Do you know where fleas and ticks hide in your home? They can be found in a variety of places such as the cracks in hardwood floors; on the couch, bed or chair cushions; in rugs and carpets, and on your dog’s bed and blankets.
Even though in many states the temperatures are falling, it is still important to be tick aware - for your dog’s and family’s safety. The best way to help you deal with ticks in your home is to prevent them from entering. What can you do?
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Put a fence up to reduce the number of tick carrying animals strolling through your yard
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Keep your lawn mowed and remove dead leaves/piles of brush
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If you take a walk in the woods, check yourself and your dog before you enter your house
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Put your walking clothes in the wash immediately so ticks do not have a chance to move into your home
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Vacuum your car if you drove it right after your walk
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Keeping your house clean helps too. Vacuuming removes up to 30% of flea larvae and up to 60% of flea eggs from rugs, carpets and bedding. Using a quality HEPA vacuum will reduce ticks and
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Vacuum regularly (Using a robotic vacuum helps - see the post on How to Solve the Pet Hair Problem)
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Check your pet using a flea comb
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Treat your pet with flea and tick treatments
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Keep your dog’s bed clean - vacuum daily and wash weekly
How to Check Your Dog for Ticks
Use the picture to the left to find out the spots on your dog where ticks like to attach. Ticks like the warm areas, such as the ears and under legs. I have removed ticks off my dog’s nose as well as every spot on the picture.
Using a sharp tick removal tweezer, grabbing at the mouth of the tick and pulling gently works the best for me. Some ticks really hang on so it may take a minute or two. Always give a reward as I give my dog and myself a treat after it is all over!
PawSheets Can Help
Changing your dog’s bed cover weekly can be a pain. So why not use a fitted sheet that can easily changed every week? That’s what inspired PawSheets. PawSheet customers send me emails telling me they use PawSheets on chair or couch cushions. It‘s a great idea!
Photo by Erik Karits on Unsplash