How to Check Your Dog for Ticks

Written by

Kosar Koohi Updated 31 August 2026 · 7 Min Read

Kosar is the editor of Pretty Fluffy, a lifelong dog lover, and the proud mom of Yuki, a Maltese who has very high standards. So does Kosar. She researches everything obsessively before it ever makes it onto the page.

Learning how to check your dog for ticks is one of the most useful habits an Australian dog owner can build, and it takes about two minutes once you know the order to work in. I do it by feel rather than by sight, because my Maltese Yuki has a long white coat and a tick can sit flat against her skin completely hidden from view. What I did not know until recently was that I had been starting in the wrong place.

New Australian research has made the right starting point much clearer, and it is worth knowing before the September peak arrives. Alongside a year round tick control product such as NexGard SPECTRA, a daily search is what vets recommend, and the study shows exactly where that search should begin.

Where Paralysis Ticks Attach on Dogs

Researchers analyzed more than 10,000 tick paralysis cases from veterinary hospitals in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and Sydney's northern beaches, making it the largest study of its kind. The findings were published in the Australian Veterinary Journal, and they are unusually practical for anyone doing a daily search.

Paralysis ticks were found on the head, neck or ears in 73 percent of dogs. In other words, almost three quarters of the risk sits forward of the front legs, which is exactly where a rushed check tends to skip.

That does not mean the back half of your dog can be ignored. It means the front half earns the most of your attention and the most of your time.

The Daily Tick Search, Step by Step

To check your dog for ticks, walk your fingertips slowly through the coat at skin level, feeling for any small bump rather than looking for one. Start at the head and work backward, covering the face, ears, mouth, neck and shoulders, then down the front legs to the paws and between the toes, then the chest, belly, back, hind legs and tail. Take the collar off and check underneath it. Because most paralysis ticks attach forward of the front legs, spend the longest on the head and neck.

The order matters less than the consistency. Running the same route every time is what stops you skipping the awkward spots, and awkward spots are where ticks end up. Do it in good light, go slowly enough to feel skin rather than fur, and keep treats nearby so your dog enjoys the whole business. If you find one tick, keep searching, because dogs often carry more than one.

Think of the search as the second layer rather than the only one. A monthly product like NexGard SPECTRA is doing the work you cannot see, and your hands are the backup that catches what slips through.

Unusual Places Ticks Hide

The same study turned up attachment sites that most of us would never think to check. Ticks were found in the external ear canal, inside the mouth on the gums and tongue, in the nostrils, and under the tail and around the genital area.

These sites matter because they delay detection, and with paralysis ticks the length of attachment is what drives how sick a dog becomes. Lift the lips, look in the ears, and check under the tail rather than assuming a pat over the back has covered it.

Long Coats and Thick Fur

If your dog has a long or dense coat, searching by touch is not optional, it is the only method that works. Yuki's coat is the reason I stopped trying to look for ticks and started feeling for them.

Regular grooming helps, because you learn what your dog's normal lumps and bumps feel like and a new one stands out. Many owners in high risk areas also clip their dog shorter through spring and summer, including the head and tail, to make the daily search faster.

Signs of Tick Paralysis in Dogs

Tick paralysis is a genuine emergency, and it can move quickly. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, early signs include a change or loss of voice, wobbliness or lack of coordination in the hind legs, a change in breathing rate or effort, gagging or coughing, vomiting, and dilated pupils.

A dog can go from mildly off to critically unwell within hours. Halley, a New South Wales dog, went from well to critically ill over a single Christmas after an unnoticed tick, and spent three nights in intensive care before making a full recovery. Her owner Dee Chalk put it plainly afterward: One tick can be all it takes.

If you notice any of these signs, contact your vet or your nearest emergency animal hospital straight away, whether or not you have found a tick. Do not wait to see how your dog looks in the morning.

What to Do If You Find a Tick

Call your vet immediately. Speed matters more than anything else you do, and a vet can remove the tick properly and assess whether your dog needs treatment for the toxin already circulating.

If a tick is removed at home, keep it in a sealed container so your vet can identify the species, and go straight to the clinic regardless of how well your dog seems. Removing the tick does not remove the toxin, so dogs can get worse afterward. Keep your dog quiet and calm on the way in.

When Is Tick Season in Australia?

Paralysis ticks are most active from spring through summer along the east coast, which is why the risk climbs sharply from September. They have been recorded well inland and as far south as Victoria, so proximity to bushland matters more than a line on a map.

The season is also getting harder to predict. Small Animal Specialist Hospital treated more than 400 dogs and cats for tick paralysis across its New South Wales hospitals between August 2025 and February 2026, an increase of almost a third on the previous year, and its vets reported seeing cases right through winter.

Travel is the other thing owners underestimate. Dogs who live nowhere near tick country still turn up with tick paralysis after holidays. Whether you are heading to the dog friendly beaches of Gippsland or walking somewhere shady and damp closer to home, check your dog that evening and keep checking for a fortnight after you return. It is one of those summer safety habits that costs nothing and occasionally saves everything.

Year Round Tick Prevention for Dogs

A daily search and a tick control product are not alternatives to each other. Products control most of the ticks a dog encounters, but it only takes one paralysis tick to cause serious illness. Equally, nobody searches perfectly every single day. You want both.

Dr Tim Hopkins, an emergency veterinarian at SASH Northern Beaches, recommends pairing daily searching with a highly effective tick product from the isoxazoline class, such as NexGard SPECTRA, used all year round rather than only through the warm months.

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What NexGard SPECTRA Covers

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NexGard SPECTRA is a monthly chew that protects against fleas, ticks, mites, lice, heartworm and intestinal worms in a single dose. See product label for full claim details and directions for use.

For households currently running a tick treatment, a worming tablet and a separate heartworm product on three different schedules, that consolidation is the practical appeal. The doses people miss tend to be the ones on the most complicated calendar, and a missed dose in September is the one that matters. It is available from most pet retailers including

Whichever route you take, your vet can help you choose based on where you live, where you travel and your dog's age and weight. For the fuller picture, see our guide to protecting your dog against fleas and paralysis ticks.

September is National Tick Awareness Month for Pets, which makes it a good moment to set both habits at once. A monthly chew on the calendar, and two minutes a day starting at the head.

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