Found my 1st tick on my golden retriever today. My dog will turn 1 year old this month and am curious as to what everyone uses for flea and tick control. I am currently using Simparica TRIO that is distributed by Zoetis. (Purchased at the vet.) One pill a month for each month of the year. Just curious as to what everyone uses and good results and not so good results. After all the boat dog pictures I figured this would be a good starting place.
Thanks..
5 years on Bravecto for my pup. 
I have always used Frontline Plus. Have never taken a live embedded tick off of any of my dogs in twenty three years. Definitely have found dead ones that bit the dog then croaked though.
Both my boys have been on Bravecto for years and it works nicely. I like that it’s a 3-month chewable rather than every month.
Frontline plus topical on my youngest and what edible my vet gives me for the oldest. The one time of year my dogs get blanketed by ticks is early fall Grouse hunting. Its just awful. Otherwise I dont have too much trouble with them.
I have certainly seen my fair share of ticks defeat the meds.
I’ve had good luck with bravecto and nexgard as far as chewables and also had good luck with the seresto collar. I have not had good luck with frontline.
I am currently using nexgard and I switched from bravecto a couple years ago. I never had any issues with bravecto but my vet talked me out of it. It is nice that you only have to give it once every 3 months but that also means the active ingredients are much stronger (to last for 3 months) and it can have some negative side affects in some dogs. Fluralaner (active ingredient in bravecto) is administered at a minimum dose of 25 mg/kg to provide 12 weeks of efficacy while afoxolaner (nexgard active ingredient) is administered at 2.5 mg/kg to provide 5 weeks of efficacy. Here is an interesting study on the two active ingredients that concluded the efficacy in the 3rd month of bravecto goes way down.
Again, never had any issues with it, but just decided to go with the once a month pill because I’m already giving heartworm once a month anyways and its easy to remember to do them together.
Bravecto
Chewable every 3 months and have see a couple crawling on my lab but never one attached. Would never use anything else
I have always used Frontline Plus. Have never taken a live embedded tick off of any of my dogs in twenty three years. Definitely have found dead ones that bit the dog then croaked though.
Been using Frontline + ad well. No doubt it works well. However I have a question that may or may not influence use on a younger dog. Ruger, my 100+ pound lab had been on it for a couple years all 12 months. We misused a month last fall and figured let it go since we were going into winter and he would be at our residence more and not the farm. So, 6+ months later now. He just picked up some ticks this week. All embedded ticks were dead.
Our Britney we had didn’t get frontline for almost 2 years. Every tick embedded in her was dead.
How long is that stuff last in their system?? Is something that strong really safe for them??
Lyme vaccination is available at your Vet as well. This doesn’t stop all of the tick transmitted diseases but helps. I almost lost my Spaniel a few years ago.
Lyme vaccination is available at your Vet as well.
And the vaccine is likely cheaper than a season of preventative treatments! 
Nexgard for my older dog (mostly a house dog) and Credelio for my younger that gets out in the field. My vet says Credelio kills the ticks quicker so less chance of transmission.
I use the topical application like Frontline or K9 Advantix. Its messy for a couple days, but it physically keeps ticks and fleas completely off the dog, as opposed to the chewable one which does not. In order for Bravecto to work, the tick actually has to bite the dog, so your dog could be covered in them and bring those things into the house.
Grouse hunting in the past meant a week of pulling off ticks. Started Bravecto a few years back and my Springer has very few on him, none embedded by the time we get home (3 hour drive).
Do you guys order your meds online or just get them from the vet? I’ve always bought mine from the vet but assuming I’m wasting money by doing that.
Do you guys order your meds online or just get them from the vet? I’ve always bought mine from the vet but assuming I’m wasting money by doing that.
I just get them from the vet because I’m lazy. 12 doses of Nexgard is $275 at my vet vs $240 online. There is a $60 rebate for buying Heartgard and Nexgard together and my vet fills it out for me and I just get the rebate in the mail. I’d probably forget to do that myself anyways and it would end up costing the same. You should let your vet know upfront that you are looking for a written prescription because some will charge something for it.
I use the topical application like Frontline or K9 Advantix. Its messy for a couple days, but it physically keeps ticks and fleas completely off the dog, as opposed to the chewable one which does not. In order for Bravecto to work, the tick actually has to bite the dog, so your dog could be covered in them and bring those things into the house.
Not quite true. Bravecto has tick repellant built into it. Of the few I’ve seen crawling, they never stick around long enough to attach. Our pup is in the house and I hated that topical stuff that left the hair with a greasy spot.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
I use the topical application like Frontline or K9 Advantix. Its messy for a couple days, but it physically keeps ticks and fleas completely off the dog, as opposed to the chewable one which does not. In order for Bravecto to work, the tick actually has to bite the dog, so your dog could be covered in them and bring those things into the house.Not quite true. Bravecto has tick repellant built into it. Of the few I’ve seen crawling, they never stick around long enough to attach. Our pup is in the house and I hated that topical stuff that left the hair with a greasy spot.
Nowhere says Bravecto repels. Frontline doesn’t either for that matter unless it’s Frontline Shield.
Based on what my vet told me it does repel ticks.
She actually went to school for quite a few years to become one.
I’ll take her word for it.
Do you guys order your meds online or just get them from the vet? I’ve always bought mine from the vet but assuming I’m wasting money by doing that.
I used to buy mine from online, but those online places still have to call your vet to verify the prescription being fulfilled is legit before they will release and ship your order. My vet used to do this for free but now they charge like $10 or $15 to verify it which I guess I can’t blame them for doing. That extra charge makes buying from my vet versus online a wash and I’d rather support my local vet than a huge online retailer. Also, my vet said it isn’t uncommon for those online places to sell expired medications, so if you’re buying from somewhere online, check that what you’re receiving isn’t expired product.
Based on what my vet told me it does repel ticks.
She actually went to school for quite a few years to become one.
I’ll take her word for it.
Haha. My vet told me the opposite – it does not repel them.
I’ll take my vet’s word too. Sounds like its one vet versus another one on this one. Perhaps the real answer is with the manufacturer of the product, not the vet.
Maybe but the real answer is it works.
I’m a stones throw from woods, dry grass and everything else them dam things like.
She’s in it every day and we hardly ever see one on her. A yellow that is more white so they show up like a sore thumb.
If I walk through that stuff without permethrin on…I’m loaded with em.
Off topic but now there’s a new tick coming, Lone Star tick that carries its own new viral infection. That’s just F’n great…
We either do heartgard + nexgard or Simparica TRIO. My DVM prefers the monthly doses rather than the three month ones due to the decrease in efficacy mentioned above. Also have the dogs vaccinated for lyme + lepto + anything else my DVM decides. Cost is not really a consideration, since my wife is the DVM.
In regards to online vs at your vet, purchasing through your vet will directly support them and the local folks who work there. Even more so if they are locally owned vs a corporate group (which are becoming more and more common). It’s also not uncommon for the vet to have the product cheaper than some of the well-known online retailers.
Nexgard. Same company that makes Heartgard so they should be compatible.
I only give them tick meds April-May and Sep-Oct. Summer is swimming time and long morning walks … fall ticks are far worse than spring in many areas of MN.
Slightly off-topic…
Why isn’t there a chewable for me?
Slightly off-topic…
Why isn’t there a chewable for me?
Not a chewable but a human vaccine called VLA15 starts phase 3 trials this year.
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