Friends Upset Over Tick Situation – Are we really in the wrong?

[Dogowne91]

Hi everyone,
Would really appreciate some honest opinions on something that’s left us a bit stunned.
We just got back from a 2-week holiday and had left our dog with close friends who kindly offered to look after him. They also have two dogs, and they spent loads of time together — running around the house and their big garden, playing, sleeping near each other, out on plenty of walks, the usual.
When we picked up our dog, they told us they’d found 8 ticks in a matter of days — some on our dog and some around the house (sofa, bed, floor) which explained why they had asked if our dog was on tick prevention whilst we were away. We were honest from the beginning: he wasn’t and hasn't been for at least a couple of years. Totally our fault, just hadn’t gotten around to it. We also discovered they have treated him straight away once they discovered he wasn't up to date with it (they spoke with a vet first).
They’re clearly really upset and, honestly, we’re a bit taken aback. We obviously didn’t mean to put anyone at risk and feel bad — but also, we live in the Devon countryside where dogs are running through fields and long grass all the time and if we find ticks, we normally simply remove them from him. Ticks are kind of unavoidable here and the likelihood of Lyme disease is not that bad.
We’re now wondering… did we seriously mess up? Should we have flagged this before leaving him with them? We never thought it would cause this kind of fallout.
Would really appreciate some honest thoughts. Is this as big a deal as they are making it seem?

I feel for you OP. I had no idea this was even a thing. My dog has her jabs etc but there’s never been a mention of ticks and she never has had fleas.

Haven't RTFT but I am shocked by the OP's casual approach if they live in an are where ticks abound. I had a dog who caught Lyme disease and was very ill with it and have had three episodes in my professional life where I brought fleas home which was nightmareish. No ticks aren't completely avoidable but I live in a tick and Lyme hotspot, used to walk my dogs in the local woods and heath every single day and would only have to deal with about one tick a month over both dogs and never ever fleas. OP give your head a wobble, heartfelt apology and look after your dogs properly!

I have a golden retriever and live rurally. I treat my dog for ticks but I still remove around 10 to 20 live ticks from her after a walk. She does run through long grass (it’s impossible not to here), I can see them crawling around her fur and eventually making their way to her face and ears. I check her ears every day. I’m happy that she won’t get ill from the ticks due to the medication she takes but their isn’t a tick collar or treatment out there that is going to stop the ticks. I look after other dogs, labradors etc. for friends and family while they are on holiday and I only have to deal with one or two ticks if any. Some of the dogs I look after aren’t treated for ticks and they don’t seem to get any.

Yes you should have treated your dog but ultimately it wasn’t going to stop the ticks. I estimate that it takes at least an hour before the ticks manage to get to a position that they bite her (and subsequently die) so removal before entering the house is the only option. Once in I need to check her every 15 minutes or so to get any I have missed.

depends where you live, city dogs not so much but where I live you can't avoid the subject!

Did you transfer them money for the tick prevention treatment?

You're losing sympathy fast. How could you possibly know he's never caused a problem? He could be frequently leaving ticks wherever he goes and transferring them to unsuspecting patrons in a cafe/pub/wherever. They're not going to be able to trace it back to you, so you can't say he's never caused any problems.

I bet they are upset.

I don’t understand why your dog isn’t on tick/flea/worm prevention stuff. There are so many diseases that dogs can pick up - not just from ticks, but lungworm from slugs etc. Some can be fatal.

I wouldn't be bothered personally, surely dogs get ticks and sometimes they fall off in the house if you didn't get to them to extract them first? You pick them up, pop them in tissue and flush them, it's a total non-issue for me.

I do not treat my dogs routinely with flea treatment, tick treatment and wormer etc as I don't think stuffing them full of meds is necessary, but I do give them monthly spot-on treatments Jun - Aug or so as they do pick up ticks during those months and I don't want them to be at risk of disease from ticks. Maybe you should consider the same for the sake of your dogs' health OP, and since your friends are so upset over this issue you will need to make amends. It wouldn't have occurred to me this would be an issue either, though.

have you tried scalibor or seresto collars? Much better than any other treatment I tried

In your place I would be getting a huge bunch of flowers, wine and grovel for forgiveness. You are massively out of order. You need to check your house thoroughly for fleas/ticks. I would end a long and close friendship over something like this if I had children especially.

Yes we are in a small town, she generally walks in the park, and she’s a very short haired lazy pug so I’d see anything straightaway anyway. My nephew got a tick though, from the forest at Centerparcs!

I would also offer a full spring clean and carpet treatment additionally.

You are an irresponsible owner. You live in an area where ticks are prevalent. You go to areas where there are ticks. You should be having your dog on preventative tick treatment. You are also not giving worming or flea preventative treatment. That is poor ownership. A responsible dog owner does not just "forget" or "not get round to it" when it comes to their pets.

I'm not surprised your friends are cross and they have good reason to be. They have had to treat your pet and sort out their house. You should be ashamed and embarrassed. Do not be surprised when they do not offer to look after your dog or if they don't want your dog with their dog again.

I'd be really pissed off too if I was them. 8 ticks is a huge amount and would have caused me a lot of stress and worry. I think you should always have your dog treatments up to date if sending them to live with other dogs. You could have given them fleas too if not treating for that.

the deer carry them.

It is not up to you (or us) to decide the level of drama that is acceptable/ justified!! Wow, you are unbelievable

This is my understanding too. My dogs are on monthly Simparica Trio for ticks, fleas and most worms, plus Droncit for tapeworm. However, they can still pick up any of them, but it should kill the pest within 24 hours or before they take hold or pass on things like Lyme. Do spot-ons work differently so ticks don't even climb on?

This thread is largely populated by uniformed, frankly aggressive , comments by people who think they understand what flea & tick treatments do & are going to be horrified if they take the time to research the dangers of using them , both to themselves and the environment.
Inadvertently perhaps OP , but you’ve been doing the right thing .

no kids but I don't want ticks on me either!!

How lucky for you that you have decided they do not require a cleaning service.

You need to give them the money for a deep clean and let them make the decision along with money to pay them for the cleaning they have already done st least £20 an hour.

I would be furious

don't know about spot ons. My dogs (dead now in old age) used to groom each other so spot ons were a no. I used scalibor collars for them and they would stop the ticks attaching. I understand that seresto collars are similar.

This!
Our dog is treated monthly for ticks with a tablet. We went on holiday to SW recently and he was covered in ticks. The preventatives don't repel the ticks but once they bite they die within 8 hours so massively reduces risk of them getting lymes disease etc.
So even if OPs dog had been tick treated it could still have brought them into the house. It sounds like her friends dogs stick to the pavements so much less likely to get ticks.
I was really disappointed to discover the tick treatments don't prevent ticks as I do worry about them falling off my dog and biting me.
You can get a pesticide collar that apparently repels them (serresto) but it has a poor safety profile and I don't fancy stroking fur covered in pesticide. I'm trialling a natural collar now which smells of citronella and lemon balm. No idea if it works but the dog smells nice 😂

@BoobsOnTheMoon

I could happily live in a world without ticks. They are dangerous parasites that serve no purpose. Op is being very unreasonable

The fact you call it drama says everything about you when they have had to put up with this for two weeks and you are negligent, lazy dog owners AND parents so lazy you can’t be bothered to care properly for your animals and your home is so no doubt infested. Disgusting. Both your attitude and your dirty habits of not properly caring for your animals.

You frankly don’t deserve that dog. Flea, ticks and worming is basic treatment for a dog that should happen every 6 months. Next you’ll be telling us they don’t have the yearly boosters.