The best way to remove a tick from your dog is to use a preventative measure to keep them off of your dog in the first place. You can do this by talking with your vet and finding the best product to use on your dog. There are many different shampoos, powders, and drops, that you apply to the back of your pet’s neck, that will repel ticks. There are also pills you can give your dog so the product gets into it’s blood. This way if a tick bites your dog it will die and be easier to get rid of.
If you have not used one of these products yet and you find a tick on your dog you will need to take immediate action to remove it. The longer the tick stays on, the more chance there is of it passing a disease onto your dog. If you happen to find a tick on your dog, and you don’t have a pair of tweezers, you can try using liquid soap on a cotton ball. Use it to cover the tick for 20 seconds. This will cause the tick to let go and make it easy to remove.
If that method is not effective use a pair of tweezers and grasp the head of the tick. You will need to be careful not to grab your dogs skin as this could cause your dog to jump or shy away making it harder to get the tick off. Pull on the tick gently, but using steady pressure. Do not just rip the tick away from your dog as this will leave part of the tick behind. Once the tick is removed, check to be sure you have gotten it completely out of the dogs skin. Make sure the head was not left behind because this can cause an infection. If you think you have removed the tick’s body and left the head on your dog, you can use a needle to remove it. Make sure you use a clean, sterile, needle so the area does not get infected.
Once you have determined the tick is completely removed from your dog use antiseptic to cleanse the area around the bite. You will want to watch the spot closely over the next few days to make sure an infection does not start. This would also be a good time to start your pet on one of the many tick prevention products.
