If you have a dog that spends part or all of its time outside, the odds of it getting a tick at some point are pretty good. Ticks are especially fond of latching on to a dog's ear, as the ear is a warm, mostly sheltered place with an easily accessible blood supply. Removing a tick from a dog's ear is fairly simple, but it's important to be very careful in the process. The ear is a very sensitive place for man's best friend, so be gentle.
Things You'll Need
- Tweezers
- Rubbing alcohol
Instructions
Look around the dog's ear for unusual bumps. Often, ticks will hang out inside the ear canal, around the canal or behind the dog's ear. Once you find a bump, confirm that it is a tick before pulling at it.
Take your tweezers and firmly grab on to the tick. Make sure that you are grabbing very close to the dog's ear. You need to grab the tick's head, which will be the closest part of the tick to the skin. Pulling out the tick's body but leaving the head may cause infection or other complications.
Pull the tick out of the ear. Check to make sure you did not leave any part of the tick behind. If you did, go back and pull the rest of the tick out.
To kill the tick, drop it in a cup of rubbing alcohol.