfect the bite site with rubbing alcohol or soap and water, and save the tick in a sealed container for potential testing.
What are the symptoms of tick-borne illness in dogs?
Keep a close eye on your pet for three to four weeks following a bite. Common symptoms of tick-borne illnesses such as Canine Lyme Disease, Ehrlichia, or Anaplasmosis include intermittent lameness, lethargy, fever, and a sudden loss of appetite. Contact your vet immediately if these appear.
Why should I treat indoor pets for ticks if they never go outside?
In multi-pet households, all animals must be treated. If even one pet goes outdoors, they can easily bring hitchhiking ticks into the house, creating a direct risk of infestation for your strictly indoor pets.
Can I use the same topical tick treatment on both my dog and my cat?
No. You must always read labels carefully before application. Many topical tick treatments formulated specifically for dogs contain active ingredients that are highly toxic and potentially fatal to cats.
Does keeping my grass cut short actually prevent ticks?
Yes. Ticks thrive in tall, overgrown grass because it traps moisture and makes it easy for them to climb onto the feet and fur of passing hosts. Keeping your lawn short exposes the soil to sunlight, drying out the environment and making it difficult for ticks to survive and seek out hosts.
