It seemed to work in the past. I've admittedly let my backyard get really bad, as far as vegetation goes... but I just recently had it cut down a lot. I've applied Advantix about 3 weeks ago... and there seemed to be absolutely *NO* effect on the dog. I just recently had someone at Petsmart apply more solution on the dog, to eliminate the possibility that I did it wrong.





24 hours later, still finding plenty of live ticks on her.





Does this fucking shit even fucking work!? This shit costs an arm and a leg, and pisses me the fuck off that it seems to have absolutely no God damned effect on my dog! I'm getting pissed because I just recently found out about Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever,... and this is getting me to the point where I am seriously thinking about getting rid of my dog of 7 years... just to protect my damned health. I really don't want to do that, since, ... well my life sucks and honestly, my dog is pretty much the only thing I look forward to coming home to.





WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO TO CONTROL THIS SHIT!?!? I'm seriously fucking worried now... I thought Lyme Disease was the worst thing you could get from ticks... but apparently Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is easily fatal if you miss the symptoms... which can easily be handwaved as a fucking common cold.

I never had real success using advantix, or other topicals. For fleas I had to go the Comfortis and bomb the yard/house route. Ticks succumbed to the yard bombing.

We've had good luck with K9 Advantix II up here in tick infested New England. However you may just be having a serious infestation in your back yard that is overwhelming the topical. You may need to spray your entire yard.

what do I use?

 

Permethrin.

Go to Tractor Supply and get it. Usually in the horse or livestock department. Mix according the label and use a sprayer to spray the yard. Read the precautions before using. Toxic to cats, fish, bees, etc, but it works great against ticks, fleas, ants, etc. Once it dries it is pretty much safe for any animal, but is still effective against insects for up to 30 days. It is commonly sprayed on livestock to get rid of fleas, ticks, flies, etc and is harmless to humans. Oil/Petroleum based permethrin works best out doors. I use the Water based permethrin on my clothes once a month during the spring/summer/fall. Haven't had a single tick in the 5 yrs since I started using it.

Do I need to hire an exterminator to do my house? I'm worried I might have an infestation of the home. I read in various places online that the brown dog tick can complete it's entire life cycle indoors...

What neilfj said, or there are also a lot of lawn and garden treatments that use Imidacloprid that pretty much kill everything, including bees, unfortunately. Disclaimer: I've never had to use any area or yard treatments for ticks so I can't vouch for how well they work. However, over the years, depending on where home was, I've had to spray for carpenter ants, grubs and, most recently, Japanese beetles. In all cases the products worked well. Better living through chemistry!

You might have to, but one step at a time, no? Kill them in the back yard first, and keep the dog on Advantix because it should work against the odd tick once the main population has been killed off.

Don't forget to take care and "use as directed". Chemicals can be dangerous!

The hell with that overpriced stuff.

I put a purple Python cattle ear tag around my dog's collar and it works great. If we're having a really bad year, I spray the inside of her dog box with permethrin I bought at tractor supply and diluted to the proper concentrations. No more flea and tick problems. The ear tag lasts several months.

I learned about this from some UKC coonhound boards. If people aren't afraid to use these on their $5k grand champion dogs, they're fine for mine.

Advantix works great for my dogs... 8 ticks climbing on Warhound Alpha after a hike, none bit.

Those cattle ear tags are amazing. They work wonders.

I know a lot of folks have had good success with those ear tags, but I've always found the product data sheet and MSDS to be scary enough not to try it. As pets and pseudo working dogs we all handle our pups a lot, and they play in a way that could cause accidental oral contact with the tags.

We gave up on Frontline/Advantix quite a while ago. It just doesnt work anymore.

We got some of these collars at the beginning of the summer and they worked really well. Its about time to replace them now though. They seem a bit spendy but they are worth it.
http://www.amazon.com/Bayer-Seresto-Collar-Large-Odorless/dp/B00B8CG602/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413932638&sr=8-1&keywords=flea+collar+bayer