Fighting the Tick Battle

[tx_cowgirl]

It seems every summer the ticks magically appear. The second the weather is somewhat warm, ticks pop up out of nowhere. Every summer, we spray the yard....once...twice...sometimes even three times. Deticking. Monthly drops. Dipping. Flea/tick baths. Flea/tick collars. A terrible chemical overload on everything, which I'm not fond of, but it's that or pick ticks constantly. It seems like we're doing everything we can, but sheesh it's expensive and we still have ticks. I realize we live in the country and that's just something that comes with the area, but geez.... Plus, it doesn't help that the neighbor's free-roaming untreated dogs drop ticks everywhere.

So...what else can I do???? Would simple repellants help keep the tick-farm(neighbor's dogs) away? If we did everything the same but also used DOG repellants of some kind to keep their dogs away, would it help? Are there any home remedies or repellants that would help? Natural solutions? Anything? I'm at my wit's end here. At this point I'm willing to stand on the roof and do a tick-be-gone dance in a hailstorm. It's driving us nuts. :dogwacko: :dogmad:

Surely ticks were made by Satan himself rather than God. :dogdry:

 

[tx_cowgirl]

And also, what brands do you guys recommend?

 

[fickla]

I have no idea. My dogs have never gotten fleas or ticks but we don't live in the country. I just use Frontline and apply it every month. I do not envy you with that situation!

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Ugh consider yourself incredibly lucky!!! They are very hard to get rid of. ><

 

[lilypup]

ticks freak me out. the other day i found for the first time one on my dog and one on me... UNDER my hat. lilypup is on a once a month pill for fleas. i need to check if it covers ticks. i use spearmint oil for other bugs and it works. i don't know if it will do ticks, tho it's supposed to.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

I've never heard of spearmint oil being used for insects. Hmm.

I've been told washing them with Dawn dish soap kills the fleas/ticks on them. Won't repel them, but will kill what is already on them. I haven't tried it and not sure if I will or not, but people swear by it.

 

[lilypup]

mm. i use a store-bought natural spray. decided to look the subject up on the web. the spearmint doesn't do ticks. they say Lavender, Lemongrass, Sage and Thyme are what do it. also, rose geranium is another one.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

I try to stick to natural repellents but they typically only last 1 week at most. I can't afford to reapply every single week. Thanks for the other tips!! Think we're going to plant some lavender for sure. We're replanting our flower bed at the moment so we'll have to get some tick-repelling plants. Thanks a bunch!