Cheap Tick Defense for You and Your Dogs
Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 10:39 pm
Hello beaglers its tick season and they are BAD this year. I’ve literally pulled off hundreds of ticks from my dogs and myself. One left a red spot the size of a quarter in the middle of my back that itched for two weeks. I was leery of those disease carrying blood suckers, especially after a friend of mine got sick from a tick bite last year and another friend lost a dog due to a tick bite.
I’ve discovered a few cheap products that you may or may not use or know about.
First I will start with protecting yourself. I went to Bass Pro Shop and bought a Rynoskin insect protection shirt and pair of pants after reading the outstanding reviews on how they have helped protect other hunters from tick bites.
I’m a skeptic, just like you and don’t have money to waste, but since I started wearing the shirt and pants under my clothes I haven’t found a single tick attached to my body. I bought the shirt and pants for under $50 bucks at Bass Pro. You can check out the links below for more information.
Shirt: http://www.basspro.com/Rynoskin-Insect- ... _THUMBNAIL
Pants: http://www.basspro.com/Rynoskin-Insect- ... 305005525/
I also spray my outer wear with deep wood off with deet and wear a light weight light grey shirt so that I can detect ticks crawling on me easily.
Now I know that there are many ways to protect your beagles from ticks and I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I like many of you use Front Line or Pet Armor on my dogs. If you have a pack of 5 or 6 dogs Front Line can be costly but if you buy the one designed for dogs 89 pounds and up you can usually cover 6 beagles that weigh around 20 pounds. You just have to do a little math to determine how much to use on your dogs.
The other tick fighter that I have been using is called Diatomaceous Earth. It is a non-toxic safe powder made up of diatoms, which were freshwater organisms that have since fossilized and have been harvested and pulverized into a fine powder. It is deadly on any insect with an exoskeleton and can also be used to help get rid of your dogs internal parasites. Under a microscope it looks like small chards of glass but in your hand it looks like a fine white or gray powder (depending on what brand you buy). The fine powder sticks to the legs and body of the insect and the tiny microscopic sharp pieces cut into the insects exoskeleton and they basically dehydrate and die. This can be dusted on the dogs and fed to them as well. If feeding it to them just wet the food and put it in the wet food and mix well. Just make sure you buy the food grade. I bought a 20 pound bag for $13 at Tractor Supply. The brand they carry is Red Lake. It has an added supplement so it is more of a grayish color but still food grade and totally safe. On a side note you can sprinkle this in their bedding and in the yard to kill fleas and ticks as well. The best thing about this product is that the food grade is safe for human contact and consumption so children playing in the yard will not be harmed with this bug defense! Humans use it for cholesterol reduction and reduced blood pressure as well as other benefits.
I carry a small container in my truck and lightly dust my dogs before a run. Just be careful not to get it in their eyes. Every since I started using it I haven’t found near as many tick attached to my hounds, which is a plus compared to the numbers that I was pulling off. Click on the link below to learn more about D-Earth http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp.
There is no 100% prevention for ticks, but the products I’ve mentioned have helped make training dogs this spring more enjoyable by putting my mind at ease by reducing the number of ticks on me and my dogs. I hope these cheap tick defense tips help keep you and your dogs safer during tick season.
Anthony Taylor
I’ve discovered a few cheap products that you may or may not use or know about.
First I will start with protecting yourself. I went to Bass Pro Shop and bought a Rynoskin insect protection shirt and pair of pants after reading the outstanding reviews on how they have helped protect other hunters from tick bites.
I’m a skeptic, just like you and don’t have money to waste, but since I started wearing the shirt and pants under my clothes I haven’t found a single tick attached to my body. I bought the shirt and pants for under $50 bucks at Bass Pro. You can check out the links below for more information.
Shirt: http://www.basspro.com/Rynoskin-Insect- ... _THUMBNAIL
Pants: http://www.basspro.com/Rynoskin-Insect- ... 305005525/
I also spray my outer wear with deep wood off with deet and wear a light weight light grey shirt so that I can detect ticks crawling on me easily.
Now I know that there are many ways to protect your beagles from ticks and I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I like many of you use Front Line or Pet Armor on my dogs. If you have a pack of 5 or 6 dogs Front Line can be costly but if you buy the one designed for dogs 89 pounds and up you can usually cover 6 beagles that weigh around 20 pounds. You just have to do a little math to determine how much to use on your dogs.
The other tick fighter that I have been using is called Diatomaceous Earth. It is a non-toxic safe powder made up of diatoms, which were freshwater organisms that have since fossilized and have been harvested and pulverized into a fine powder. It is deadly on any insect with an exoskeleton and can also be used to help get rid of your dogs internal parasites. Under a microscope it looks like small chards of glass but in your hand it looks like a fine white or gray powder (depending on what brand you buy). The fine powder sticks to the legs and body of the insect and the tiny microscopic sharp pieces cut into the insects exoskeleton and they basically dehydrate and die. This can be dusted on the dogs and fed to them as well. If feeding it to them just wet the food and put it in the wet food and mix well. Just make sure you buy the food grade. I bought a 20 pound bag for $13 at Tractor Supply. The brand they carry is Red Lake. It has an added supplement so it is more of a grayish color but still food grade and totally safe. On a side note you can sprinkle this in their bedding and in the yard to kill fleas and ticks as well. The best thing about this product is that the food grade is safe for human contact and consumption so children playing in the yard will not be harmed with this bug defense! Humans use it for cholesterol reduction and reduced blood pressure as well as other benefits.
I carry a small container in my truck and lightly dust my dogs before a run. Just be careful not to get it in their eyes. Every since I started using it I haven’t found near as many tick attached to my hounds, which is a plus compared to the numbers that I was pulling off. Click on the link below to learn more about D-Earth http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp.
There is no 100% prevention for ticks, but the products I’ve mentioned have helped make training dogs this spring more enjoyable by putting my mind at ease by reducing the number of ticks on me and my dogs. I hope these cheap tick defense tips help keep you and your dogs safer during tick season.
Anthony Taylor