Hello,
We adopted a 2nd dog about 4 hrs ago and we noticed a tick in his ear. Our other dog has never had a tick so we are not 100% sure what to do. We looked up some info online. We are going to take him to the vet tomorrow when they open but we are not sure how to handle it now. We don't want to take it out wrong and hurt the dog, and we are not even sure how long it has been there. If we leave it in can it crawl onto one of us during the night (dogs sleep in bed with us)? Can it get onto my other dog? Any help on this matter would be appreciated, thanks!

Well what you can try is putting some rubbing alcohol on a q tip and putting it on the ticks butt end.Or pouring a cap full of the rubbing alcohol over top of the tick. Make sure to flush the tick or burn it. You can also try heating up a pin and placing that on the ticks butt as well. You have to make sure the dog will stay very still, you don't want to end up burning your dog. If you pull it out you should be extra cautious that the ticks head comes off as well. Sometimes the ticks head will stay in, and they can re generate a new body.

Ticks carry the lyme disease, which can never be cured, and is almost always mis diagnosed. You need to be careful of things like this. I know you can get tick repellent from your local vet.

Oh and yes they can go from one animal to another to you, but unlikely seeing as it is already feeding off the one dog. What color is the tick now? Can you take a pic of it?

The tick is small and brown.

Ok so chances are it hasn't been there too long. They tend to get larger and go a grayish whitish color when they have been int here for a while. You should be able to remove with a warm needle or the alcohol.

Another method is to put a drop of collodion on the body of the tick. Collodion is available everywhere under the brand name Compound W wart remover, as well as other brands

When the collodion dries (1/2 hour) the tick will have to release from the dog to be able to breathe. Then, like Aurora Bell said, be sure to flush it.

Here's a picture of the tick in his ear.

Looks like he just got in there. Also, you can save the tick in a container and your vet or local hospital can test it for Lyme disease.

Looks like a North American Dog Tick. That's good. They're not as frequently carriers of Lyme disease.

He also needs his ears cleaned :)

You can buy a solution or use vegetable oil, and that should kill any ear mites if he has any.

Do you think this tick will come out in the middle of the night. I am not sure how comfortable we are removing it. :/

It could... not likely, but it could. Why aren't you comfortable?

We don't want to hurt him, and we want to make sure the whole thing comes out.

Try the alcohol solution, or a warm pin. Living in a Provence where ticks run rampant, it's not really that bad, but I do understand wanting to get the whole thing. But the longer you leave it, the worse and deeper the tick will go.

Okay, thanks. I guess we are going to take it out now, and we will bring him to the vet tomorrow to have the tick tested and to make sure he's okay. Thanks for the help!

No problem, you can try this method too: With a tweezers or tick removal device, grab the tick as close to the head as possible. With steady, gentle pressure, pull the tick out of the skin. Frequently, pieces of skin may come off with the tick.

A good discussion here but somewhere it was said lyme's disease can't be cured. That is not true but folks believe it. DVBID: Treatment | CDC Lyme Disease (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/ld_humandisease_treatment.htm)

I've read that since lyme disease is constantly changing to fight the anti bodies it can never really be cured. Also just watched a documentary on that as well. Also with early treatment it can be controlled and lay dormant with no reoccurring symptoms.

Well we will see what the vet says, hopefully the tick doesn't carry Lyme

Not sure what you have been reading but most bacteria is constantly changing, not trying to fight anything including antibiotics. they just mutate. Dear ticks appear to be the primary carrier so our poster may be in luck. There is a treatment for an infected dog too How To Treat Lyme Disease in Dogs?Diagnosis and Treatment (http://www.howtodothings.com/pets-and-animals/a3305-how-to-treat-lyme-disease-in-dogs.html)

Oh, I am not arguing, sorry if came off that way :)

I watched a documentary in November, I will try and find it,maybe on you tube.

I hope by now you have managed to get the tick out but in case you haven't what we do:

Get a pin and a cigarette lighter.
Heat up the end of the pin in the flame.
Jam end of pin in the rear end of the tick.
99% of the time it makes the tick back out of the dog with the head still intact and best of all, no pain to the dog.

If you try and use tweezers or anything to get the tick out there is a chance the head will be left inside leading to infection. It can be done, but is best left to your vet who knows the right techniques to get the whole thing out.

I too am not being argumentative, just putting forth the facts as I know them. I am much more comfortable when I can quote the CDC or a medical researcher who posts his research. Things are always changing and we, the public, need to be watchful of all data from researchers. I just read a paper that said half of what is said on the net is totally made up. LOL

Actually I watched the doc on the news, I was just hoping I could find that doc on you tube. Not having much luck how ever I did see something about 95% of people can be cured with no reoccurring symptoms until they gave birth. But doctors are still researching that.

This isn't the one I watched, but it looks like a good one,and has some great info on it.

YouTube - Lyme Disease: A Clear and Present Danger (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLX4KF7xzv0)