Mosquitos, Fleas & ticks

I personally choose not to expose my Scotties to unnecessary chemicals.

Garlic and apple cider vinegar in your Scottie's diet will support a healthy immune system and it also acts to repel parasites without exposing them to dangerous chemicals. There are recipes for natural repellents and treatments using essential oils that are very effective and far less damaging to our little brave hearts.

Heartworm Preventives are NOT Healthy For Your Dog!

Heartworm meds are pesticides. They kill mosquito larvae by paralyzing or killing them – so they are neurotoxic. If they’re toxic to bugs, they’re toxic to your Scottie and they can affect their brain and nervous systems. These meds are also working less and less, every year. Mosquitos are becoming resistant to those meds and a lot of dogs on preventives will still get heartworm. There are natural sprays and solutions that will help protect against mosquitos and bites that are much healthier for your dog.

Essential Oils

Many essential oils have insect repellent properties. They are very powerful for dogs, so be sure to always dilute essential oils with a carrier oil (like grapeseed or fractionated coconut oil or apricot kernel oil) before using them on your dog. Mix one drop of essential oil with 1 ml carrier oil and spray your dog with the mixture. You can use more than one type of oil, but just remember to increase the carrier oil for each drop of essential oil you use.

Lemon Eucalyptus
Verbena
Lavender
Pine
Catnip
Rosemary
Basil
Cedar
Thyme – a study showed that the essential oil of thyme, had significantly greater repellency than a commercial chemical repellents.
Lemon balm
Peppermint
Fennel oil

Homemade Bug Spray

If you like making your own products, here’s a homemade natural bug spray recipe you can try:

1 glass spray bottle
25 drops lemon eucalyptus essential oil (this one’s a good choice)
4 oz witch hazel or 2 oz coconut oil or another carrier oil like almond oil (use oil if your dog will be going in the water)
You can add one or any of these additional ingredients:
1 tsp real vanilla extract
OR 6 drops peppermint essential oil
OR 3 drops lavender essential oil or atlas cedarwood essential oil

Directions:

Mix the ingredients together in your glass spray bottle.
Shake well before applying.
Spray your dog all over, taking care not to spray his eyes.

Some people use bandanas infused with essential oils to protect their dogs. If you do this, be sure to use diluted oils and remove the bandana when your dog comes indoors.

Caution: do not use essential oils of wintergreen, pennyroyal or clove (or any products that contain these oils) on your dog. These oils are dangerous for your dog and should not be used for any reason.

Neem oil is another effective dog-safe repellent. An extract from the tropical neem tree, neem oil has insecticidal compounds called azadirachtins. Neem can also be used on open sores and wounds so it’s a useful oil to have in your first aid kit too. Neem repels mosquitoes and other insects, heals wounds, cuts, sores, poison oak or ivy, and has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Neem affects more than 200 species of insects, including mosquitoes, biting flies, sand fleas and ticks.

You can put a drop of neem oil on various places on your dog – on top of the head, behind the ears, on the shoulder blades, along the back and flanks and at the base of the tail. You can apply neem as often as every day in mosquito season.

Cinnamon Oil can kill mosquito larvae so it is considered to be a good mosquito repellent. Historically, cinnamon oil has been used by natural health practitioners and traditional healers to repel mosquitoes and prevent their bites. Use diluted in a carrier oil as described above.

Cedar Oil

Cedar oil is a great non toxic option to keep pests off your dog. It’ll repel not just mosquitoes, but fleas and ticks as well. Most people like the smell of cedar oil (and dogs don’t seem to mind it either) but mosquitoes and other insects don’t like it. And if mosquitoes come into contact with cedar oil, it can kill them, their eggs, and their larvae. It pulls the water out of them, neutralizes body fluids, interferes with their respiratory system and their pheromone receptors.

There are various commercially available products that are safe and effective. Look for a formulation that’s 10% to 20% cedar oil and spray your Scottie before they go outside.

Garlic Feeding your dog garlic can also help make him less appealing to insects. Garlic is safe for dogs in moderation.

Always use fresh whole clove garlic.

You can safely give an adult Scottie up to 1/2 an average sized clove of garlic per day. (For younger smaller scotties it is 1/4 clove per 5kg). hundred pound dog, still give her only two cloves of garlic.

Peel and chop the garlic about 15 minutes before feeding, then add it to your dog’s food. Start feeding garlic one month before the start of mosquito season.

Read more about garlic and its health benefits to see why you should be feeding your Scottie garlic anyway.