# How do you recognise a tick?



## dannyra (Aug 5, 2008)

With a tick, only their head is in the skin. You'd be able to move it a little, plus you should be able to notice legs.
If a tick has burried it's head, after a few hours to a day they will be very engorged. 

http://www.tickinfo.com/


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Yeah, if it's a tick, you'll see a little black bug in the middle of the spot, waving its tiny legs. Ticks don't burrow past the head. They can be teeny tiny, but you'd be able to see at least a black dot, and if you got a magnifying glass, you'd see a horrible little bug.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Penny has had 2 ticks in her life and they both looked the same: like a green grape attached to her skin, but wiggly like a grape on a short stem.

From what I learned today, the green grape type are dog ticks, not deer ticks. Deer ticks are tiny. 

Here's a link I found helpful:

http://www.oes.org/html/how_2_identify_different_ticks.html


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Thank you so much for all the info. I had already read a bit on the internet but it's better to get info from people who loves dog and have seen it first hand.

Can I get rid of it myself (Amber let's me do anything to her she is very relaxed with me)? Or shall I take her to the vet tomorrow to have it removed and have STICHES... ? 

I am not a professional, breeder or vet but I do know my little beast.. I want what is best for her..

I do not want to wait another 2 weeks like the vet said...


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

No need for a vet or stitches. If it is a tick it's a bug that is on the outside of the skin. Looks like these:

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/pets/guineafowltickphotos.htm

check out this thread for a really easy way to remove it. Or you can grasp it with a pair if tweezers and with a steady light pull, take it off.

http://goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=55284


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

My understanding is that the ticks that are larger and appear green, are ticks that are engorged. I've found what I thought was a pea on the floor and it was an engorged tick that had fallen off Sam. I don't know how I missed it, because I checked him daily, but I did. He never got sick from this tick. He did get Lyme years later, from a tick I never did see.



wishihad2goldens said:


> Penny has had 2 ticks in her life and they both looked the same: like a green grape attached to her skin, but wiggly like a grape on a short stem.
> 
> From what I learned today, the green grape type are dog ticks, not deer ticks. Deer ticks are tiny.
> 
> ...


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Dog said:


> Thank you so much for all the info. I had already read a bit on the internet but it's better to get info from people who loves dog and have seen it first hand.
> 
> Can I get rid of it myself (Amber let's me do anything to her she is very relaxed with me)? Or shall I take her to the vet tomorrow to have it removed and have STICHES... ?
> 
> ...


No, it's not a tick. If it's a red bump with no bug on it, there's no tick to remove. If you see a tick, you can easily remove it yourself but grabbing it with tweezers as close to the skin as you can and then pulling it gently but firmly away from the skin.


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## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

we had a hard time telling...

Noah had what we thought was an embedded tick. We could not tell and could not remove it. So we went to the vet. Well Noah had a freckle on his well...nipple. And he had an inverted nipple(s). So I took fur face to the vet only to be told it was an inverted nipple. :doh:

Vet said it's pretty common...and agreed Noahs was hard to tell what it was at first. Still felt stupid.


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## nixietink (Apr 3, 2008)

Noey said:


> we had a hard time telling...
> 
> Noah had what we thought was an embedded tick. We could not tell and could not remove it. So we went to the vet. Well Noah had a freckle on his well...nipple. And he had an inverted nipple(s). So I took fur face to the vet only to be told it was an inverted nipple. :doh:
> 
> Vet said it's pretty common...and agreed Noahs was hard to tell what it was at first. Still felt stupid.


Aww, what a good doggy parent.  I did laugh a little bit though...

If it is a tick, you will know without a doubt. Ugh, I hate ticks so so much.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I just came back from a campout and have been picking off the little seed ticks (off the humans)
Even with those little ittybitty things its obvious its a bug because you can see the legs and the body comes up from skin like a flap.


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Thank you so much for all your advices.

Yes it was red and no I guess it wasn't a tick after all. I cleaned and desinfected it every other day and it simply disappeared a few days ago (or it is hiding)... 

We truly can't find it anymore. Amber is loving the attention though... 
Every now and then I still turn her upside down and frisk her to look for it...

:wave:


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## BJSalz (Mar 24, 2009)

We're waiting for our pup to come home and I'm still learning.

A tick embeds its head and doesn't jump like fleas do?

We just bought a home on 1 1/2 acres that is wooded on one side. We're eventually getting invisible fencing, so when we do and our dog has access to the whole yard; would I check him for ticks every time before coming inside? We have deer that pass thru our yard daily; should I worry about deer ticks as well as the other kind mentioned? One is green and one is black?

Sorry to sound clueless.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

BJSalz said:


> We're waiting for our pup to come home and I'm still learning.
> 
> A tick embeds its head and doesn't jump like fleas do?
> 
> ...


Yes, ticks don't jump. They crawl, and slowly at that. They get on you by crawling up a blade of grass or a bush and grabbing you as you brush it. They can take hours to find a good spot to attach.

Ticks are all dark brown or black. The only time they're a little greenish is when they're full of blood, but it's really more gray than anything else. Deer ticks are the worst carriers of Lyme, and they're the smallest, so they're darn hard to see sometimes. Dog ticks, wood ticks, etc. can still carry diseases, but they're usually easier to see.

Check him regularly, keep your grass short, and use an anti-tick product like Advantix or Frontline. If TBDs are endemic in your area, it's wise to get blood tests for Lyme, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichia once or twice a year since there's a relatively inexpensive test for those three (SNAP 4Dx).


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

OK, I'm having a little confusion about what others are calling 'seed' ticks.....aren't these the tiny deer ticks?


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

Eeewww....this site is great for pics of all ticks/all life stages....even Tick videos......but now I have the 'crawlies'

Tippy, don't look!

http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/ticks/


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

moverking said:


> OK, I'm having a little confusion about what others are calling 'seed' ticks.....aren't these the tiny deer ticks?


I hadn't heard the term before, but some internet searches seem to indicate that it's an informal name for newly hatched ticks. The technical term for that life stage is "larva," but they just look like tiny, tiny ticks. I've definitely seen those. I've heard they can't transmit the disease because they're on their first host, but I'm not 100% sure about that.


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## BJSalz (Mar 24, 2009)

Thanks for your help. This tick stuff is going to make me paranoid.

Do you suggest a lawn fertilizer that gets rid of ticks?


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## BJSalz (Mar 24, 2009)

Meant to ask, do you pintch it like a flea to kill it? 

They don't fall off on furniture, carpeting or won't surprise you in the bed sheets at night?


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

BJSalz said:


> Thanks for your help. This tick stuff is going to make me paranoid.
> 
> Do you suggest a lawn fertilizer that gets rid of ticks?


I don't, but some people have luck with diatomaceous earth, for what it's worth.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

BJSalz said:


> Meant to ask, do you pintch it like a flea to kill it?
> 
> They don't fall off on furniture, carpeting or won't surprise you in the bed sheets at night?


Ticks are incredibly durable. I usually wash them down the sink with hot water or crush them between rocks if we're outdoors.

If you use a pesticide like Frontline or Advantix on your dog, the ticks should die within a few hours of contact with the dog. During that time, you may find them crawling on the dog (they seem to go to the top of our dogs' heads), on the floor, or elsewhere. Frontline works by eroding their little brains, so they're quite insane by that stage.

If you don't use a product, you may end up finding live, hungry ticks in your house if they happen to fall off the dog. They should prefer the dog, but that doesn't mean they won't come after you.


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

BJSalz said:


> Meant to ask, do you pintch it like a flea to kill it?
> 
> They don't fall off on furniture, carpeting or won't surprise you in the bed sheets at night?


Yes, yes, and yes on the last question.....

Try not to pinch it at all, especially if attached to your pup OR you. Pinching can potentially push whatever infected juices it holds back into you, increasing a TBD risk. Use tweezers to grasp as close to the skin as possible and pull away and out of the skin. And wash hands after even touching it.

As far as dispatching the tick after it's off....we had a thread recently that exposed the dark sides of our Golden Hearted members....:

Death by: drowning, dissection, hit with a mallet, burned.....


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## Tara123 (Nov 16, 2008)

Crap! ive pulled the tick out of my dog and the ticks head is still in there!!! Ive tried pulling some of his head out with half success.. Some of its head parts is still in there. What to do? Vets are closed since its 1st of may.


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