My husband just took off a tick from Julia's ear...should I be worried about anything?? I've been looking up Lyme Disease on the internet. She could have got it from our backyard or yesterday I took her to my daughters softball practice at the park...I, of course panicked!!  I just wanted that thing off my baby!!

Don't know where you are, but here in New York the ticks are viscous this year!!  I have pulled off 9 ticks between my two dogs since april.  I just had my lab (KC) tested for Lyme and it came back possitive, so she is on a 30 day antibiotic regime.  I broke down and had Brutus vaccinated against Lyme so I don't have to go through it again.  As soon as KC finishes up her meds, the vet will vaccinate her too.

If you've done your research you've probably already read that a deer tick has to be attached for at least 36 hours to transmit Lyme.  When removing the tick you want to be sure not to "upset" the tick and have it regurgitate back into the dog, that's how the lyme gets into the blood stream.  What that means is you want to pull the tick out quickly.  A lot of people make the mistake of trying to kill the tick before removal or smother it with vaseline or rubbing alchohol... that's what ticks the tick off and causes it to regurgitate.  I have a great tool that I bought that removes the tick without upsetting it, unfortunately by the time a deer tick can be seen, it probably as already been on my dog for more than 36 hours.