The American Dog Tick is a threat not only to dogs, but humans as well. It is about 3/16th inch in size with dark areas on its back-one of the larger hard-shelled ticks. The female can lay 6500 eggs, which hatch in less than two months. The adults can live over two years. This tick is known for carrying Rocky Mountain spotted fever, as well as tick paralysis.

Dogs permitted to run through infested meadows can pick up hundreds of ticks in just one day.

The brown dog tick, or kennel tick, is a three-host tick that is an important pest of dogs, especially when housed in kennels. It feeds on dogs during all three-life stages, but will drop off and reattach during each stage. This tick is the only representative of its genus in the U.S.; this tick commonly infests a variety of domestic and wild mammals other than dogs. Unlike most other hard ticks, eggs of this tick are laid inside or near housing areas of animals, in cracks and crevices, and on the ground under vegetation. This tick is the putative vector of the canine ehrlichiosis rickettsia and the canine babesiosis protozoa in the U.S. as well as a variety of other rickettsia worldwide. This tick has been collected almost exclusively from dog kennels.

Color Brown.

All 4 pairs of legs equally colored.

Legs extend from capitulum’s contouring to side of body.

A three-host tick. (These require a different host for every instar; they drop off each time after having engorged and molt on the ground)

Females are able to lie up to 4000 eggs.