Gun Dog Forum

Hi All
Well it's early fall, which in our part of Pennsylvania means that the ticks are in full swing. The nasty things are everywhere. And when the dogs get out for a hunt, we find them crawling ALL OVER THEM when they get home. After being out in the field, we go over them with flea combs and pick off what we can, but they are just covered.

They take an oral flea/tick med, so we very rarely find any attached to them.
But we do find them crawling on our furniture and just found one our toddler daughter. Not great.

I was wondering if anyone has used permethrin spray over the fur of their dogs before going into the field?
We certainly wouldn't plan to use it heavily - just a light, topical spray.
I wasn't sure if this could cause any sort of harm since they already take an oral medication.
I'm hoping this would kill the ticks that fall on their coats while they run through the brush.
Our poor setter had upwards of 50 crawling all over his face after a hunt one afternoon. It's so bad.

Just looking for a way to safely prevent the dogs from carrying them into the house beyond what we already do for prevention.
Thanks!
Brooke

Permethrin is a Pyrethroid. Pyrethroids are a family of pesticides derived from Chrysanthemum seeds.

Get a Seresto collar.

It uses Flumethrin which is another Pyrethroid. I have a friend with four GWP's that swears by them; she lives in Pennsylvania as well.

It' interesting that fall is tick season in PA, here in ID we have them in spring and they are gone by mid summer, none in the fall.

We use a light mist of Absorbine Ultra Guard horse spray to repel ticks. TSC, about $20, smells nice. Check with your vet about any possible adverse interaction with the oral meds, and with the kiddo.

Thanks guys. much appreciated.
I will look into the horse spray.
And yea, unfortunately, here in PA, they are awful at the start of pheasant season and hang around until we get some consistent frigid temps.
On average, as soon as we bring the dogs in from a hunt, we're plucking a crapload of ticks off them, the furniture, their bedding...everything. It's awful. It's gotten out of hand out this way.

Taylor_B wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 01, 2019 8:42 am

Thanks guys. much appreciated.
I will look into the horse spray.
And yea, unfortunately, here in PA, they are awful at the start of pheasant season and hang around until we get some consistent frigid temps.
On average, as soon as we bring the dogs in from a hunt, we're plucking a crapload of ticks off them, the furniture, their bedding...everything. It's awful. It's gotten out of hand out this way.

Two folks I know in PA swear by the Seresto collars FWIW. Both do hunt as well.

So I thought that permethrin might be potentially carcinogenic so....not for my dogs. Then, my setter got Lyme disease. I sincerely regret not treating her.
Use whatever you think will work. The alternative is not good.