Tick Protection Tips for Spring & Summer
April is here and the summer is near. Summer means spending more time outside playing with your dog. While it is fun to get outside and enjoy the weather, there are some dangers that can arise from these outdoor playtimes. In the warmer weather, your pet is more susceptible to fleas and ticks. Here is some info about ticks and fleas and how you can try to avoid them!
Where Do They Come From?
Ticks and fleas both thrive in warmer weather, which is why they are so prominent in the spring and summer months. Ticks can even survive in the winter, as can fleas. When temperatures hit the 50s, 60’s, and 70s, these parasites can come out and be ready to infect your dog. Ticks can lay hundreds to thousands of eggs at a time and fleas can survive through wild animals, feral animals, as immature pupae, or even inside houses. Even though it can seem like ticks and fleas are all around, there are ways to avoid them.
Fleas
Fleas can spread from animals depositing eggs into your yard or any area that you’re taking your dog. These animals can include opossums, coyotes, skunks, raccoons, or even untreated dogs. To stop the spread and limit the amount of eggs in your yard, try to keep these animals out of your yard and areas around your home. You can use different types of plants or greenery to keep them out or you can put up some sort of fence to completely block these animals.
Ticks
The biggest key to being proactive with avoiding ticks is to keep your yard in tip top shape. You need to remove items in your yard that attract ticks and their hosts. One way is to keep the lawn mowed consistently. This keeps the ticks from forming homes in the long grass. You also remove leaf litter accumulations and prune shrubs and trees. If you aren’t sure what else can be done, you can ask a pest specialist for other tips to keep the ticks out.
Flea and Tick Product
Beyond just treating your home, you also will need to keep your dog treated and protected. One of the main ways to do this is to use a flea and tick control product. No matter how hard you try, there is bound to be some ticks and fleas in your yard, so you need to use these control products to stop the infestations. These topical products that you put on your dog’s skin and fur work to kill adult fleas, eggs and larvae, and all stages of ticks. It is key to try to kill these pests as quickly as possible, so they do not spread throughout the whole house. It is very important to be consistent with these monthly product applications to make it work properly. These infestations can take months to clear up, so being proactive is key.
Hopefully you feel more prepared to take on the fleas and ticks of the spring and summer season! Good luck!