How To Remove A Tick From A Dog Without Tweezers

Dogs and ticks is a long story that goes back hundreds of years! If you are a dog owner then you should know by now that ticks are a dog’s worst enemy. These bugs stick to your dogs and can cause several problems from iteration to skin allergies.

The most common tick removal method is by using tweezers. This tool looks like a pair of Chinese chopsticks that can be used to manually pick ticks one by one. A lot of dog owners don’t favor this method because it can crush the tick and leave its head (and sometimes the guts too) stuck in your dog’s skin which leads to serious skin complications like infections.

Table of Contents

What are the symptoms that my dog has ticks?
How To Remove a Tick From a Dog Without Tweezers
1. How to remove ticks with dog body wash?
2. How to remove ticks with a cotton ball and alcohol?
3. How to remove ticks from dogs using vaseline?
How to Remove Ticks from dogs with a tick-removal kit?
How to prevent your dog from getting ticks?

What are the symptoms that my dog has ticks?

There are different symptoms that indicate that your dog has ticks, usually, these signs are obvious, but other times the symptoms are less severe. Here are some but not all the symptoms of dogs suffering from ticks:

How To Remove a Tick From a Dog Without Tweezers

Scratching, biting, or licking of certain areas of the skin. Once a tick comes in contact with your dogs’ skin it bites on it and drills a whole where it lives. This usually causes irritation for your dog especially when the tick is in a warm moist place, it will cause skin inflammation which will push your dog to scratch or bite that area constantly.
Constant head shakes. This happens because of ticks stuck on your dog’s head or ears. These 2 areas are sensitive and pretty irritating for your dog, that’s why he keeps on shaking his head or scratching his ears.
Unusual behavior. Your dog’s behavior will give him away. If you see your dog acting weird or winning chances are that he’s suffering from ticks. Always pay attention to your dog’s behavior.

Ticks are big enough for you to spot them, they seem like dark spots or lumps on your dog’s body. Sometimes they are tough to spot if your dog has a strong dark coat, however, you can brush the coat or run your hand through it to spot the ticks.

How To Remove a Tick From a Dog Without Tweezers

We have researched and recommended some safe and painless ways to get rid of ticks without special tools. Please follow these mentioned effective strategies to eliminate naturally step by step.

1. How to remove ticks with dog body wash?

This is usually the safest and the best option for removing ticks without tweezers. There are special dog body washes that you can use while showering your dog. These washes will help clean up your dog, make him smell better, and most importantly get rid of ticks stuck to your dog.

There are different kinds and brands of tick wash but most of them can do the job just fine and are really easy to use; just wash your dog like you wash your self with a focus on areas where the ticks are found, repeat several times until no ticks are left.you can watch this video for further explanation on how to use dog tick wash.

2. How to remove ticks with a cotton ball and alcohol?

This method is recommended by vets in case you don’t find tick wash. It certainly does take time, but it’s very efficient and one of the safest methods you can use to remove ticks from dogs without tweezers.

This method is also easy to apply, you just need a cotton ball and some alcohol. Dip the cotton ball in alcohol and apply it on the tick until it’s well soaked in alcohol. Ticks breathe through their skin and applying alcohol on them will suffocate them causing them to drop from the whole they are buried in. Furthermore, the alcohol will disinfect and clean the area which most likely will be infected and inflamed because of the tick.

3. How to remove ticks from dogs using vaseline?

Many pet owners prefer using vaseline to remove ticks from their dog because of how safe and gentle it is for their dog. Using this method even an annoyed dog will allow you to remove some ticks using vaseline.

Applying this method to remove ticks from your dog is equally easy (exactly like the previous method), you just need to apply some vaseline on the tick and wait for it to drop by itself. This might take some time since ticks have a slow metabolism and some time to suffocate, but once you apply enough vaseline nothing else is required from you.

This method is guaranteed to work because ticks need to breathe eventually and the vaseline prevents it from doing that so the tick just let go from the dog’s skin to try and breathe.

There are many variants for this method in terms of applied liquid, some dog owners use alcohol, other vaseline, dish soap, and even olive oil. The approach is the same and so is the result just make sure that the liquid you apply won’t cause skin problems for your dogs like irritations or inflammation.

How to Remove Ticks from dogs with a tick-removal kit?

Tick removal kits are special kits that include tools made especially to remove ticks. the difference between them and tweezers is that a tick-removal kit is made to go under the tick’s body and fully eradicate it from the dog’s skin. This allows you to get rid of the tick without leaving the head inside the skin or regurgitate its gut content.

These kits are available for cheap in Amazon and you can order one online, they are pretty safe and easy to use, even vets sometimes use such kits to remove ticks without tweezers.

How to prevent your dog from getting ticks?

The best way of preventing your dog from getting ticks all over him is by keeping your dog clean. Ticks usually live in dirty spots and around dumpsters where they will find stray dogs to attach to, therefore, keeping your dog away from these spots will help prevent him from getting ticks.

Furthermore, you make sure to shower your dog at least once every week and use tick wash to eliminate any ticks that might have been attached to your dog during the week.

Recommended Article:

How To Remove a Tick From a Dog Without Tweezers – Smart Dog Mom