Golden Gate Park and Fort Funston are crawling with ticks. Even if your dog has prevention, such as a tick collar, they still crawl off of him and on to you! Be sure to check your dog over carefully when you return home and frequent grooming and chemicals for control may help to control the spread.
Ticks can detect heat emitted from dogs and humans from far distances and will often situate themselves on well traveled paths to gain access to hosts. They will generally drop off the animal when full, but this may take several days. In some cases ticks will live for some time on the blood of an animal. Ticks are more active outdoors in warm weather, but can attack a dog at any time. Ticks can be found in most wooded or forested regions throughout the world. As a San Francisco dog walker, I find that they are especially common in areas where there are deer trails or human tracks. Ticks are especially abundant near water, where warm-blooded animals come to drink, and in meadows wherever shrubs and brush provide woody surfaces and cover. Ticks are a vector for a number of diseases including Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
The American dog tick
The American dog tick is perhaps the most well-known of the North American hard ticks. This tick does not carry Lyme disease but can carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. As a San Francisco dog walker I have come across them numerous times.
The black-legged tick
The Western black-legged tick lives in the western part of North America and is responsible for spreading Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. It tends to prefer livestock such as cows as its adult host.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever can be lethal. Initial signs and symptoms of the disease include sudden onset of fever, headache and muscle pain followed by development of rash. The disease can be difficult to diagnose in the early stages, and without prompt and appropriate treatment it can be fatal. Tetracycline has dramatically reduced the number of deaths caused by Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
The San Francisco dog walkers top tips
Check your dog over when you get home. Put your clothes in the dryer on high heat or just simply wash them in hot water. Be sure to check yourself over too!
