Im A Horrible Person

Please get rid of the puppy. Have the decency to wait for rescue rather than taking her to the pound. If you take her to the pound in her condition, you've signed a death warrant.
 
If you are unwilling to take her to the vet for this, you will be unwilling to medically care for her as she ages. If she's not part of the family to the point where you'd do whatever it takes for her to be well, she's better off elsewhere. She never will be part of the family and you shouldn't own a dog.

ORIGINAL: jones

Argh, for the last time there is no such thing as a tick infestation in a house!!! Ticks do not lay eggs in the house, on your dog, on you, or anywhere in doors. They lay eggs in leaf litter. If you don't believe me look it up.

I did...and there is such thing as a tick infestation in one's house.

Common Species in Texas
The term "wood ticks" is applied to several species of hard ticks so similar in appearance and habits that it is difficult to distinguish one from another. In Texas, the most common of these are the American dog tick (Dcrmacentor variabilis), the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) and the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum).
Adult American dog ticks are chestnut brown with white spots or streaks on their backs. Unfed adults are about l/8-inch long. Engorged females become slate gray and may expand to a length of l/2-inch. Larvae and nymphs feed mostly on small rodents, while adults feed on dogs, cattle, other animals and humans. These ticks are widely distributed over the eastern two-thirds of Texas but are most abundant in coastal and other humid areas. They are attracted by the scent of animals, and humans most often encounter them near roads, paths, trails and recreational areas. Although present the year round, American dog ticks are usually most numerous in the spring.[align=right]Figure 2. American dog tick.Adult brown dog ticks are reddish-brown. Unfed adults are l/8-to 3/16-inch long, and engorged females are about l/2-inch long. They feed almost exclusively on dogs, where they attach to the ears and between the toes. They are widely distributed in Texas and rarely attack man. Brown dog ticks become a problem in and around human habitation or dog kennels when ticks fall off infested dogs as engorged larvae, nymphs or adults. Inside the home, the ticks hide behind baseboards, window casings, window curtains, ceiling and picture moldings, bookcases and cabinets, as well as inside upholstered furniture and under the edges of rugs. Outdoors, they hide near building foundations, in crevices between porch floorings and sidings and beneath porches.
Figure 3. Brown dog tick.

[link>http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/ticks.htm]http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/ticks.htm[/link][/size]
A home can become infest if the family dog picks up ticks from an infested residence, boarding kennel, open fields, or similar place where other infested dogs have been located.
Another infested dog may visit the 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.

 
[linkhttp://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC2509.htm]http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC2509.htm[/link]
When an infestation occurs indoors, ticks will be found in cracks, crevices, behind baseboards and in other protected places close to the floor. Since the brown dog tick adult female can lay as many as 5,000 eggs, the infestation can be very large.

It's a shame that this poster got such a barrage of unpleasantness mixed in with those who were genuinely trying to help.  Ticks are nasty little buggers and the OP could have been genuinely freaked out by the sheer number of them if she hadn't noticed them before.
 
Frontline or Advantage should take care of the problem, but i do agree that the pup needs to be seen just in case it does have some tick borne disease.

[linkhttp://www.jcdh.org/text.asp?ID=203]http://www.jcdh.org/text.asp?ID=203[/link]
When the family dog in this region picks up a tick, it is usually one of two varieties: the brown dog tick or the American dog tick. Both multiply rapidly. The female of either variety may lay 5,0000 to 8,000 eggs.
An indoor infestation is more likely to be the brown dog tick. Except in tropical climates, this tick needs indoor warmth and shelter to live out its life cycle. The female lays its eggs in crevices, behind baseboards, under the edge of carpets or in similar hiding places. This tick can inflict a painful bite, but is not usually involved in transmittal of diseases to man.

ORIGINAL: leslie__chessies

My parents had the the same thing happen- a terrible terrible tick infestation.  And yes, it was with an indoor dog.  The took him hunting in South Texas, and a week later the entire house was covered with ticks.  The dog was on Advantage prior to the infestation.  Advantage is not waterproof, so the dog got ticks.  They took the dog to the vet, had him dipped, had the ticks removed, applied Frontline Plus(which is waterproof).  While the dog spent a couple days at the vet, an exterminator was called and their house was treated.  It took about a week before they were seeing no ticks.  Don't get rid of the dog for a very treatable situation. 

Advantage is water proof, but it is only a flea preventative, not a tick preventative.  Frontline, Frontline Plus, and Advantix are flea and tick preventatives.

These products work the best and are the safest.

But if you can't afford those products, which I understand because they are expensive - try Ovitrol.  It is a spray that is safe and repells ticks for 8 weeks after you spray it, but it is not waterproof.

You can also use the Ovitrol spray on your carpet and furniture.  You can also wash your close in it in the washing machine.  Put a flea and tick collar in your vacume cleaner and if after all of that doesn't work - use a house bomb.  Zodiac is a good brand of house bomb.  Make sure you flip up your mattresses and keep all cubards open when you bomb the house.

If you use frontline or advatix your dog will not bring any live ticks into the house.  However, he will still be able to pick up ticks, but they will die when they bite him.

ORIGINAL: jojo the pogo
Advantage is water proof, but it is only a flea preventative, not a tick preventative.  Frontline, Frontline Plus, and Advantix are flea and tick preventatives.

If you use frontline or advatix your dog will not bring any live ticks into the house.  However, he will still be able to pick up ticks, but they will die when they bite him.

 
My parents said that after they began to use Frontline Plus, they haven't seen another tick on Spot.  Also, Jasmine was visiting with us that X-mas and she had been treated with Frontline Plus.  She was the only one- animal or human- who did not get ticks.  This was a couple of years ago.

That is because Advantage does not do a darn thing to ticks - only fleas.  Frontline does kill ticks and fleas.

I usually only recommend advantage to dogs with sensitive issues, because it contains less chemicals, hence only kills fleas.

Alot of people get these things confussed.  I had to take a seminar on it when I worked for a pet supplies store.  For some reason I absorbed this info very well.

I posted another thread on this a minute ago.  Not trying to be a know it all, but I noticed alot of people on this usually very knowledgable forum (more knowledgable than me) got the flea and tick preventatives confussed.

Leslie... I'm sorry, it's just not accurate to say that ticks can "infest" a house, unless we are using the word "infestation" differently. That Jefferson County info is totally off base. First of all, dog ticks do transmit disease to humans - Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever most commonly, also ehrlichosis, tularemia, and some other less common illnesses. And secondly the notion that dog ticks can only survive their life cycle indoors is... insane. I grew up on Martha's Vineyard which has a HUGE tick population and is a lot colder than Jefferson County - the most plentiful dog tick areas were out in the meadows far away from residential areas, and I really don't think they were hiking 5 miles from the nearest baseboard. (?!) People who lived near fields or forests where I lived would often have a lot of ticks in their houses because they're continually carried in on pets and humans going in and out of the house. If you have ticks in your house, yes they sure are going to be heading for cracks and crevices, that doesn't mean it's their normal habitat. The life cycle of a tick is once they reach adulthood, they feed, reproduce once, and die - typically they live one year. By contrast fleas lay 20-40 eggs every single day and their life spans are about a third of that of the tick.
 
[linkhttp://www.afraidtoask.com/lyme/lymelifecycle.html]http://www.afraidtoask.com/lyme/lymelifecycle.html[/link]
[linkhttp://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/rbkimsey/tickbio.html]http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/rbkimsey/tickbio.html[/link]
[linkhttp://www.mcnabbveterinary.com/flea_life_cycle.htm]http://www.mcnabbveterinary.com/flea_life_cycle.htm[/link]

Disagree totally with keeping cupboards open if you bomb, unless you want to wash everything and throw out food. 

I think things are getting confused, not confussed, between fleas and tics.

ORIGINAL: marty_ga

Disagree totally with keeping cupboards open if you bomb, unless you want to wash everything and throw out food.

But it is absolutely necessary if you want to do things properly and have it work. You can take the food out of the house, and then you have to run every dish etc through the dishwasher.

We kept a summer house at the lake for a long time and bombed it every time we opened it up. It is not a fun process, but it works.

I was in a tick infested home.  I am not blind.  I know the difference between fleas and ticks.  I was not having acid flashbacks.  I have talked to exterminators.  And I have researched also.  Perhaps where you live this type of tick may not be very common,but...
The Brown Dog Tick infests homes.

from the site you referred to...([linkhttp://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/rbkimsey/caticks.html]http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/rbkimsey/caticks.html[/link])- This tick is the only representative of its genus in the U.S.; its cosmopolitan distribution includes temperate to tropical regions. Outside the U.S., this tick commonly infests a variety of domestic and wild mammals besides dogs. Unlike most other hard ticks, eggs of this tick are laid inside or near housing areas of animals, in cracks and crevices, rather than outside, on the ground under vegetation.
 
from [linkhttp://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/urban/medical/brown_dog_tick.htm]http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/urban/medical/brown_dog_tick.htm[/link] - The brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille, is unusual among ticks, in that it can complete its entire life cycle indoors. . Infestations in houses can explode to very high levels quickly. Typically, a few ticks are brought into the house or kennel, often on a dog which has been away from home. The early stages of the infestation, when only a few individuals are present, are often missed completely. The first indication the dog owner has that there is a problem is when they start noticing ticks crawling up the walls or curtains!
 
from [linkhttp://www.uvm.edu/extension/publications/el/el17.htm[/link]->http://www.uvm.edu/extension/publications/el/el17.htm]http://www.uvm.edu/extension/publications/el/el17.htm[/link]- Under favorable conditions the entire life cycle can be completed in less than two months. Eggs are deposited in cracks and crevices of the kennels or other quarters frequented by the dog. These ticks have a strong tendency to crawl upward and may be found behind moldings at the top of walls or hidden in cracks and crevices in the ceiling or kennel roof. They may also be found behind curtains, in furniture, and under rugs.
 
from  [linkhttp://www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/browndogtick.htm[/link]->http://www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/browndogtick.htm]http://www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/browndogtick.htm[/link]- Habitat: The brown dog tick infests homes and other buildings harboring dogs. These ticks have a strong tendency to crawl upward and may be found behind moldings at the top of walls or hidden in cracks and crevices in the ceiling. They may also be found behind curtains, in furniture, and under rugs.
Life Cycle: All stages develop readily on dogs, no intermediate hosts are required. Under favorable conditions the entire life cycle can be completed in less than two months. Eggs are deposited in cracks and crevices of the kennels or other quarters frequented by the dog.

[]....yes, but on an internet board, you have to spell it out, just in case.  You also have to wash down the kitchen counters.  Sorry, I just wanted to point that out....

I just wanted to chime in and say that, yes, I too have seen a tick infestation of a house. My aunt got very sick last year, and she has a dog. When my cousin stopped by to see her, she had to take her to the ER with her blood sugar in the 500's plus pneumonia. Ugh. But, she also had ticks on her. 

When my cousin went to clean the house - the yard, the dog (indoor), inside the house, even my aunt's bed - was infested with ticks.  My aunt had been out of it long enough not to have put Gracie's monthly flea/tick stuff on her, so with the combination of a next door yard grown over in grass, and Gracie going out to potty - the house was literally crawling with ticks.  Took them until the first part of this year to get it under control - but then again, we also had Hurricane Rita to deal with, so they lost almost 2 months in dealing with the infestation. 

My dad pointed out, that my aunt's house is brick - and the ticks love to crawl into the crevices of the brick and soak up that wonderful SE Texas heat.

They got Gracie treated at the vet, and had to get an exterminator to come out to spray the house and the yard.  The fact that the overgrown grass in the neighbor's yard didn't get taken care of made the problem harder to deal with as well.

We live in the country, and the dogs regularly come in covered in ticks - small enough you can't see them until they feed a bit.  Lady loves to hunt rabbits, and after a trip to the pasture with my brother to check on his cows, we pulled probably over a hundred baby ticks off of her face alone. Tell me that wasn't fun! When I had horses as a kid, I was constanly pulling ticks off of them.  We use prevention, but when they are bad, they can be hard to stop once they get a foot hold.

Advantix or Frontline Plus, plus treating the house/yard is the cure!