Rockets Rangers » Ticks on dogs

Hi Rangers,

I know vampires are pretty popular these days in movies and books, but to us pups they are SUPER scary because sometimes, in real life, we get insects attaching to us and drinking our blood!! These insects are called TICKS. Ticks are all over, especially in the summer, and it is easy for them to land on us. They start out pretty tiny so you might not notice them at first, but, once they bite us they start eating our blood and they grow and grow!!

LOOK HOW THEY GROW!!!

The reason ticks are so bad for us is that they spread diseases to us and to people too! These diseases can kill us or cause us a lot of suffering. There are wonderful little drops you can put between your pup’s shoulder blades that kill baby ticks so that they never attach to us..YEAH! You can get this medicine from your vet or a pet store and it works for a whole month. Some of the names you might see are Frontline Plus and Certifect. Old fashion flea and tick collars don’t really work L These medicines can cost a lot but, if you can buy them, they might save money in vet bills later. Sounds like a good project for my Rangers to save up for the medicine! Let me if you do  cuz I’ll make you a Super Ranger for helping!!! My vet, Dr. Kit, has them at the lowest price possible. You can call her at 602-828-4657 and go pick them up from her mobile hospital.

Another thing you can do is check ALL OVER your dog to see if he has any ticks on him. Do it really carefully and often running your fingers deep into the fur and along the skin. You know where ticks REALLY love to hide?? Would you believe between your dog’s toes and down in her ears??? Doesn’t that sound uncomfortable?? It is and it makes us feel awful. If you find one it’s important to take it off the right way! Ask a grownup for some tweezers and carefully get hold of the tick’s head…then pull it off. You don’t want the mouth to get left behind because that still hurts us. You can put it in some alcohol to kill it.

All your pups will be so happy that you help them stay safe from these awful creatures! They spread so fast because one adult lays thousands of eggs. One dog can have 1000 if they aren’t taken care of. It makes me so sad to say that a lot of the stray dogs found in Phoenix are covered in ticks.

This would be a great subject for one of my Rangers to do a report on to earn their certificate…HOW ABOUT YOU???

That’s all for now! Love from your friend,

Rocket