# Dogs and ticks!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2000, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-ticks/37080 "2000-10-16T03:20:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![debra\_neubauer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@debra\_neubauer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/debra_neubauer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-ticks/37080/1 "2000-10-16T03:20:45Z")
My twin sister lives in Mesa, Arizona - and her dog has had as many as 30 ticks a day. They have had the dog dipped - have used the stuff on her neck - poisioned the house, and yet, 30 ticks a day. What do they do??? Please help!! ---
**Author:** ![Bilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@Bilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bilder)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-ticks/37080/2 "2000-10-16T03:37:41Z")
Wow! Sounds like they already got professional advice. So here’s my unprofessional advice: Moving might help. Or getting a cat. Maybe one of those birds would help that cleans insects off hippos. Turpentine? That’s it, I’m out of ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-ticks/37080/3 "2000-10-16T14:15:26Z")
Debra, which “stuff on the neck” have they tried? Different brands may work differently. We live in a heavily wooded area and used to have to spend half an hour de-ticking our dogs every day. Once we started using the Frontline brand, we pulled maybe four ticks that summer on all three dogs. Our vet swears by it and so do we. ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-ticks/37080/4 "2000-10-16T16:06:26Z")
If they don’t have neighbors close by, and if they don’t mind the noise, Guinea fowl are excellent for tick control. They are obnoxious, neurotic, entertaining birds that march across your yard in a line, eating every bug in sight. If you get sick of the constant “ker-screeeeching”, they’re edible!😃 If the dog can be trained to leave the birds alone, this will work. We kept ticks off of our two Great Pyrenees this way. We still had to treat them, but we didn’t have an overwhelming population of ticks to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-ticks/37080/5 "2000-10-16T19:50:24Z")
She should ask her vet about dietary supplements. I know there are some for fleas, and they may work on ticks as well, or there may be a different supplement for ticks. From what I understand of them, they are harmless to the host animal, but they change either the body’s chemistry slightly or make the blood unpalatable. At any rate, fleas & ticks either die from the stuff or they are repelled. Our flea jobs have fallen off considerably in the past couple of years because pet owners are becoming pro-active in this area, so their homes don’t become infested, which is OK by me. I always hated doing flea jobs. ---
**Author:** ![debra\_neubauer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@debra\_neubauer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/debra_neubauer)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-and-ticks/37080/6 "2000-10-17T03:05:41Z")
Thank you everyone - we appreciate the recommendations. Perhaps they will help.