My son adopted a rescue dog last spring and planning a trip in September. What is tick situation then?

I once picked about 30 ticks off my son after a portage in the Q, so maybe turn about is fair.

Your dog really should be on flea and tick medication so it shouldn't be an issue.

Ticks can be found all year long but they are worst Spring (April) thru Fall (October) in both MN and WI. I give my dogs NexGard during this time and thats in addition to the hart worm meds (AdvantageMulti or Sentinel) which given to them all year long. If I wasn't going to give the tick meds regularly I'd give them a Nexgard chew a few days to a week before I was heading into the wilderness.

Ticks and the potential for lyme disease should be addressed using either a systemic medication or collar. Be sure and begin treatments early so the systemic preventative will be most effective. All it takes is a curious pup sniffing into a mouse nest to possibly become loaded with lyme carrying deer ticks. I had two Golden Retrievers contract lyme disease, while hunting in the BWCA area, due to my own ignorance.

You can encounter tics in September. As others have said, medicate your dog prior. Avoid grassy areas as much as possible. Most of the tics we've attracted in the BW have been dog tics rather than deer tics, if that's any consolation. Most.

He's on some med from when he was adopted. I'm hearing there are ticks in September but the meds are enough. With meds, it seems a tick collar would be unnecessary?

Thank you all!

Regarding ticks I was told by Phil Pelleteri (not sure of spelling), PhD entomology of U of Wisconsin for 37 years that anytime there is no snow on the ground there is the possibility of exposure to ticks. My experience is that during spring I have found more ticks than at other times during the year.

billconner: "He's on some med from when he was adopted. I'm hearing there are ticks in September but the meds are enough. With meds, it seems a tick collar would be unnecessary?


Thank you all!"

Correct. Oral tick meds means no tick collar. Most heartworm meds treat fleas and other parasites, but not ticks. Check the packaging for details. You may need to get the tick meds separately - and it ain’t cheap. You can buy one month supply (1 chew) of NexGard from Chewy.com for around $25 but requires a prescription. Talk to the vet. The oral stuff is much better than the tick collar.

Deer ticks AKA Lyme’s Carrying ticks are still not the prominent tick in the BWCA although they are out there. Mostly the common wood tick is what you get on you up there. That said, unfortunately, tick illnesses are a serious issue and they are very debilitating. Makes Covid look easy.

Deer ticks are mot active in cool weather when there are still snow banks but also bare ground, and in Late fall before the first snow.
Cool weather= ticks
Hot summer weather=far fewer ticks.

Stay healthy
Tom

It can vary from year to year, depending on how dry it is during June/July/August. In August last year I didn't pull a single tick off of my dog and he was running around camp each day from sun-up to sun-down, don't know that I ever saw one the whole trip actually. In October, the same thing. never picked one off or even saw one.

Hiking around in June and July though, we would get several each trip pretty much on any trail up there or even here in Duluth. One time I pulled over 20 off him when we got back home. In those cases he just gets hosed down and scrubbed with tick killing shampoo before I let him back in the house.

I have him on Simparica Trio which kills adult ticks in under 8 hours, and I dot his spine down from his head with Vectra 3D for extended trips. His collar is sprayed with Permethrin for bdub trips too, but that's mostly to keep the mosquitoes from buzzing around his pointy ears. I have pulled dead ticks off him before, which means his meds work, but we still do a pretty extensive check after any time in thick woods. Call me paranoid I guess.

See your vet about the Lyme vaccine. Vaccine is cheap compared to treatment.
I was told by a vet that applying a "kid" friendly insect repellent to your dog also helps with ticks, mosquitoes and flies . (spray it on your hands and wipe it on your dog, don't spray it near their eyes or nose) Take a fine comb or brush to groom your dog at camp. Make sure the flea and tick collar is ok to get wet.
I have never had much luck with flea/tick collars, but the kid friendly repellent has worked very well. Last year was crazy bad for deer ticks in ne wisconsin.

Be very very careful applying people bug juice to dogs.

It can go south quick. I’d have to have the vet go with me to the store and point at the specific bottle that was okay before doing it.

I’ve taken my dog both in summer and fall and have yet to have issues with fleas or ticks in the BWCA. Voyageurs National Park can be a total nightmare, ticks galore. But never had any issues in the BWCA and she’s pretty active around camp hunting squirrels and what not once we get there. I do give her a look over every night before coming in the tent with me, but on three trips I think I’ve only found one and pretty sure she got that at the entry point. She is treated with NexGuard, so any ticks that do attach are not long for this world.

I hiked the Sioux Hustler Trail in the BWCA with my dog in Sept one year. I did not find any ticks on her. We also slept under the same blanket and I found no ticks on myself.

The trail is about 35 miles long and there are ferns that overhang the trail in many areas and rub on your legs for miles, no ticks.

Most campsites are pretty clear of undergrowth, but still, I think Sept. is generally not overly concerning for ticks.

Many old timers especially on the Gunflint don't remember ticks present like 40 years ago.
Like many things in nature, they are creeping north.