How to Protect Your Dog From Ticks in the Yard

What Are Ticks?

Ticks are small, round or pear-shaped parasites that are difficult to spot in grass or on your dog's coat. When engorged with blood, they can grow larger than a pencil eraser. Once attached to your dog, ticks can transmit serious diseases including Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Ehrlichiosis.

How Do Ticks Bite?

Ticks can't fly or jump — they climb onto grass blades, leaves, or branches and wait for a host. When they sense carbon dioxide, heat, or moisture from a nearby animal, they raise their front legs in a "questing" posture and grab on as your dog passes by.

Once attached, a tick inserts a barbed feeding tube into the skin. Compounds in their saliva increase blood flow, prevent clotting, suppress immune response, and anesthetize the bite — your dog won't feel a thing. If left undiscovered, a tick can feed for days, giving pathogens ample time to cause infection.

How to Keep Ticks Out of Your Yard

• Pesticide Treatment: Spray your yard twice a year with a pet-safe tick-specific outdoor pesticide.
• Build a Natural Barrier: Line the perimeter of your yard — especially near wooded areas — with gravel, wood chips, or mulch to block tick migration.
• Yard Maintenance: Keep grass trimmed and bushes pruned. Overgrown vegetation is prime tick habitat.
• De-clutter: Remove leaf piles, woodpiles, and rock clusters where ticks like to nest.
• Check Their Coat: After every outdoor session, comb through your dog's fur carefully. Ticks are easy to miss. Browse our dog grooming collection for fine-tooth combs and grooming tools.
• Year-Round Preventives: Ask your vet about tick-control medications at your twice-yearly checkups. See our guide on dog parasites for more on year-round prevention.

What to Do if You Find a Tick on Your Dog

Remove it immediately — infection can usually be avoided if the tick is removed within 48 hours. Use fine-tipped tweezers, gripping as close to the skin as possible. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. After removal, disinfect the wound, tweezers, and your hands. Save the tick in a sealed jar to bring to your vet if symptoms develop.

Do NOT:

• Use your fingers
• Flick, jerk, or twist the tweezers (mouthparts can break off)
• Squeeze the tick's abdomen (can release stomach contents into the wound)
• Use nail polish, petroleum jelly, rubbing alcohol, or a hot match to loosen it

If your dog shows any signs of illness after a tick bite, contact your vet right away. For more on outdoor dog safety, see our guides on protecting your dog in winter and running with your dog safely.