Tips to protect your family from the risk of ticks this winter

With an extremely mild winter becoming a factor in many parts of the country, the deep freeze that usually eliminates most of the fleas and ticks has allowed these pesky insects to hang around much longer than usual. As a result, if your canine happens to bring one of these bugs indoors, it could put your family at risk of Lyme disease and many other potential ailments. Thankfully, there are a few preventative methods and regular practices you can incorporate into your regular routine to keep these pests at bay.

According to WDBJ7.com, canines who have been bitten by a tick won't contract potential germs from these insects right away.

"In order to get tick diseases the tick has to be attached for six to eight hours to transmit it so it doesn't happen right away," veterinarian Dr. Erika Henson, told the news source. "If you catch it early and remove it then they won't get Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever or Lyme disease."

When your dog goes outdoors to do his business or taking a walk, get in the habit of giving your dog's coat a quick inspection. You may just find a tick who has attached himself to your companion's skin that could pose a risk to your family. If you happen to see one, be sure to use a pair of tweezers and remove the insect while lifting from the top of its head. Since the bug can become impacted in your dog's skin, this is the only reliable way of removing it intact.

Along with a change of habits, using a monthly flea and tick preventative can drastically reduce your canine's chances of bringing one of these pests indoors. Hartz UltraGuard Pro Flea and Tick Drops for Dogs are the ideal solution that will kill fleas, ticks and mosquitoes on contact for 30 days. These topical drops are placed at skin level between your dog's shoulder blades down the length of his back to the tail. This will kill common parasites at any stage of their life cycle, so you'll have peace of mind, even during one of the mildest winters in recent memory.

Ticks are looking to be a major concern for much of the winter, but you can keep your furry friend and your family safe by using a flea preventative and being mindful of his skin health.

For more information on Hartz flea & tick Control Products and flea prevent, visit http://www.hartzultraguard.com .

How to Tell if Your Dog has Fleas

Fleas are the most common external parasite that can affect your dog.

Left untreated, chronic infestations not only make your dog miserable but can lead to infection and more serious flea-related diseases. Being aware of the signs and symptoms of flea infestations, along with prompt treatment, will help you keep your dog and her environment a healthy one.

Symptoms of Dog Flea Allergies:

Itching and scratching: Like all parasites, fleas depend upon a host animal for their survival - in this case, your dog’s blood. Dogs can be allergic to the protein in flea saliva and will itch or scratch as soon as the flea bites the dog’s skin. Even a single flea bite can cause a dog to become nervous or agitated and scratch excessively for several days.

Red pimples or bumps: These symptoms may appear on your dog’s groin or belly, under the legs, at the base of her tail or on her behind (rump). Constant itching or scratching of these areas can result in hair loss and dry skin. Left untreated, crusty lesions and infection can develop and lead to more severe flea-related diseases.

How to Check Your Dog for Fleas: Make it a habit to check your dog’s comb or brush during regular grooming sessions. If you suspect a problem, there are several ways to check your dog for fleas.

Visual check: Adult fleas are small and brown and are relatively easy to see with the naked eye. Have your dog lie on her side and check thinly-haired areas like her abdomen or the inside of her hindquarters.

Flea comb: Fine-toothed, metal flea combs are available from your vet or local pet supply store. Run the comb along her back or underbelly making sure to apply enough pressure so the comb comes in contact with her skin. Adult flea feces – commonly called flea dirt – looks like small black pepper specks. Have a small bowl of soapy water handy to drown any adult fleas you may pull up with the comb so they don’t hop back onto your dog.

White towel test: Have your dog stand on a white paper towel or cloth. Brush or rub her coat and check to see if there are black droppings on the towel. Flea dirt will look like tiny grains of sand and will turn red if water is applied.

If you can’t detect any fleas, flea dirt or eggs, but your dog continues to scratch or seems uncomfortable, have your veterinarian check her over. There is a skin test your vet can administer to test for flea allergies. It’s also possible that your dog is suffering from another type of allergy such as a food, atopic or contact allergy which the vet can diagnose during your visit.

Safely Rid Your Dog and Home of Fleas

Adult fleas can continue to reproduce and thrive on your dog and in your home until you break their life cycle. Fortunately, there are safe and effective treatment options. From powders and sprays to shampoos and topical liquids, numerous products are available to prevent or eliminate fleas, and treat your dog’s surroundings.

Hartz offers a complete pest management system designed to prevent fleas from attaching to your dog, and to break the 4-stage flea life cycle if your dog is already infested. In severe cases, you may need to contact your vet who can treat your dog with creams and antibiotics. Either way, prevention and/or prompt treatment are the best ways to ensure that your dog avoids developing a more severe flea-related disease down the road.

For more information on Hartz Flea & Tick Control Products and flea prevent, visit http://www.hartzultraguard.com .

Hartz launches Flea and Tick Education program on Facebook

Whether it's the dead of winter or the height of flea season, it can be difficult to find reliable information about your dog or cat's flea and tick prevention needs, and Hartz has set out to solve that problem. The company has created a Flea and Tick Education page on Facebook to bring helpful information about proper product usage, frequently asked questions, news updates and many more pieces of helpful information. Hartz hopes that this new informational source will provide pet parents with everything they'll need to make an informed decision about their four-legged friend's parasite prevention.

 Since Hartz creates products that measure up to the high safety and efficacy standards of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the new Flea and Tick Education page holds a wealth of information from this government office. The site offers a tutorial about proper label usage of flea and tick products, the efficacy records of common parasite prevention products as well as an EPA fact sheet that provides a comprehensive overview with safety tips and advice that can assist a pet parent dealing with a potential flea infestation, removing insects from a pet's skin or the frequency of parasite outbreaks around the country.

 One of the biggest additions to the Flea and Tick Education page is a How-To guide that will teach owners about the proper application of parasitic prevention products. For first-time pet owners who are just starting to use topical drops or flea sprays, this can be an excellent tutorial to figure out the appropriate method of applying them. In addition to a handy visual aid, the website also has an expansive FAQ section that covers a wide variety of topics. Subjects ranging from the appropriate use of Hartz products to environmental factors to dog- and cat-specific questions are tackled in a straightforward and helpful manner.

The new Hartz Flea and Tick Education Facebook page is another way that the company is tapping into the world's most popular social media platform to improve the health and well-being of pets everywhere. With an extensive set of information about Hartz products, common dog and cat flea problems, news and updates, everything is right at the fingertips of concerned pet owners. It may be all that pet parents need to keep their four-legged friends happy and healthy during any season.

To know more about the Hartz flea & tick control products, Visit its Site http://www.hartz.com/

Are you considering bringing home a new furry friend? Get your new companion from a friendly source

Making the choice to bring home a canine is a life-changing decision that will enrich you and your family's lives for years to come, but where you find your new companion can affect his animal wellness, demeanor and behavioral training. According to TCPalm.com, there are a few places you should be sure to skip and a few locations that are preferred to give your new pooch a happy home and a bright future.

A professional breeder is the ideal place to find your new dog, and while it may be a bit more expensive, you can be assured that he is up-to-date on all of his shots and pre-screened for genetic and health issues. The dogs are also brought up with their fellow siblings and are typically more sociable around other dogs and humans in the early stages of their lives. Perhaps most importantly, a responsible breeder will take back a dog if he doesn't adjust well to your environment or if he just doesn't seem like a natural fit.

A local rescue group is also a wonderful location to find your new companion, and you can find a wide range of breeds that can make a smooth transition into your home. Much like a professional breeder, these canines are highly socialized and spend a majority of their time interacting with shelter workers and other dogs. These rescue organizations are dedicated to saving the lives of every breed and making sure they are caught up on vaccinations and spayed or neutered before being placed in a new home.

Large pet stores should be avoided at all costs, as they merely encourage the commercialization of animals that live in cramped conditions for a majority of their young lives. Many of these puppies come from large-scale breeding operations that care about quantity rather than the health and well-being of the dog. With such a traumatic beginning to their lives, these canines could suffer from behavioral and health problems and endure a much longer period of adjustment to your home.

Bringing home a dog is a huge step in your family's lives, but you need to make sure that you're getting him from a place where dog wellness is a top priority so he can live a healthy and engaging life.

To know more about the Hartz flea & tick  products for your pets, please visit www.hartz.com

Dog groomers can help spot flea problems before they spread

In the warmer parts of the United States and even in the milder areas of the country, fleas are still a huge problem. As the winter frost sets in, many of these pesky critters move indoors and are much more aggressive at this time of year. While keeping up with your flea prevention products is wise during the winter, taking a regular trip to the dog groomer can improve your dog's overall well-being, and he may be able to spot the initial signs of a flea infestation, so you can act accordingly.

Many dog groomers know the tell-tale signs of an infestation, and can spot fleas, eggs, larvae and their leftover filth as soon as they begin washing your pooch. Additionally, a groomer may also be able to notice flea bites, which can only be found at the skin level and could be a sign of a bigger problem in your household. Most professionals also have flea shampoo and other anti-flea products that will begin the process of eliminating these insects, so making an appointment is a wise choice for any pet owner during the winter.

A groomer's helpful eye could also come in handy to find any hot spots or signs of dry skin that may be apparent. This could be an indicator of allergies, poor nutrition and countless other factors that a trained eye can pick out. Simply put, grooming is a necessary factor in your canine's overall health, and it comes with its own unique benefits.

Of course, you don't want to deal with the embarrassment of bringing a flea-ridden pooch to your local groomer, so be sure to keep up with your monthly flea treatments. Hartz UltraGuard Pro Flea and Tick Drops are applied at the skin level in between your dog's shoulder blades and dispensed down the length of his back to the tail. This will kill fleas at any stage of their life cycle, as well as ticks and mosquitoes on contact for up to 30 days. This simple procedure will spare your four-legged friend and your home from the risk of a flea infestation.

Visiting your groomer can be a worthy complement to your flea care, and it could be a crucial step in spotting and eliminating fleas and their larvae before they have a chance to spread to the rest of your home.  

To know more about the Hartz flea & tick products for your pets, please visit www.hartz.com

Hatrz Flea & Tick Products - Providing the Best Protection To Your Pets

With arrival of summers, most pet owners start to worry about the measures they need to take to protect their pets from the menace of fleas and ticks. Once fleas ride into your home and start laying eggs in the fur of your pet, getting rid of them is not an easy task. Even if you manage to kill the adult fleas, the eggs hatch and you have a completely new generation of fleas ready to suck your beloved pet white. However, pet owners, who have been using the Hartz Flea & Tick Control products for years, are well aware that these high quality products are completely safe and effective in protecting their beloved pets from the various troubles caused by these small parasites.

Hartz flea & tick control products are rendered least toxic and safe for direct use on animals by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Numerous pet owners, who have been using the Hartz products on their pets over the years, have confirmed that these products cause minimum adverse reactions or allergies on animal skin. The dedication of Hartz to ensure pet production and their passion ensure the happiness of pets combined with their years of experience in manufacturing pet care products definitely provides them with an advantage over other pet care product manufacturing brands.

The people at Hartz are well aware of the intense bonding that most pet owners have with their pets. So, the company strives hard to provide products that can ensure to make this relationship even healthier and fun filled. They utilize the latest technologies and innovative ideas of their researchers in creating pet care products, including flea and tick control treatments that will ensure a healthier, happier and longer life for them. In order to serve their customers in a better manner, Hartz has established strategic partnerships with leading research and educational organizations that help the company in developing new and better products for pet care.

Hartz is a premium brand of pet care products which has been catering to pets includes dogs, cats, parrots, finches, goldfish, tropical fish, reptiles, chinchillas, guinea pigs, hamsters and rabbits etc. for over 80 years. Hartz flea & tick control treatments happens to be amongst the most popular creations of this 1,500 products strong Company.

To know more about the Hartz flea & tick control products and check out their entire range of the products, log on to http://www.hartz.com/

Treat Your Pet for Fleas and Ticks with Hartz Flea & Tick Shampoo

Your dog is not just another pet like your goldfish or turtle; most times it is also your best friend who constantly showers you with its undivided attention and affection. But, sometimes in summers and spring season, it happens that you suddenly discover that your dog is too preoccupied to lavish his love on you as usual. You would find them at their blankets, looking thoroughly miserable and scratching them, frenziedly. If it happens then you can be pretty sure that you have some unsolicited company in your home in the shape of fleas and ticks and the pests are feasting on your dog.

Not only these little buggers make your pet extremely uncomfortable but also cause serious skin or even worse a life threatening ailment. It’s quite natural for you to get concerned and wonder how it happened and how to get rid of these pests, but before you can effectively take care of fleas it’s important to know how your dog picked them in the first place. Fleas are normally found in warm, humid, and wet surroundings such as ponds, mud puddles, and grassy, wooded areas. On the other hand, ticks are related to warm, humid or dry climate and they usually make trees and plants their homes. The moment your pets race into plants ticks attach themselves to a live host.


The most tell tale sign of presence of Ticks and Fleas is your dog’s frequent scratching on the places like ears, back of the neck, legs, or their back. Don’t wait till you yourself are bitten and develop tiny red welts that itch. A good pesticide for pets such as Hartz flea & tick shampoo brings the situation under control before these buggers infest every corner of your home. As fleas and ticks grow quickly from larvae to adults, before you realize they will spawn young on a pet. They can pass on heartworms in the bloodstream which can be very dangerous.


Cleansing treatment by Hartz flea & tick is formulated to kill not just fleas and ticks but flea eggs as well to protect against re-infestation for one month. Along with that the aloe in the shampoo soothes itchy, irritated skin caused by fleas and ticks bites. One shampoo a month with Hartz Flea & Tick dog’s shampoo will ensure that your dog is always free from these pests.


Hartz is a premium brand of pet care products which has been catering to pets includes dogs, cats, parrots, finches, goldfish, tropical fish, reptiles, chinchillas, guinea pigs, hamsters and rabbits etc. for over 80 years. Hartz flea & tick dog shampoo happens to be one of the most popular creation of this 1,500 products strong Company. To know more about the Hartz and check out their entire range of the products, log on to http://www.hartz.com