Trouble in paradise … the Island is one of the world’s hotspots for ticks and tick diseases.  Not every tick carries a disease, but still . . . it doesn’t hurt to be careful. 

Thankfully, tick diseases are relatively easy to diagnose and inexpensive to treat, especially if you’ve had an early diagnosis.  

Frankly, here at Good Dog Goods, we are pretty worried about the effects of chronic use of chemical preventives.   We ask which is worse—the disease, the prevention, or the ‘cure’?!  So, we searched for a natural tick and flea repellant and found a wonderful product.  

Here’s what we suggest…

 every time you take your dog outdoors  (and this product is completely safe for cats also!), apply our Flea and Tick Spray.  It takes just a minute to spray noses, ears, feet, under the belly, down the chest, and a quick spray over the top and sides.  When you’re done with the dog, spritz yourself and you’re off!

Not only do ticks and fleas not like the way it makes us all smell, it’s a wonderfully effective mosquito, black fly, green head fly, and gnat repellant.

Vineyard tennis players, landscapers, farmers, and horseback riders use it to keep annoying flying insects away.  Mothers use it for babies.  Children wear it to out to play.  Take it to the beach!  Keep a bottle on the boat, in the truck, the carriage, the bike.  Reapply it after a swim or a shower…

It is very light and not oily.  It smells like citrus, so everyone is comfortable wearing it.  It won’t stain or get sticky.  After an hour or so, we can’t smell it, but bugs still can.  It’s made of essential oils in a base of distilled water—nontoxic and completely safe.

THEN, if you absolutely must, use the flea and tick topical* that your vet recommends (and please buy it from them or through them).  Apply the smallest possible dose** and try not to use it more than a few times a year***.  Reapply it only when you’re sure it’s no longer working , rather than every single month. Understand your exposure and work with it, lessening your dog’s (and your family’s) immune challenges from chemicals. 

Ingredients:  Essential Oils of Erigeron, Rose Geranium, Eucalyptus & Ravensara, Extracts of St. John’s Wort, Wormwood, Black Walnut Hulls, Neem, Rue and Holy Basil in a base of super-oxygenated distilled water.

Flea and Tick Spray (8 oz.) in a pump spray bottle $29.95.

Flea & Tick Spray (8 oz.): $29.95 ea.

If you DO find a tick on your dog or cat or self, we have a wonderful little tool to remove it easily and completely.  It is practically effortless.   Then, to discard the tick, wrap it in a piece of scotch tape and throw it out.  You can also drop it into a small amount of alcohol.  Simple . . .

Tick Hook (set of two) $ 5.95 includes photo instructions.

Tick Hook (set of 2):  $5.95 ea.

*Advantix, which is made by the Bayer company, is the only product of this sort which we feel comfortable using on our own dogs.  Even that we use only when we have no other choice—and it’s very toxic to cats, so be careful.

**if your dog or cat weighs 21#, and the dosage break is 11 – 20#, don’t go to the next higher dosage.  If your dog weights 35#, think about whether you really want to use a dosage that would work for a dog that weighs 55#.  Discuss this with your veterinarian.
 
***when do you actually have a tick problem in your area?  Do you have a problem at all?   Is it year-round or seasonal?  When are your own dogs most likely to be in a place when they could pick up ticks?  Is there a time of year, in your area, when tick exposures cause the most trouble?  Not all ticks carry disease . . .again, please have a frank conversation with your veterinarian and ask them to help you help your animal—and the other members of your family.

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