As my husband walked in the door my dog, let me repeat, MY dog ran up to him and told him he felt violated. My dog, Lou, continued to tell my husband that I had looked not only at his fur and crevices, but at his arm pits and privates. What he did not communicate was the events that led up to this earlier in the week.
On a rare beautiful day in April, in Michigan (very rare) my husband and I took our two dogs for a walk in a nature preserve. The previous week there was at least a few inches of snow in some locations. This time, not only was the snow gone, but everything seemed to be coming back to life, with a little touch of green here and there, even a frog jumping from the path back into the stream it had recently awoke in.
While there we came within a few feet of a blue herring standing in its own little pond of water, a small group of deer and many very happy birds that announced to anyone who did not already realize spring was here.
That night as I lay down I noticed my head itched, but since it had been very windy while we were on our walk, I didn’t pay much attention to it.
The following day I gathered my things to work on assignments. I had my diet coke, my computer, my blanket and some papers and books, as well as one dog on my lap and the other at my feet. My husband and son had left the house for a few hours, so I was going to get a lot accomplished, or so I thought. As I worked on my computer I itched my head again and noticed something that should not be there, a little bump. What is that I wondered as I pulled it from my head, long strands of hair making it difficult? As I looked I jumped up, reflectively throwing the tick that I had just removed from my head, as well as my dog, blanket and computer.
A TICK! And not just a tick, but a tick on my head. They are not supposed to be on me or in my house. We have lived here more than 10 years and I have never seen a tick here. Then it dawned on me. The long grass next to us as we walked on the paths at the nature preserve, where we come very close to deer and other wild animals that have ticks as well. Shoot, what about my dogs, I have not put the flea tick treatment on them yet as we still had snow last week.
Then I realized all of the chemicals that must be in flea/tick treatments. I started searching on line for alternatives to the toxic stuff I have always used. What I found was brewer’s yeast and garlic. I feed both of my dogs treats stuffed with pieces of raw garlic, checking the floor to make sure they had not spit it out afterwards.
After showering and making sure I didn’t have any more ticks on me, I vacuumed and cleaned my house for a few hours, trying to make sure the tick that I had thrown was no longer walking around my house. Then I spent hours checking my dog’s fur for ticks, with tweezers and alcohol and oil in the ready position.
Later that night my son called me into the hall. Right outside my bedroom door a tick sat on the wall. All the cleaning I had done to ensure he was not walking around my house did nothing, except clean my house. The tick was placed in a gob of greasy hair stuff and tissue, before being placed in the toilet and flushed out of my house.
Hi Kris,
ReplyDeleteMy friends give their cat baths with a tick/flea soap. Non toxic. They say it works because afterwards there are dead fleas laying around where the cat sleeps. I will find out its name and send it to you so you can try it on your dogs. It is hard one - those ticks are really going to have a great spring and summer - all the snow kept them safe and warm in the ground this winter... heavy snow...heavy ticks. So they say. Be careful out there and do your daily tick check.
Kris,
ReplyDeleteWe use Ark Naturals Neem "Protect" Shampoo and Spray on Rangeley. Obviously, we bathe him in the shampoo, but we use the spray generously before we head into the woods. We have never found a tick (or flea) on him!
The products do not list all ingredients, but the active ingredients are neem oil, citronella oil, celery seed oil, and eucalyptus oil. The label also says that they do not use sodium laurel sulfate, DEET, pyrethrins, synthetic pyrethroids, or permethrin. FYI: Rangeley also gets Ark Naturals Gentle Digest (prebiotics & probiotics), which has essentially eliminated his stinky gas!
http://www.arknaturals.com/default.aspx
Kris,
ReplyDeleteGood for you for keeping it together long enough to look for a safe alternative!!!
I have a unique talent for attracting ticks, so I understand how you felt. I once walked through a nest of baby deer ticks; it was awful!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, your hate of ticks will definitely save you and your dog’s health, Kris. American dog tick, or simply wood tick, is a carrier of pathogens that cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Even though ticks can be managed without pesticides, I recommend that you use acaricide sprays when necessary.
ReplyDelete- Maurise Gelman
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ReplyDeleteI’m very fond of taking care of pets. In fact, I have a pretty cat and an adorable dog at home. I was kinda amazed that they get along just fine, though their respective personalities are contradicting. Anyway, like with your dog, they also acquired ticks that annoyed me for weeks! Fortunately, my husband knew a good veterinarian and a good pest exterminator. They both helped us in dealing with the pests on our pets and in our home. I hope that this incident won’t happen to both of us again. :)
ReplyDelete-- Annabelle Millard