The beginning of spring marks the time when Pug owners everywhere should be ready to protect their dogs from ticks.
Known scientifically as “Rhipicephalus Sanquineus”, these blood-sucking bugs can carry disease as well as cause discomfort in our Pug dogs. In fact, ticks can infect humans with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, cause paralysis, and can even kill our precious Pugs.
Quite simply, ticks are parasites that live on the blood of their victims. Ticks have been blamed for causing the spread of disease among both people and dogs. They were shown to be behind the famous mass deaths of military dogs during the Vietnam War.
Although it’s really true that a bug is a bug, it’s also true that there is some variety in the specific kinds of ticks such as the brown tick, the wood tick, the black tick and several more. One of the things in common is the fact that all ticks are very resistant to typical insect poisons, and this makes them very hard to control.
This can really gross people out, but it’s absolutely true that a female tick can produce several thousand eggs – yuck! They usually lay their eggs under the carpet, in a little whole in the baseboard, or some other dark and out-of-the-way place. Ticks lay their eggs in a safe place but never on the body of their victim. Once the eggs hatch after a month or so, they turn into larvae. Tick larvae seek out their first host, where they’ll suck down some blood and then detach to go find a place to hide out.
A few weeks later, the tick larvae transform themselves into nymphs, which are sort of like teenagers. These nymphs looks for another host to grab some more blood, then fall off to rest again. Then, after another few weeks, the nymph transforms into an adult tick. Of course, now the adult tick is ready to seek out another host like a Pug, where it will fill up on blood and mate.
Adult ticks can live for up to 2 years without eating…which is really bad news for Pug dog owners, as this means you can have ticks lurking in ambush.
A tick outside will look for a hunting ground, which means getting up into some low-hanging branches or into a pile of leaves. This becomes the launching pad for the tick when an unsuspecting Pug dog comes along for a potty break or just running by in play. The tick will literally launch itself and jump up to several feet to land onto its victim.
Once in your home, ticks will emerge from beneath rugs and carpeting, climb walls, table and chairs, and even up as high as wall pictures, to await the passing of a Pug. They may even have to wait up to six months, but a tick can instantly sense the approach of a Pug and jump on it as it passes.
