- September 22, 2026
- Cats, Dogs, Parasites & Prevention, Pet Health & Wellness
Ticks in Ohio are a year-round problem. Here’s what to do
Ticks in Ohio are active in every month of the year, so the small, firm bump you feel behind your dog’s ear after a January walk may well be one. You can take it off cleanly in a couple of minutes with a pair of tweezers. Below is how to remove a tick from a dog, what to watch for over the next three weeks, which species live here now, and how to keep tick prevention running through winter.
Key takeaways
- Use fine-tipped tweezers, grip the tick close to the skin, and pull straight out with steady pressure. No twisting, no petroleum jelly, no heat.
- Write down the date. Watch your dog for three weeks for fever, low energy and a lost appetite. Lyme disease is slower, and most infected dogs never get sick from it.
- Five tick species matter most for people and pets in Ohio, including the deer tick and the lone star tick. The deer tick is reported in 83 of the state’s 88 counties.
- Ohio recorded 40 human Lyme cases in 2010 and more than 2,800 in 2025.
- The Companion Animal Parasite Council recommends tick control for all pets all year, not only from spring to fall.
How to remove a tick from a dog, step by step
Do it soon. For Lyme disease, AVMA’s page on Lyme disease in dogs says an infected tick has to feed for at least 24 to 48 hours to pass the bacteria on. Other tick-borne infections keep their own clocks, so sooner is always better.
- Set up first. Gather fine-tipped tweezers, a small jar or zip-top bag, soap and a bright light. Ask someone to feed your dog a treat while you work, and part the fur until you can see where the tick meets the skin.
- Grip close to the skin. Use the very tips of the tweezers and pinch the tick as near to the skin as you can, at the mouth end rather than the round, swollen body.
- Pull straight out. Use steady, even pressure. Do not twist or jerk, because that can snap the mouthparts off in the skin.
- Leave any speck behind. If a tiny dark dot stays in the skin and will not come out easily, let it be. Digging at it only hurts your dog.
- Clean up. Wash the bite area and your own hands with soap and water.
- Dispose of the tick safely. Seal it in a container, wrap it tightly in tape, flush it, or drop it in rubbing alcohol. Never crush it with your fingers. If you want us to see it, keep it in alcohol or take a sharp photo beside a coin.
- Mark the date and the spot, then check the rest of the dog. Ears, armpits, between the toes, the groin, under the collar and around the tail are the places people miss.
CDC guidance on what to do after a tick bite is blunt about home remedies: skip the petroleum jelly, the heat and the nail polish, and use tweezers. The same page says that if the mouthparts break off and cannot be lifted out easily, the skin will push them out on its own as it heals.
Ticks on dogs: what to watch for in the three weeks after
Put the date on your calendar and count forward three weeks. Anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis, two tick-borne infections that do make dogs sick, tend to show up in that window. The Companion Animal Parasite Council’s guideline says the organisms appear in the blood within a few weeks of the bite and lists the common signs in sick dogs: fever, lethargy, depression, a lost appetite and weight loss. Some dogs also get stiff, swollen joints and do not want to move.
Lyme disease keeps a slower schedule. AVMA reports that only 5 to 10 percent of infected dogs ever develop signs, and in those that do, the signs typically first appear two to five months after infection. The classic picture is limping that shifts from one leg to another, sometimes with fever, a poor appetite, swollen lymph nodes or painful, swollen joints. So the three-week watch catches the fast infections, and your note about the date helps us read a limp that turns up months later.
Two more points from AVMA. Most dogs infected with Lyme bacteria look completely healthy, so a healthy dog tells you little either way. And antibiotics are not recommended simply to prevent Lyme disease in a dog with a tick bite. Blood tests measure exposure and timing matters, so we will tell you when testing makes sense.
Call us the same day if your dog is lethargic and refusing food after a tick bite, is limping on and off or has a painful, swollen joint, or turned up covered in dozens of tiny ticks at once. If it cannot wait, read how urgent care works at our hospital and call before you come.
Deer ticks in Ohio and the Lyme numbers
Ohio State veterinarian Timothy McDermott told Ohio public radio that five ticks have the biggest implications for humans and animals here: the American dog tick, the blacklegged tick (better known as the deer tick), the lone star tick, the Gulf Coast tick and the Asian longhorned tick. He called deer ticks the worst of them, said they do not mind the cold, and noted heightened activity by adult deer ticks from around Thanksgiving to Christmas.
Ohio State’s veterinary college reports that the deer tick has spread to 83 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and that in some areas of the state two out of every three blacklegged ticks carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The Ohio Department of Health names the blacklegged tick as the one that spreads Lyme disease.
The human case counts show how fast things have moved. The Ohio Department of Health reports 40 Lyme disease cases in 2010, 415 in 2020 and more than 2,800 in 2025, close to seven times higher in the last five of those years. AVMA adds that places where people get Lyme disease can be presumed to be high-risk places for dogs as well.
The lone star tick in Ohio, and the newer arrivals
The lone star tick matters for dogs because of what it carries. The CAPC guideline names it, along with white-tailed deer, as the main cycle that keeps two Ehrlichia species going. One of them, Ehrlichia ewingii, has been reported to cause stiff, swollen joints in dogs, on top of the fever and lethargy described above.
The Asian longhorned tick is the newest arrival. It was first identified in Ohio in 2020, and Ohio State counted it in 16 counties in late 2024. By October 2025, after veterinarians in Butler County reported a case to the USDA, the count had reached 24 counties. That dog had apparently stepped on a nest of freshly hatched longhorned ticks and was swarmed by hundreds of them, and the owner spent two days trying to pick them off before calling the clinic. A female can lay up to 2,000 eggs without mating, and the veterinarian who reported the Butler County case said that detecting it at all means many more are probably undetected.
The Gulf Coast tick, once reported only now and then, is now established here as well. We cannot tell you which of these has reached your street. We can tell you the direction of every count has been the same.
Do ticks die in winter? Why tick season in Ohio runs all year
Most of us learned that tick season ends at the first hard frost. In Ohio, the evidence says that rule no longer holds.
- The state health department. The Ohio Department of Health’s director credits the rise in cases partly to warmer temperatures, more humidity and shorter stretches of extreme cold in winter, which leave ideal conditions for ticks to survive.
- Ohio State. In the same radio report, McDermott said: “We have tick activity every single month of the year here in Ohio. We have positive cases of Lyme disease every month of the year in Ohio.”
- The national guideline. CAPC says that because tick activity may occur year-round, all pets should be kept on tick-control products year-round.
A cold snap slows ticks down. It does not clear them out. A dog who walks the same trail in January that he walks in June is exposed on any mild day, and a gap in prevention from November to March leaves months uncovered, including the weeks when adult deer ticks are busiest.
Tick prevention for dogs that runs all year
A tick-control product, every month
Your veterinarian can match a product to your dog’s size, health and lifestyle, whether that is a chew, a topical or something else. Ask us which fits. Refills go through our prescription request page. Please allow 12-24 hours for a refill to be filled. If your pet has not been seen within the last 12 months and does not have current lab work, such as a heartworm test, the prescription cannot be filled until we see your pet. For Lyme disease, AVMA says vaccination is worth discussing in high-risk areas, and our page on the vaccines your dog should be current on is a good place to start that conversation.
A tick check after outdoor time
Run your hands against the coat after walks, yard time and trips to the park, all year. The Ohio Department of Health advises walking in the center of trails and staying out of tall grass and brush, which protects your dog as much as it protects you. Our older post on preventing fleas and ticks covers the yard and the house.
A yearly screening
CAPC recommends screening dogs for exposure to the agents of ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis. It is a blood test, often run alongside a Lyme check, and the yearly exam is the natural time for it. Our post Time is tick-ing explains these diseases in more depth, and our parasites and prevention section collects the rest.
Cats get ticks too. AVMA notes that cats can be infected with the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, though little is known about whether they get sick from it. The removal steps above are the same for a cat. Before you put any tick product on a cat, talk to us first.
You can also see how common these infections are in dogs near you. CAPC publishes free parasite prevalence maps built from veterinary test results, where you click a region to see its numbers.
Common questions about ticks in Ohio
Do ticks die in winter in Ohio?
Not reliably. An Ohio State veterinarian reports tick activity in every month of the year here, and adult deer ticks show heightened activity from around Thanksgiving to Christmas. The Ohio Department of Health links rising cases to shorter cold spells. Cold slows ticks, but a mild day brings them out again, which is why CAPC recommends tick control for pets all year.
How long does a tick have to be attached to give my dog Lyme disease?
AVMA says an infected blacklegged tick has to feed for at least 24 to 48 hours to pass on the Lyme bacteria. That gives you a window to find and remove it first. Other tick-borne infections run on different timelines, so take off any tick as soon as you find it rather than guessing how long it has been there.
What if the tick's head stays in my dog's skin?
Leave it alone if it does not lift out easily. CDC notes that the skin pushes leftover mouthparts out as the bite heals, and picking at the spot only irritates it. Wash the area, note the date, and look at the spot for the next few days. If it gets redder, more swollen or more painful instead of better, call us.
Is the lone star tick in Ohio?
Yes. An Ohio State veterinarian lists the lone star tick among the five ticks that matter most for people and animals in Ohio. For dogs, CAPC ties it to two Ehrlichia species, one of which can cause fever, lethargy and sore joints. The removal steps and the three-week watch are the same as for any other tick.
Should I take my dog to the vet after one tick bite?
A single tick removed promptly can often be handled at home with three weeks of watching. Call us if your dog seems unwell, if the bite site gets worse, or if you found many ticks at once. A visit is also a good time to set up year-round prevention if your dog is not on it yet.
Found a tick? We are here in Parma
Our hospital is at 6270 State Road in Parma. The hospital is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and is closed Saturday and Sunday. If you pulled a tick off your dog or cat, or you want prevention that keeps working through winter, book a visit with one of our veterinarians: call 440.845.7141 or use our appointment request page.
