Ticks are technically arachnids, but we just see them as bugs. Ticks are what are called external parasites, meaning that they live by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and even sometimes reptiles and amphibians. Ticks live across the world in warmer and more humid environments.
Ticks generally live in the areas that grass meets the woods. The biggest concern with ticks is the diseases that they carry, the most common diseases that affect dogs in North America are Lyme Disease, Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Babesiosis.
These are the diseases that ticks can pass from themselves to your dogs and sometimes even you. Another more rare disease is American canine hepatozoonosis, that doesn’t come from the tick biting the dog, but instead from a dog eating infected ticks.
There are many different specific types of ticks that exist in the world. The most common tick in North America are deer ticks, lone star ticks, black-legged ticks, American dog ticks, rocky mountain wood ticks, and brown dog ticks. Each of these ticks has the possibility of carrying different diseases with them, so it’s important to know that any tick is not a good tick for you or your pup.
Ticks are small and their bites don’t hurt, so you and your dog may not even feel them at all.
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