How to remove a tick from a dog

To remove a tick from a dog, part the fur, grip the tick as close to the skin as you can with fine-tipped tweezers or a tick removal tool, and pull it out with steady, even pressure, without squeezing its body. Then clean the bite and your hands, and keep an eye on the spot and on your dog for a few weeks. Don’t burn the tick or smother it with petroleum jelly, oil or nail polish.

Ticks can carry diseases such as Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis, and the risk grows the longer they feed, so it is worth removing any tick as soon as you spot it.

What you need

• Fine-pointed tweezers (not the broad, flat-tipped kind used for eyebrows), or a tick removal tool (a small hook or card that slides under the tick)
• Gloves, if you have them
• Antiseptic wipes or soap and water
• A small jar or bag with a lid, or some sticky tape
• Treats, and a helper to hold and reassure your dog

How to remove a tick, step by step

1. Keep your dog calm and still

Have a helper gently hold your dog, or do it while they are relaxed and lying down. Part the fur so you can see exactly where the tick’s head meets the skin. Good light helps.

2. Grip the tick right at the skin

With tweezers: grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible, around the head and mouthparts, not the swollen body. Squeezing the body can push the tick’s fluids into the bite.

With a tick tool: slide the slot of the hook or card under the tick against the skin until it holds the tick at the head. Follow the instructions for your tool: many are designed to be turned gently as you lift.

3. Pull it out steadily

With tweezers, pull straight away from the skin with steady, even pressure. Don’t jerk or twist: that can break off the mouthparts and leave them in the skin. It may take a few seconds for the tick to let go.

4. Check what came out

Look at the tick. You should see its legs and tiny head. If the mouthparts broke off and stayed in, try to lift them out with clean tweezers. If you can’t do it easily, leave them alone: the skin usually pushes them out as it heals.

5. Dispose of the tick safely

Don’t crush it with your fingers. The CDC suggests:

• sealing it in a bag or container,
• wrapping it tightly in tape,
• putting it in rubbing alcohol, or
• flushing it down the toilet.

If you live in an area where tick-borne disease is a concern, you can keep it in a sealed container in the freezer with the date and where it was found, in case your vet wants to know what kind of tick it was.

6. Clean up

Clean the bite with an antiseptic wipe or soap and water, and wash your hands well. Give your dog a treat.

7. Check for more ticks

Where there is one, there are often more. Check the whole dog, especially:

• in and around the ears
• around the eyelids
• under the collar or harness
• in the armpits and groin
• between the toes
• around the tail and bottom

What not to do

• Don’t burn the tick with a match or cigarette. You may burn your dog, and it doesn’t make the tick let go cleanly.
• Don’t smother it with petroleum jelly, nail polish, oils, alcohol or other substances. The CDC warns these may agitate the tick and force infected fluid into the skin.
• Don’t squeeze, crush or twist a tick with your fingers.
• Don’t pull at the body with blunt tweezers.
• Don’t panic about a small bump. A small red lump at the bite site for a few days is common.

Aftercare: what to watch for

Keep an eye on the bite for a few days and on your dog for several weeks. Signs of tick-borne disease in dogs can take a week to three weeks or longer to appear, and Lyme disease in dogs can take longer still.

Call your vet if you notice:

• the bite becoming red, swollen, hot, painful or oozing, or a lump that grows
• lethargy, or your dog seeming unwell or out of sorts
• fever (hot, shivery, quiet)
• loss of appetite
• lameness, stiffness or swollen joints, especially if it moves from leg to leg (a classic sign of Lyme disease)
• pale gums, bruising or nosebleeds
• wobbliness or weakness

Tell your vet when you removed the tick and where your dog picked it up. If your dog is limping, our guide on why a dog might be limping explains what else to look for.

Paralysis ticks: an emergency

In parts of Australia, paralysis ticks can cause rapidly spreading weakness, a change in bark, coughing, gagging or difficulty breathing. If you find a tick and your dog shows any of these signs, remove it if you can and go to a vet immediately.

Preventing ticks

Removing ticks quickly is the second line of defence. The first is prevention:

• Use a tick preventive all year or through tick season, as your vet recommends. Vaccines don’t exist for most tick-borne diseases in dogs, so prevention matters. Our guide to flea and tick prevention for dogs compares spot-ons, tablets and collars.
• Check your dog every day in tick season, especially after walks in long grass, woodland, moorland and areas with deer or sheep.
• Ask about the Lyme vaccine if you live in a high-risk area: it is available for dogs in some countries.
• Keep grass short and paths clear in your garden.
• Never use dog tick products on cats. Some contain permethrin, which is highly toxic to cats.

If keeping up with monthly preventives is the hard part, PetTrackr can put your dog’s flea and tick treatment on the plan and remind you when the next dose is due.