Habitat

The Brown dog tick is almost exclusively a parasite of dogs^1,2.

When individuals of each feeding stage become fully engorged, they drop from the host and seek some protected situation in the immediate surroundings1.

For this reason, all tick life stages may be found behind baseboards, under window and door moldings, in window pulley openings or in furniture^1,2. Homeowner calls usually occur in the late summer and fall when ticks are encountered crawling on carpeting, walls and sometimes furniture.

A home can become heavily infested if the family dog picks up ticks from an infested residence, during which time some ticks may drop off. In this case, the home and yard may become infested even though a dog is not generally kept there.

Dogs do not become infested with brown dog ticks by direct contact with other dogs. Ticks feeding on a dog drop off and molt before they will resume host-seeking behavior and attach to another dog¹.