DOGS AND TICKS

How to Prevent Your Dog from Getting Ticks

Many people are aware of fleas when it comes to their dogs, but not enough about tics. Tics are the other main external parasite that are risky for our little ones during the warmer seasons. They usually start to be active during spring when the temperature reaches around 5 degrees Celsius. Tics can be found on dogs, cats, rabbits and most of the other animals. They are fed by the blood of a host animal. Tics are bigger than fleas so can be seen by naked eye. While the tics are feeding, they are injecting saliva into the skin. The saliva can be highly allergenic so a dog scratching itself may be a first sign of having a tics on their skin. 

Ticks can infect the dog with serious, life-threatening diseases such as Rocky Mountain fever, Babesiosis, Ehrlichia, and other conditions with equally unpronounceable names. 

We had an article about tick protection without chemicals earlier. This article is about ticks and various protections. And we hope you are open minded to choose what works best for your dog friend.

My little girl Lilly had Babesiosis last spring. We had big issues regarding it. A month took to heel. Every day was frightening. First off all dogtors had no idea what was going after Lilly recovered from Babesiosis but did not feel ok. It appeared, disease recovered, and later it happened one more time. So Lilly had like 3 babesiosis. It was scared to watch her. Active happy girl looked like in deep depression for a month. No smile, no activities, just sitting and looking to one point, or laying, hard to walk, nothing brought joy to her, even food. She always eat anything and that month she did not want anything, even meet, soups… I learned to cook to make her happy with food, but nothing helped. Thats why we are so afraid of any tick now. And you should be careful with it.

Where ticks can be found? 

Tics can be found mostly in wooden areas and tall grass, but also in your yard, or even walking on city sidewalk (Lilly got that awful tick last spring on sidewalk..). There are more types of tics but the one we should be the most worried about is named The Deer Tick. The loathsome deer tick, now known as the black-legged tick, is defined more by the disease it spreads than by its own characteristics. Significantly smaller than the more commonly encountered dog tick, adult female deer ticks are about as big as a sesame seed and have reddish hind bodies with black dorsal markings. Males are slightly smaller than females and are solid dark brown.

What is a Lyme disease? 

Lyme disease is one of the most common tick-transmitted diseases in the world. Some dogs may not show symptoms until 3 to more months after having it. Tick transmits bacteria knows as Borrelia burgdorferri. Lyme disease can be treated by antibiotics. Treatment last for 4 weeks, but the infection may occur again. Dogs may develop heart disease, central nervous system disorders or fatal kidney problems by having it.

The good news is that ticks need to be attached for 24 hours before they transmit disease to the dog, which means that prevention and prompt removal are key to keeping your dog healthy.  Here’s what can go wrong and how to prevent it. 

Prevention

There are plenty excellent products helping in the fight against tick infestations. But not all anti-tick products are same effective. Don’t be seduced by the promise of ‘natural tick deterrents’ because life isn’t that simple and they don’t work if you are not familiar how to use it. Some natural protections can add safety, help you in this hard fight but not necessary do the whole work. You have to be open minded but still think logical when choosing and apply any of chosen by its best properties. Like supplements are very effective but it can not be used instead of food, you can use it together to make results better.

Some tick bites may be hard to find, especially when your dog has long hair. It is always a good idea to start with a thorough prevention:

  • Talk to your vet about possible tick products available on the market (those can vary from shampoos to topical treatments or collars).
  • Check your dog often, especially after a walk in tall grass or woods (look at their feet, around eyes or under their tail).
  • When the tick is found, you should remove it immediately and as soon as possible. The best would be if you visited a vet to make sure tick is removed completely and safely. Please read some instructions how to remove ticks, as you need this in your life and not always you can reach dogtor fast, so better be prepared.
  • If the vet is not available, learn how to do it yourself. There is even a tick removal tool on the market that you can get.
  • Once you remove the tick, you can bring it to your vet and they can send it to a lab to see if it might have carried any disease.
  • Medical approved prevention products – collars, tablet, drops… You should check all possible in your market and read about each. There is no one best, its your responsibility to choose which to use. Our vet explained that best works one that is used least in your area. Ticks in area get used to remedies if all dogs use same and the remedy is no more effective in that area, but it can be still effective in other areas or next season.
  • Have your dog vaccinated yearly – there is a few vaccines available to prevent getting Lyme disease (Borrelym).
  • Put clothing on your dog – on our website, you can find the perfect anti-tics overall made out of linen material that suits every summer weather and every dog. Clothes do not work as 100 % protection, its like supplement which can prolong ticks trip find dog skin. Usually its easier to see ticks on clothes then on fur.
  • Natural remedies like essential oils, sprays, amber neckless… it all can work or not, but none of these should be used as main protection.
https://bestdograincoats.com/en/product/lininiai-kombenzonai/

Unti-fast dog fashion

Fast fashion in dog’s fashion

Slow dog fashion vs. fast dog fashion

Buy less, choose well, make it last. In the most basic words, fast fashion is a mass manufacturing and designing high volumes of clothing. The mass production goes hand in hand with low quality clothing, using artificial materials, decline of homeland manufacturing and is extremely environmentally disastrous. Fast-fashion has definitely become a well-discussed topic in the world, but the data shows that the production has not been decreased yet. 

Fast-fashion market in China is still evolving and it remains as the largest source of merchandise in the world. Sometimes it may feel like people put price over the quality. Fast-fashion pieces are usually much cheaper and offer a wider range of products. But what else do we “support” by buying this type of fashion? A humanitarian crisis – workers in China are not legally protected from harmful working conditions. Workers face drastic danger and serious health risks and problems by working in such conditions. The materials they work with may also be harmful, like silica dust or lead. People in China also experience forced labor resulted with poor wages. 

China also produces immense number of dog’s clothing. As we mentioned in the previous blog post, it is very important to be careful about choosing the right material for your dog (based on the breed and weather conditions in the country you live in). Many dogs suffer from consequential skin conditions like parasites, seborrhea, bacterial or fungal infections or allergies, and you need to keep that in mind. 

Nowadays you can find dog’s clothing in almost all of the fast-fashion stores close to all of you (H&M, Zara, Forever21). People treat their dogs like their kids – we want them to be as fashionable as we are. But it is only our choice to make, where we buy the clothing; both for us and our little best friends. 

Always choose wisely. If you choose European-made brand, like ours, you do not only support domestic economy and higher quality of clothing, but you can be sure that employees are unforced to work, get paid properly and work in healthily conditions. Europe has always been considered as credible rule maker and source of quality products. They are also more expensive because the production gets expensive – labour, energy, raw materials. 

So what else do we care about? 

  • High quality – carefully selected fabrics (towards to both nature and dogs), important fabrics characteristics: durability, softness, lightness
  • Sustainability – sustainable products help allow nature to be protected – they last a long time 
  • Elegance – simple and minimalist. We always put comfort first but still make the final product look stunning without putting unnecessary details on
  • Comfort 
  • Practical and useful – helps to prevent getting dirty, making mess in the car or at home after dogs playing outside

Custom and individual made – we understand that each dog is unique when it comes to size and weight. On our website you can easily find a tutorial how to properly measure you dog. That way you can be sure our clothing will fit perfectly

Before and after walking tips

Prevention of getting dirty and having paws issues 

It is not confidential that our white fur friends need an exceptional care. I am sure that majority of you already see your dog after having a walk outdoors. The shiny white coat will still get that dirt on itself no matter what the weather is! Is that right? 

Let’s summarize some ways how to put a stop to having an extra work after a long walk outside and if so, how to take care of your dog’s fur and paws like an expert. 

Get your dog some clothing

Yes, clothing can absolutely help you saving some time with cleaning your dog’s fur. Clothing may be ideal in every single weather. On our website you can choose from all of the varying kinds of clothing based on your own feeling, you can either select style, material or size. It is all customisable. You can read more about different styles and functions of different clothes in our article about dog fashion: https://bestdograincoats.com/en/dogs-fashion/

Clothing may actually be superb even during the summer. Linen material can help regulate the body temperature or even fend off having ticks.

Rainy weather but your dog calls for a walk? 

We got you! With our custom raincoats for dogs, you can enable your dog to enjoy some fun even during overcast. They are adjustable, warm, made out of silent fabric and with light reflects.

Start with a routine

Thereafter a walk, before entering the home, each time you should clean your dog’s paws with wet cleaning towels. While your dog is resting, go and check the paws to see if they are okay. It is very important to take care of their paws since they spend the majority of time on their paws. Some of the mayor paws issues we should be aware of may be: 

  • Bacterial and fungal infections – the symptoms may be redness, dog licking the paws or brown discoloration of the nails. We can prevent having our dogs from having infections by cleaning the paws constantly, avoiding moist places such as rainfalls, stale pools of water and distancing our dogs from infected animals since infections are highly contagious. Those are usually fixed and treated with antibiotics and topical creams. You should always visit your vet to discuss the other steps. 
  • Paw injuries – occurs very often, can be seen as brides, cuts and tears usually caused outside after stepping on broken glass, sticks or rocks. This kind of paw injury may not be as serious as the previous one, once it’s treated in an early stage. Before treating the paw, we should use antiseptic or water to remove the debris. An ice can be very helpful as well!
  • Dry and cracked paw pads – paw pads can get cracked and dry especially after walking on rough surfaces, hot pavements, during cold weather or after long licking. Groomed dog’s paws and trimmed toenails is a first step for preventing having cracks and dry paw pads. If we notice such a thing, use lukewarm water to clean the paws and put on a healing balm which you cover with dog sock. You can find one of those balms on our website.
  • Burns – you should be more than careful during the summer days and walking on the hot asphalt during the middle of the day. Also, during the winter, it would be better to search for places where roads are not sprinkled with deicing salts. Vaseline or other protective balms work as a perfect barrier against chemicals. You can find a perfect protective balm on our website. Serious burns should be treated by vet.
Left paw before paw balm, right paw – right after paw balm

Christmas with westies

This year is very different.. Its more complicated, more alone, more separate. But. You can never feel alone with your dog.

You are never alone if you can hug your dog.

Westie christmas outfit

Westies are white Christmas angels.

Westie christmas outfit

About Royal Stewart Red plaid pattern

The Royal Stewart or Royal Stuart tartan is the best-known tartan retrospectively associated with the royal House of Stewart, and is also the personal tartan of Queen Elizabeth II. The sett was first published in 1831 in the book The Scottish Gael by James Logan. Officially, the tartan is worn by the pipers of the Black Watch, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, and the Scots Guards, as well as a select few civilian groups. The 5th Bolton Scout Group and the 5th Potters Bar Scout Group wear the scarf (neckerchief/necker) officially, with permission from the Queen, and the Queen’s Bands (of Queen’s University) wear the tartan as part of their official uniforms. So too do the Winnipeg Police Pipe Band. The tartan may also be worn by members who took part in a patrol leaders training course.

Depiction of the helmet of Jackie Stewart with the Royal Stewart tartan Theoretically, this tartan should not be worn without the express permission of the Queen. However, the Scottish Register of Tartans observes that in practice, due to its popularity, it has become a universal tartan, which can be worn by anyone who doesn’t have their own clan tartan. “In the same way that clansmen wear the tartan of their chief, it is appropriate for all subjects of the Queen to wear the Royal Stewart tartan.” Colin W Hutcheson attributes this universalisation to “commercialisation in recent times”; traditionally, the Black Watch (darkened Old Campbell) and Hunting Stewart tartans were used as universal tartans requiring no permission.

In addition to its use in clothing, such as skirts and scarves, Royal Stewart tartan has also appeared on biscuit tins for Scottish shortbread. In the 1960s, the tartan became well known in motor racing circles, as three-time Formula One world champion Jackie Stewart from Scotland used a distinctive band of Royal Stewart tartan around his crash helmet. In the late 1970s, the Royal Stewart tartan became popular in punk fashion.

Article soursce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Stewart_tartan

New colour – blue westie raincoat is back. Plaid details for Scottish style.

Perfect comfortable custom made blue overall waterproof raincoat with snood for rainy dog for a walks and westie parades, Scottish kilt meetings.

Beautiful blue waterproof dog raincoat with red plaid details creates wonderful “chanel” style. 
Nice blue and plaid colours creates nice contrast. Dog raincoat colours are chosen to hide dirt as much as possible. 

Plaid fabric is high quality viscose. Inside – natural lining, antistatic, soft and pleasant touch – cupra (its cotton but looks like silk).

Waterproof blue fabric is polyester, soft and does not have ugly sound. Please pay attention, that now I use the one blue fabric that is in first picture, its a little bit brighter then I used before, you see it in last pictures where snood is blue or red plaid.

Raincoat in this listing is waterproof designed with cupra lining, plaid details and snood. Please ask for customisation, many extra things can be discussed without extra payment. 

Adjustable parts: 
1. legs length
2. chest/body/neck/belly around

When ordering, please add dog measures in notes:
1. Back length (you should start where neck and body is making angle, when head is higher up, and you should end measuring where tail and body is making an angle when tail is up, please check last photo)
2. Chest circumference (put measuring tape right after armpits, there should be the widest part of body)
3. Neck circumference (try to get as low as possible, to measure the thickest part of neck)

Here is video showing how to measure your pup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ8xqRqC7JU

Safe zip over back. Extra peace of fabric is protecting fur from getting stuck in zip. Zip is long lasting, easy to put on take off. 

Please choose snood colour when ordering.

Raincoat is comfortable to move, breathable fabric lets to sweat and enjoy for a walks.

After coming home you will need to clean only dog paws and curious little nose. 
Thats amazing, as dogs usually are not happy to bath every day, right?

It is custom, handmade in smoke-free and pet-friendly home. 

Dog tick protection without chemicals

Everyone talks about it, writes. We tell you as we understand it. You do not have to follow us. Equally, you shouldn’t judge, because we all know what’s best for our puffs. 
Today, with so many bad things going on in our world, we cannot forget the well-being of our little pets. They go through it all with us. Thanks to Dina’s surgery, visiting a veterinary clinic initially daily I have learned practically all of today’s dog health issues. In recent days, I’ve started hearing unhappy stories about ticks and the diseases they cause.  I always look for natural ways to protect my pups from these parasites.

I created my BEST DOG RAINCOATS brand in response to the need to protect my white dogs from dirt and rain during the wet cold season. Over time I have noticed that I can offer solutions to other problems as well. We love forests especially in summer time. But this caused us many issues: dirt, ticks, various stuff stucked in hair (we love to rub). This is how linen overalls were created. This is a great protection not only against ticks, but also from direct sunlight, summer dust and dirt.
No matter how skeptical it sounds, linen overalls (you can order them from our shop) are quite effective against ticks. Primarily because of the coatability of the coat. The more the body is covered, the harder it is for ticks to get on the dog’s skin, making it harder to suck in. Secondly, many legends have been written about the fact that ticks do not like flax/linen as such. For those who do not like chemicals and try to protect themselves and their pets as naturally as possible, any option will seem acceptable just to reduce the risk of ticks. Extra protection in any case. Third, the flax coverall can be spread with lavender, eucalyptus or lemon essential oils, which ticks are not very fond of. You can use the roller you use to collect dust and hair from clothes instead of spraying. You can even spray on the roller and take it to the forest, so you can renew protection and collect ticks at once. By the way, this remedy also helps protect against mosquitoes as well.
Several years ago we used and offered to you dry dog shampoo, which could also be used for dry bathing and protection against all parasites. But unfortunately its creator are no longer among us. We don’t have the equivalent of dry bathing yet, but we have a wonderful groomer that dry bathing is no longer a necessity. Evelina takes care of our fur so good that even at home there are almost no hair, westie hair are beautiful longer and have very little digestion, skin is not dry and hair is shiny. 
So the new wonder we discovered is BIOCOS academy’s protective aromatherapy spray for dogs (let me know if you want to try it out, I will give you details how to buy it, its made in Lithuania). Its active ingredients are nymph oil, aloe vera juice, essential oils of lemongrass, citronella, lavender, satin cedar and lemongrass eucalyptus.
How amazing is this composition? Let me mention a few benefits. Nimbam tree oil is rich in fatty acids and vitamin E, which is needed to restore the skin’s moisture balance, disinfect or regenerate the skin. So the nozzle will be great after sunbathing, skin bite irritation, excessive, dry skin for various reasons.
Aloe vera has intensely moisturizing, irritating, damaged, itchy skin calming properties. So if dogs skin needs help, this spray will help calm it down until you find the problem and its solution.
Nimbam tree oil and essential oil complex will help protect against unwanted insects and pests – fleas, ticks, mosquitoes. Spray the aromatherapy protective spray on the animal’s coat in case of dandruff, irritated skin. Also, use a spray before going out into nature – spray the animal’s coat well. 100% organic spray is safe for dogs of all ages. Careful, just don’t spray into dogs eyes!
By the way, I cwant to mention that hair combing daily keeps westie coat in perfect condition. Yeah. I was wondering why to comb if after few minutes hair looks like it was never combed. Combing stimulates dog skin. Stimulation causes fat release. Just like for us, but we, especially women, cannot tolerate when hair gets grease quickly. But look at the benefits of this grease for west highland white terriers. The fat that is released creates a protective layer for the skin and hair. Greasy hair are more resistant to dirt and dust. An oily layer on the skin protects dogs skin from environmental influences, other potential chemicals, dust, and keeps skin moisture balance. Just like us humans, for a healthy moisturizing skin, a protective layer of grease is needed to prevent moisture from evaporating and environmental irritants from penetrating to the skin itself.

Be healthy, beautiful, do not panic, take care of yourself and protect your little ones.