Ticks - what you need to know
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge bug nerd and love to see all types of little creatures whilst out and about, but as a dog professional and owner myself, I have to admit that I have a particular hatred for ticks! While they, like everything else, have their place in the ecosystem at large, they can pose certain risks if allowed to attach to dogs or humans alike. In this article, I’m going to go over some information about what they are, where they can be found, how to prevent attachment, and what to do if you find an attached tick on your dog (or yourself!)
An image showing ticks at different stages of life on a human hand for scale
Species and life stages
Depending on where you live and your lifestyle in general, you may already be fairly familiar with these little parasites, or maybe you have yet to ever see one (in which case, lucky you!). According to the Lyme Disease Action website, there are 20 species of tick across the UK, and the ones that you might see most regularly will depend on the area in which you live and walk. Certain species target specific animals and will therefore be more prevalent in areas with those target animals present, and you’ll often find that areas with a lot of foxes, badgers, deer, hedgehogs and other such wildlife will have more ticks present generally.
Diagram from the LDA showing the lifecycle of ticks
The diagram above shows the full lifecycle of a tick, which on average is carried out over roughly 3 years. What I think is very interesting to know is that ticks aren’t constantly feeding on animals and then searching for their next host, but in fact will only search out a host for a full ‘blood meal’ once they’re ready to develop to the next life stage, and need the energy to do so! This means that most ticks will only feed once or twice a year, and the rest of the time they’re just kind of hanging around focusing on survival.
You can also see from this diagram that ticks in the earlier life stages typically feed on smaller animals, such as mice, voles, and birds at the larval stage, and then up to animals like squirrels and pheasants at the nymph stage. Humans can be affected by ticks at this stage as well, and it should be noted that ticks of all life-stages can be encountered by you or your dog, although you’re less likely to see them in these earlier stages.
Below is a video showing a nymph stage tick crawling across my knee earlier this year - in a way, I was lucky to not be wearing long trousers so I could spot it, although long trousers would likely have prevented it from getting very far if I hadn’t seen it. This offers some perspective on just how small they are in these early stages, and check out how fast it can move!
How & where do dogs and humans pick up ticks?
So how do ticks usually find their way onto us and onto our dogs? Ticks are known for performing a behaviour called ‘Questing’, in which they’ll scale a suitable piece of foliage such as a fern, tall blade of grass, or sprig of heather, and wait on the end of their chosen frond with their front legs extended. When an animal (or human!) brushes past, these hooked front limbs grab hold, and then the tick is on board and will start seeking out a tasty place to latch on. They won’t generally attach right away, so if you’ve had to make a quick dash through some tall grass or similar, make sure to brush yourself off and examine your clothing / skin for any stowaways!
An image of a questing tick!
For us humans, it’s a little easier to spot a tick (depending on our clothing) - for dogs, in the time it takes for them to brush through a patch of long grass or ferns, a tick or two could be climbing into their fur and out of sight before we can do anything about it.
What I’ve noticed, however, is that it’s true that ticks will spend some time navigating their new host to find a good spot to start feeding, and so often what I’ll do is conduct a quick ‘tick check’ of my dogs as soon as we finish the walk, and then revisit them 5-10 mins later for another look-over, at which point often a tiny tick will have surfaced and will be visible on top of their fur as they hunt for a good place to attach. So, whilst it’s worth having a quick visual examination and brush-off of both your clothing / skin and your dog’s fur after traversing any patches of undergrowth which could harbour ticks, it’s also important to remember to make a proper examination later and pick up any that you might have missed in the moment.
The places in which you’re most likely to pick up ticks are anywhere with long/tall foliage such as long grasses, ferns, heather bushes, and it’s also worth bearing in mind that areas with higher traffic from wildlife and domestic animals are likely to have higher tick populations accordingly. So, as I walk exclusively in woodland that houses foxes, badgers, squirrels, weasels, tons of birds, hosts a transient deer population, AND on top of that is a popular spot for dog walking, it’s safe to say that the tick population there is pretty high!
If in doubt, avoid long brushing plants and take an alternative route where you can to avoid this type of foliage. It’s also interesting to note that ticks need to avoid drying out - they like humidity and shade, so a field of brittle, sun-bleached grass might be safer than a lush field with intermittent shade!
A tick questing on the end of a fern
How to prevent ticks attaching
Unfortunately, it’s not totally possible to prevent ticks attaching to yourself or your dog. The best prevention is avoidance of those high risk areas, so for example, avoid walking through fields or meadows with long grass in the spring and late summer, avoid clumps of ferns or heather, and make sure to wear suitable clothing that prevents a tick from attaching straight to skin!
Dogs can, and should, be regularly treated for fleas, ticks, and worms, and many people assume that this treatment means that ticks will be repelled before even attaching. Unfortunately this is not the case, as the pesticides only work once the tick has attached and ingested them, at which point they will die and drop off. The benefit here is that a) the tick will die and drop off a lot faster than if they’re left to feed and b) the tick, once dropped, will be dead and therefore doesn’t pose a threat to you in future - if a tick feeds completely and drops off somewhere in your house, then I’m afraid there’s just a tick somewhere in your house! Not ideal, particularly if their next life stage is egg-laying…It’s worth noting that while our native UK ticks can’t survive or reproduce inside the home, species brought over from Europe on dogs can, so this is unfortunately a real possibility these days!
For us humans, you can buy some pretty intense spray repellants that work in a similar way - they’re essentially also pesticides, so they’re pretty harsh on skin and not great to breathe, and worst of all can be highly toxic to domestic pets. Therefore, the best course of action for us is avoidance - know where the risks are, avoid them where possible, and take precautions around this; long trousers tucked into socks for example are a good way to keep safe!
What are the risks of getting bitten by a tick?
For dogs and humans, a tick bite can cause major problems. I think that the majority of people are aware of Lyme disease in humans, but not everyone knows that Lyme disease can affect dogs as well!
Approximately 1.5% of ticks in the UK carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, and depending on the area this could mean that infection risk ranges from zero to 1 in 5 ticks carrying Lyme or other diseases. Ticks can transfer other blood-borne diseases, although Lyme disease is by far the most commonly transmitted and best documented.
The PDSA outlines the symptoms of Lyme disease in dogs as such:
Symptoms of Lyme disease tend to be vague, come and go, and vary from pet to pet. Symptoms include:
- Limping and swollen joints – usually this starts in the joint closest to the tick-bite site, then shifts from leg to leg
- Fever (high temperature)
- Lethargy (low energy)
- Swollen lymph nodes (glands)
- Reduced appetite
- Nerve problems
- Drinking and weeing more
- Pets don’t tend to get the classic ‘bulls eye/target’ lesion that humans get if bitten by a tick with Lyme disease
Lyme Disease Action outlines the symptoms in humans as follows:
The most common symptoms in adults are:
- ‘flu like symptoms of aching, fever, headache
- fatigue
- sweating
- joint pain
- photophobia (light sensitivity)
- abnormal skin sensations (tingling, numbness, itching)
- stiff neck
- erythema migrans rash
Lyme disease in dogs can range from mild to severe, and unfortunately in severe cases where regular treatment and hospitalisation fail to improve their condition, a vet may recommend that the afflicted dog be put to sleep.
So, while the risks in the UK are fairly low, they’re not always totally zero, and it’s important to be aware so that you can take the necessary precautions and act swiftly if you do spot a tick - on your dog or on yourself! Lyme Disease Action states that:
The risk of bacterial infections increases the longer the tick is attached, but can happen at any time during feeding. Viruses can be passed immediately. As tick bites are often unnoticed, it may be difficult to determine how long it has been attached. Any tick bite should be considered as posing a risk of infection although the risk in the UK is low.
How to remove an attached tick - safely!
A tick attached to a dog - note the limbs protruding around the body
Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, ticks do find their way onto our dogs, and occasionally onto us.
Human-wise, I’m pleased to say that over the last several years of walking dogs professionally, I’ve never once been bitten by a tick! In fact, over my lifetime I’ve only ever been bitten once, as a very young child. So hopefully this goes to show that prevention for humans, while not something you can guarantee, is not impossible if the right precautions are taken.
For our dogs, however, it’s a different story. They’re far more likely to collect ticks at some point or another, not least because they, unlike us, aren’t ever going to be consciously avoiding the risks! As their owners, we can do our best to minimise these risks for them, eg. choosing lower risk areas to walk in times of high tick activity (spring and late summer), calling them away from patches of long grass / ferns, and most importantly treating them regularly for ticks and fleas. The next step, however, is to know how to safely remove a tick once attached.
Step 1 is to be prepared, and to purchase a set of tick twisters for your home. It might be a good idea to have a second set that you carry with you if you live and walk in a high risk area, but definitely have a set somewhere close to hand in the house so that you’re ready to remove any ticks that do attach to your dog.
These tick removal tools are really simple and safe to use, and can be purchased in pet shops, from vets and groomers, and online. It’s crucial to remove ticks correctly, as incorrect removal runs the risk of leaving the tick’s mouthparts underneath the skin, which can lead to complications and further issues down the line. Fortunately, these tools make it very easy to do this the right way.
As the diagram above illustrates, the removal process can be broken down into steps. Let’s look at those here in more detail:
The tick attaches to your dog. What you’ll see illustrated here, and what you can start to see if you look at the previous image, is that the mouthparts and majority of the tick’s ‘head’ actually go into the skin, leaving the body and legs protruding. This is good to know, as sometimes you might come across a new skin growth or scab that looks very suspicious, and in these cases looking for the legs can be a great way to tell if you’re actually looking at a tick or not. If you’re not sure though, it’s best to check with a vet before attempting removal!
Once you’ve spotted the tick and got your removal tools ready, make sure you’ve chosen the appropriate size - what we’re aiming to do is slide the prongs around the tick, so that the tick’s body gets trapped in the wedge between the prongs. If you can’t easily slide the tool around the body like this, or there’s a large gap between the prongs and the tick, then you should try the next size up or down accordingly.
Once you’ve got the prongs around the tick, make sure that the tool is flat against your dog’s skin, as shown in the diagram.
Now, we twist! This is why I call them tick twisters, as you now need to twist 2-3 times whilst keeping the tool flat to your dog’s skin. Twisting is the ONLY motion needed here, no pulling!! This is very important, as a strong pull could detach the head from the body and this is how the head can get stuck underneath the skin. If you’re worried, try gripping the tool gently between your finger and thumb, and twizzling it like this.
After 2 or 3 twists, you should feel the tick come away from your dog’s skin. It’s a subtle feeling, but you’ll likely notice that it’s happened. If in doubt, give it a few more twists and then gently lift the tool and see if the tick comes away. If not, try a few more twists keeping the tool flat to the skin, and if this still doesn’t work then consider trying the size down. It generally does only take 2-3 twists, and then you’re home free!
The process is the same for removal of ticks from humans - you can use the same tool, and same steps to ensure safe removal as soon as you notice it attached to your body. It’s best to remove ticks as soon as you notice them, and again just be sure to do so carefully so as to remove the entire tick in one go! Below is a video going over the same information, also provided by the PDSA.
Where should I check for ticks?
Ticks can, and will, attach anywhere on the body. In dogs, they often go for places like the armpit, stomach, and around the eyes and ears, but this isn’t to say you won’t find one somewhere totally different! It’s good to give your dog a full check over after each walk at peak times of year for tick activity (March-October), and after walks in high risk areas. My dogs are very used now to having a quick check over after walks, and as with anything, getting into the habit now can benefit you in future!
In humans, it’s found that adults tend to be bitten on the legs, whereas children are often bitten higher up on the body due to their smaller size making it possible for the ticks to climb further - Lyme Disease Action recommends checking their hairline and scalp.
What do I do once I’ve removed a tick?
The best thing to do once you’ve removed a tick is to destroy it. It might seem a little unfortunate or maybe gross to have to kill them, however what you don’t want is for this tick to attach back onto your dog or yourself, let alone anyone else out there! And as mentioned earlier, newly imported species of ticks can survive and lay their eggs inside the home, so again this is evidently something we want to avoid.
Dispatching an engorged tick (like the one pictured above) is pretty easy. Once their bodies have become enlarged as they fill up with blood, they become much easier to squash - simply take the tick over to the sink, remove it from the tool using another utensil or your fingernail if you’re feeling brave, and squash it against the bottom of the sink. You can then safely rinse the tick down the drain.
If you choose to wash it down the drain without squashing it first, you should know that there’s a very good chance that the tick will survive! Ticks only need to breathe roughly once every 15 minutes, and so really don’t mind being partially or fully submerged in water. I’ve attached a video below showing the process a lab scientist undertakes when washing ticks for study, and in this video you can see ticks being vortexed whilst fully submerged in water containing bleach - that should show you how resilient they are!
If you, like I often do, come across a tick and remove it before it’s had the chance to attach and feed, then the process of dispatching it is a little more difficult. Ticks are super hardy little creatures, and are almost indestructible in many ways! You’ll have to work harder to actually properly squash them, but again it’s important to make sure that you’re not leaving anything to chance when dealing with a tick that’s now in your home.
So, hopefully that gives you all the information you might ever possibly need about ticks. As a dog owner, you will get used to them over time, and like any other creature it’s actually fairly fascinating to learn about them and their lives - even if I would be happy to never see one again!
There’s no reason why you and your dog can’t enjoy the warm weather and the beautiful UK countryside, so long as you’ve got the awareness and take the necessary precautions. As the old adage goes, better safe than sorry!
Extra resources
Above is a gallery of images showing common tick types across the UK - click each image for some information, provided by the ESCCAP (European Scientific Counsel Companion Animal Parasites) website.