Have any of you found a repellent that is effective against ticks? I will be doing a lot of camping this summer with my GSD in a National forest here in Michigan. I don't want him to get the Lyme vaccination, and would like to have some peace of mind as far as keeping him Lyme disease free goes.
Ummm, maybe garlic?
Anyways the holistic medicine people would know.
I use frontline.....but I hate it.
I'd look real close at what is in any repellent collar, I shutter to think what my dog would be soaking up from it that would keep ticks off, not much deters the nasty things.
A couple of three years ago I did a bit of research on this Lymes business. If the site list hadn't gone away the same way the hard drive they were stored on did, I'd be glad to provide the links for ya all. Quite a few studies.
One study I vaguely recall was one I think you can take heart in. Cornell (I think, maybe?). Anyways it said something to the effect, out of the controlled group of dogs with Lymes (all things being equal) slightly less then 20% actually showed any symptoms, or have any other damage, from the disease in their lifetime given no treatment at all.
Dogs handle it much better then humans.
All that being said, the disease can so debilitating that to me 20% is way too high to be taking the chance. Especially when all it takes is a bit of prevention in the form of antibiotics if the 'whatevers' (thanks for the right term Michael!) get too high.
I would think that hunters would definitely know what they are talking about as far as having their dogs out in the woods with them! I read on that products page that the collar must come in to contact with the skin in order to be effective... I don't know how much skin it would be in constant contact with on my GSD as collars on his neck tend to move just a bit and get the hair underneath them again.
I also found a warning about the active ingredient, Amitraz here:
It seems sensitivity to the drug is varied from one dog to another, so I wonder if this is a good option for me to try...
I use a natural insect repellent on him that was originally designed for horses, basically a peppermint oil extract in a spray bottle. I would love to find something like that for use in tick prevention!
Reg: 08-29-2006
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Garlic is supposed to be a repellant and I have read forum members using it successfully. I've also heard of it not working at all. The whole garlic thing worries me as it's part of the onion family, which can be toxic to dogs.
My raw supplier uses essential oils for flea and tick prevention. She's happy with it but will say her dogs really don't have enough exposure to truly test it.
This is all JMO and I'm not a vet, but I live in an area where Lyme disease is a huge problem for both people and dogs. Two of my dogs have tested positive for Lyme in the past and I did a lot of reading and consulting with vets before making a decision on treatment. This website is the best I've found: http://blackgsd.googlepages.com/lymedisease http://blackgsd.googlepages.com/treatment
A lot of vets will wait for symptoms to be present before treating the dog with Doxycycline. However, to quote Dr. Tom Beckett, a well-known authority on the subject, "The problem is that freedom from symptoms does not equal freedom from hidden ongoing cumulative damage to systems and organs."
If necessary, print out the pages from the website above and show them to your vet. I personally feel a lot of vets don't know enough specific information about Lyme disease to make educated decisions on treating Lyme positive dogs. Again, JMO.
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Re: What to do with Lyme Positive Result?
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