The spring and autumn seasons are when ticks are more likely to appear outdoors, and unfortunately to appear on your dog. Along with these parasites can come a host of diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease. Some of these diseases can further be passed onto humans and cats. Read on to understand this health threat more, and what you can do to treat and prevent it.

Ticks can latch on anywhere along your dog's skin, but they usually place themselves near the ears, between toes, and in armpits. Ticks pierce the skin with their mouths, and eat their host's blood. The tick's saliva can enter the bloodstream, thereby passing on diseases. Within the first 5 to 20 hours on the skin, ticks can leave their eggs behind.

Now if you go on a hike where ticks are widespread, then you should check your dog all over, just in case. If you find a couple of ticks, you should be able to pluck them out. But do be careful, as ticks' blood can pose a health threat to you. You need to be wearing disposable plastic (or rubber) gloves. If you find the tick is not embedded in the skin, then tweezers should do the trick. There are also a number of tools available today for getting rid of ticks. When you have gotten a tick off, you can put it in rubbing alcohol to kill it. Do not flush it, because it will survive, only to continue being a parasite. Also you will want to wash the tweezers very well using hot water and alcohol.

What if the head is embedded in the skin? You will have to be meticulous, because just pinching at the body and pulling away could leave the head inside the skin. You will need to use the removing tool or tweezers as close in to the dog's skin as possible without actually pinching it, and then pull out the tick. If the head or anything of the mouth is left behind in your dog's skin, then you will eventually notice it swelling and turning red. This should not last longer than a few days. Some antibiotic ointment should usually keep away an infection. If the bite does get infected, or if it seems to look worse, then be sure to contact your veterinarian.

If your pooch has more than a few ticks on them, then you will need an insecticide dip. This can have pyrethrins (natural or synthetic) specifically meant to target ticks, or you can get an organophosphate dip, like Paramite. Then you will need to treat the area where your dog sleeps, ensuring that there are no ticks present. If you find ticks inside your dog's ears, then you will need the help of a veterinarian to remove these.

The good news is that you may be able to prevent a tick from embedding itself on your pet. This is because it will take several hours before a tick can stick its head in and transfer disease. If you know that your dog has been running through the woods or fields, then you can inspect it for ticks so can you can remove them before they embed. Tick collars may also be useful in keeping ticks off your pet. These benefits could last as much as three months. Such collars should not be placed on puppies that are younger than 12 weeks old, and if there are young children who could inadvertently touch the collar, this could be inadvisable as well. You can discuss tick treatment and prevention with your vet to come up with the best care for your pet.