ticks - what do i do?

just wanted some advice before i panic. peggy labx has 2 ticks on her what should i do? i know you shouldnt pull them out as it can cause tick to break off and cause an infection but apart from that i know nothing as never had this problem before.

you can get some really good tick removal tools from the vets
you need to be able to get hold of the tick as near to the skin as you can with tweezers or better a removal tool, twist and pull ,make sure you remove the head and try not to squash their body as you try to get them off

Just found this on the net:-

Should I go to the Vet if my Dog gets Ticks?

The short answer to your question is no. I do not think that it is always necessary to visit the vet when a dog has ticks. Ticks are unsightly, and occasionally transmit unpleasant diseases to dogs. They lie within the undergrowth waiting for a suitable host to pass by. When something warm comes along, they jump aboard for a blood meal. When they first arrive on the host they are small (1-2mm diameter), and you are unlikely to see them at this stage. They will however begin to suck blood immediately, and if they are carrying a transmissible disease this will be injected into the host when the tick first feeds. As they feed they get larger and become more visible, and after about four days of getting bigger and bigger they die and fall off the host. The next stage of the life cycle would then be to deposit eggs in the environment. The best policy, therefore, is to try to stop ticks getting hold of your dog in the first place. If you regularly visit, or anticipate visiting, an area where there is a large population of sheep (the usual host for ticks) then it may be wise to take preventive measures such as application of an insecticide to your dog before your visit (your vet will be able to advise). If a tick does attach itself to your dog, it will be too late to stop transmission of tick borne diseases. Thankfully however they are relatively rare. Once the tick is on the dog it may be left there until it drops off naturally, or may be killed using an insecticide to speed its removal. It is unwise to try to pull ticks off as this is likely to lead to tearing of the animal, leaving the mouthparts in the dogs skin, which can lead to the formation of an abscess. The only times you would need to visit a vet when a dog has ticks would be if you were in any doubt about whether the items in question were actually ticks, if you needed to acquire some appropriate insecticide or most importantly if the tick had lodged itself in a sensitive place on the dog, such an eyelid and thus required early and very careful removal. Angela Bodey MRCVS (Vet for PetPlanet)

We have a HUGE problem with Lyme disease here in the U.S. I don't know
if the UK has the same problem.

A few years ago, I found deer ticks on my dog. Those are the little black
ones. I immediately tried to pick them all off and then I brought her down
to my vet to get tested for Lyme disease. The test came back positive.
He immediately put her on antibiotics for a month. Supposedly, she will
always test positive, but because I caught it quickly, the virus will remain
dormant in her system.

Unfortunately, the Lyme disease vaccination doesn't work. I had her
vaccinated AND I have her on flea/tick medicine that you put between
your dog's shoulder blades and she still got Lyme disease.

Like I said, I don't know if you have a problem with it over there, but if
you do and you find ticks on your dog, I would recommend bringing the
dog to the vet to get tested.

Our dogs get ticks all the time during summer, Lymes disease is known over here but it is very (very) rare! I've yet to meet a dog owner whose dog has suffered from it but I have met about 10-20 people who have had it through tick bites.
www.otom.com is where we get our tick removal kits it also has details on recognising Lymes disease symptoms which you may want to read just incase.
You can just remove ticks by placing your fingernails just under the body and gently turning your fingers (don't know why but anti clockwise works best for me!) but the tools are much easier to use.

In California I didnt see too many dogs with lymes disease (although I think its more common mid to north) we did see quite a lot of erlichia cases though.
Over here (Germany) Im using Stronghold.

You need to get the tick off as QUICKLY as possible! Don`t just wait for it to fall off as it takes time to pass disease on.

You have Lyme disease in UK, others diseases they carry are Babesia, Erlichia & can`t remember the others but don`t think they are endemic in UK yet

If you can`t remove tick yourself then I`d suggest asking vet to show you how

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD004548.html

Hi Blackies Mum you can buy a little tick removering tool from the vet and keep it with you, it just hooks around the tick and is easy to use . Another thing to try is to coat the tick with vasaline . We always use to use a lighted glowing taper and just touch the end of the tick with this and it would let go and drop off instantly. After removing the tick bath the area with antiseptic.

Vaseline is an option but not too effective as the tick can fall off anywhere in the house and you're stuck wondering what happened to it.
Lighting a taper and burning the tick is very risky, ticks when injured can regurgitate blood back into the dog which increases the risk of disease and infection.

Tick tool is the way to go

They tell me that this is no longer recommended, as apparently this causes the tick to regurgitate the sucked blood (along with any disease they are carrying) into the blood stream.

Edit: Ooops, Malinky posted whilst I was typing this!