Ticks and your dog!

This is special for my sister and her beautiful AmStaff Jane!  Here are several different things to try to repel ticks and other parasites - all from The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care.

Hall's insect spray (blended together in a spray bottle and misted liberally on yourself and your pets as needed):

• 20 drops rose geranium oil (or palmarosa)
• 3 drops citronella oil
• splash of bay leaf tincture
• 10 ounces of water

Some dogs (and people) cannot tolerate palmarosa due to its intense rose smell, so you can substitute opopanax instead.  Some people swear by Avon's Skin So Soft diluted down and sprayed on pets as a tick repellent.  You can also make your own flea/tick herbal repellent collar!  Mix the ingredients below and soak a fabric collar in the ingredients in a shallow bowl or a plastic bag until soaked and then drain on a paper towel before using.  The ingredients are very forgiving, so don't worry about being 100% precise.  You can recharge the collar every couple days by dabbing the mixture on the collar.

Insect Repellent Oil for Herbal Flea Collar:

• 1 part French basil oil
• 1 part cedar oil
• 1 part cinnamon oil
• 1 part citronella oil
• 1 part clove oil
• 1 part lemon oil
• 1 part lavender oil
• 1 part pennyroyal oil
• 1 part rose geranium, palmarosa or opopanax oil
• Carrier oil (like grapeseed or almond oil, etc.) - equal to or less the total amount of the above oil.

Disclaimer - this is NOT safe for pregnant animals due to several of the ingredients.

One more spray to try below.  Many discount the use of herbs and oils for repellent purposes, but there is a long history of their proven success- so just try it out and make adjustments as necessary - there are lots of different choices of essential oils which repel bugs!  Inspect your dog as often as you can, daily if possible, so that you can remove any ticks that may find their way to camping out.

Insect/Tick Repellent Spray

• 20 drops rose geranium, palmarosa or opopanax oil
• 3 drops citronella oil
• 3 drops rosemary or lavender oil
• 3 drops clove oil
• 1 tbsp. bay rum or bay tincture (alcohol base)
• 1 tbsp. black walnut hull tincture (alcohol base)

Mix all of those together and add to 1 cup of aloe vera gel/juice or water or a mixture of both.  This is an all-purpose repellent that repels fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, everything!

-OR-

I do not have time for the above mixing (although I wish I did), so I use a spray made by Cedarcide industries called Best Yet, info can be found at http://www.cedarcidestore.com/cedarproducts.html (this stuff is kind of oily at first, so spray them outside and let them run around a bit before coming back inside).  I rotate between that and Apple Cider Vinegar in a simple dollar store spray bottle.  The Apple Cider Vinegar can be used internally as well for digestion and adding trace minerals, just make sure it is RAW!  They both stink, but they work!

Removing a tick: make sure you grasp it firmly with tweezers at the head, as close to the dog's skin as possible and pull straight back, no twisting or pulling and NO chemicals to remove the ticks - doing so can cause the tick to regurgitate its stomach contents and cause a hypodermic effect.  After you remove the tick, apply either a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution, diluted tea tree oil or diluted grapefruit seed extract or all three - an antiseptic like one of these is important because they kill the Lyme disease bacteria on contact.

Best of luck to all!