Tick And Flea Bites On Dogs – 15 Things You Might Not Know

20 minutes

Parasites. They have to be one of the worst parts of having a four-legged companion, as they make us as uncomfortable as our pets: but fortunately, they are one problem that you can prevent.

You may first become aware of flea bites on your dog because they will be uncomfortable and restless and scratch more than normal. Look out for them shaking their head, scratching around the ears or repeatedly licking and chewing the same parts of their body.

If they do have fleas, you may or may not be able to spot them on your pet yourself, but if you are suspicious about their behaviour, you can check their coat with a flea comb and look for flea dirt, which is much easier to find.   

The truth is fleas have incredible abilities for creatures of such a tiny size. Did you know the female flea consumes 15 times her own body weight in blood every day? 

As for ticks, these are blood-sucking parasites as well but behave very differently from fleas and carry with them a whole host of different problems. Keep reading and get to know both parasites a bit better and how to recognise signs of fleas and ticks on your dog!

How do I know if my dog has fleas or ticks?

Fleas and ticks can be hard to detect. Not only are they tiny, but fleas also move and can easily hide in the midst of your dog’s coat.

It’s easier if you look for evidence of fleas instead, i.e., flea dirt.

Run a flea comb through your dog’s hair and see what comes out. If you find black grainy dirt that turns red when you put it on a paper towel and apply a drop of water to it, your dog has fleas, even if you can’t actually find them4.

Learning to spot signs of flea bites on dogs can also raise suspicions. If your dog has fleas, they are likely to be itchy, so keep your eyes peeled for:

If you do find that your dog has fleas, don’t be alarmed. Though fleas can bring you, your pets and your home a number of problems, introducing an appropriate dog parasite treatment is the first step to getting this situation under control and will provide your pet with some relief. Just make sure to check with your vet which treatment is most suited for your dog.

15 Little-Known Facts about Dog Fleas and Ticks

Knowledge is power, so here are our top facts on dog fleas and ticks to help you prepare for managing and preventing attacks from these tiny blood-sucking parasites.

1. An adult flea will be able to make jumps approximately 150 times its own size. Can you imagine an adult human being able to jump over a very tall building? A flea’s leap is just as impressive.

2. Fleas are quick to set up home and establish an infestation: the female flea can lay 2,000 eggs in her lifetime1,4. This means preventative treatments are usually essential to keep your pets, family and home protected from an infestation.

3. Your dog can develop other conditions, like tapeworm or even anaemia, as a result of having fleas4. They may also itch excessively – distressing to them and to you. This is because flea bites on dogs can cause allergic reactions in sensitive pets4.

4. Fleas can come and live in your home and infest any animals that live there. You can inadvertently bring them in on your clothing or shoes, or they may hitch a ride with other creatures. This is why it’s so important that all pets in your home have appropriate preventative treatments, even those that do not have access outdoors.

5. You may notice flea bites on dogs after visiting a groomer or canine babysitting service – fleas thrive in these communal environments unless they are well-managed. Always ask these places about their arrangements for flea control and choose not to send your pet if you’re not happy with their answers.   

6. Fleas can also live outdoors during warm, damp weather. This could be out in your garden or other shaded spots. Fleas do not need to eat regularly to survive – they can go 100 days without access to a blood meal.

7. Ticks do suck blood like fleas do, but the major concern in Eastern Australia is paralysis from the paralysis tick. If you suspect your dog has a paralysis tick visit your vet immediately, especially if symptoms such as weakness in the legs, changes in voice, gagging/retching/vomiting, or difficulty breathing are noticed.

8. Both fleas and ticks are external parasites (ectoparasites). This means that they develop their life cycle outside of your pet’s body, as opposed to internal parasites (such as worms).

9. Ticks are actually arachnids, meaning they are members of the spider family3. This means they are more closely related to scorpions than fleas or other insects.

10. Fleas have four life stages: the female lays an egg, which develops into a larva, then it pupates, before emerging as an adult, which is able to reproduce. This means that if you see one or two adult fleas, the probability is that there are many more: not on your pet, but in the house, the car, the soft furnishings, or the carpets. Only 5% of the fleas in an infestation are actually adults living on your dog or cat!2

11. Ticks have a wide family tree, and there are almost 900 varieties3. Some of these species are able to transmit serious diseases, such as Ehrlichia canis, or cause paralysis as mentioned earlier, in addition to sucking blood and being a general irritant.

12. The products we have available to kill and control ticks are better than ever, but there is still a small chance a tick will survive, so it is strongly recommended you check your pet daily for paralysis ticks if you are in a paralysis tick area and remove any ticks you find. If your pet is unwell then visit the vet immediately.

13. Ticks use the blood of animals as their main food source. Humans, reptiles, mammals, including wild and domestic animals, are their usual favourite meals.

14. It can be difficult to spot a tick, particularly if your pet has dark fur. They appear as just a tiny bug attached to your dog's skin, which will increase in size as the tick feeds. The good news it that it takes a few days for a paralysis tick to start injecting toxin, so a good tick product combined with daily tick checks gives your pet the best chance of avoiding tick paralysis.

15. Though we are meticulous about our pets’ flea and tick treatments during the warmer months, we often forget them during winter. It’s important to keep preventative treatments up to date all year round to avoid any of the parasite-related issues we mentioned above: with climate change, and heated buildings, we see fleas all year round. Check with your vet as to when ticks are prevalent in your area.

Dog flea treatment

Though every pet will get fleas every once in a while, as you now know from reading this blog, it’s easy for this situation to escalate to a home infestation. Your vet will be able to recommend an effective flea and tick treatment both for your pets and for your home.

How to clean fleas from your house

Because 95% of the fleas are in the environment, treating your home is essential to avoid infestation.

Start with thoroughly vacuuming all the carpets and flooring, even the hard surfaces. When you have finished, you should seal the hoover bag/contents in a plastic bag and safely dispose of it outside of your home.   

Your animal’s bedding will also need treating. Put it through the washing machine on the hottest wash possible – at least 60°C. It may be easier to take a trip to the launderette and run it through the large tumble dryers. If you cannot wash and dry your dog bed in this way, then you will need to replace it instead. 

With everything clean and vacuumed, now you need to make sure that your pet has an effective flea product on board so that new infestation of the environment does not occur.

Don't panic if you see the occasional flea after doing all of the above. As long as your dog has an effective flea-killing product on board, any left-over stray fleas that jump on will be killed before they can breed. This means the infestation will die out eventually.

Have you noticed that your dog is scratching more than usual? Use the information provided in this blog to check them for fleas. If you don’t think parasites are responsible, use our online screener to find out if your dog needs to see the vet.


1: Fleas | ESCCAP UK & Ireland
2: Halos, L., Beugnet, F., Cardoso, L., Farkas, R., Franc, M., Guillot, J., Pfister, K., Wall, R. (2014) Flea control failure? Myths and realities, Trends in Parasitology, Volume 30, Issue 5, pp.228-233
3: Guglielmone, A.A., 1,8, Robbins, R.G., Apanaskevich, D.A., Petney, T.N., Estrada-Peñez, A., Horak, I.G., Shao, R., Braker, S.C. (2010) The Argasidae, Ixodidae and Nuttalliellidae (Acari: Ixodida) of the world: a list of valid species names, Zootaxa 2528: 1–28
4: Fleas Pet Owner Info Sheet.docx (esccap.org)