I always burn a match, blow it out and touch it to the ticks body. Then using fingernails get a good grip and just pull. Works on the dogs and cats and have never left a head in yet. Nasty little B****RS though aren't they!!

Hi Het, yes this was an ugly b**tard but quite small. I had the big magnifying glass on him when I was tweezering him and I zoomed in again when I put him on a piece of kitchen paper and he is quite intact, I didn't decapitate him when pulling him out.

Unfortunately, neither of the dogs will eat the garlic, so I will have to resort to the pills I think with their food in the hope that they'll do the same job as the fresh? I really don't want to go down the road of using Frontline pipettes again, as I'm sure they make my dogs itch more.

This one wasn't orange - more grey with black claws, hiddeous little thing, gave me the creeps seeing it under a magnifying glass!

Hi Jenny, some ticks can be different colours, mine get what we call Deer ticks which are an orangey red

Now you're frightening me! I am going to put some tea tree oil on them both before we go out tomorrow in the hope that this will put the ticks off as well as the fleas.
I have only ever had one tick attached to Cassie in 9 years, but I went straight to the vet with her as it was on the way home and I was worried I wouldn't get it off her properly. The next day, would you believe, she managed to get a flea in her ear! Lol! Took her to the vet as she was panicking with her ear, and as he went in with his instrument, the flea stuck to the end of it so he got it out! How lucky was that, coz it was driving her mad and I don't know how he would have got it out otherwise.

Don't worry Helen, as long as you got the head out. You did well to find it with your hairy pair!! Thats the good thing about GSPs, everythings fairly visible, I'm sure Zack has had loads that we have never found!!

I think you may be right on that one and it may have been the same with Cassie as she hates being groomed and checked over (she just wants to growl at George!) so I may well have missed them on her before now. This has definitely made me more aware of them now though. Yes, I think it was a good job it was on his ear with the thick coat he's got, as I noticed it straight away whilst I was giving him a big kiss on his nose whilst holding his ears!