Tick headlines are alarming. Disease-carrying ticks are on the move, expanding their habitat thanks to warmer and milder winters, which allow them to survive longer and increase their ability to transmit pathogens to pets and people. While Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States, ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever also cause serious problems in dogs.
Given these concerns, tick repellents for dogs are frequently used and prescribed. However, sensitivities and adverse reactions to some common flea and tick preventives have sent a growing number of pet owners looking for effective natural tick repellents for dogs.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), most ticks go through four life stages: egg, six-legged larva, eight-legged nymph, and eight-legged adult. After hatching, ticks must have a blood meal at every stage to survive, feeding on mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians. Most ticks need a new host at each stage of life, and they can take up to two or three years to complete their full life cycle. Some tick species, such as the brown dog tick, prefer to feed on the same host during all life stages.
Pharmaceutical Tick Repellents for Dogs
Ticks are so difficult to eradicate, hard to notice, and infectious that systemic medications designed to kill ticks and prevent their attachment to dogs are widely prescribed. These products are either ingested or applied topically. Fleas and ticks die or become paralyzed when exposed to their chemicals, which remain concentrated within a dog’s body for one to three months, depending on the product.
Unfortunately, some of those medications have triggered seizures and other adverse side effects in dogs. In 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a
Fact Sheet describing problems associated with isooxazoline-class flea and tick products, and many veterinarians have reported problems with other prescription tick preventives. The result is increasing customer demand for nontoxic tick repellents.
Nontoxic Tick Repellents for Dogs
Cedar
Cedar is a fragrance ticks avoid, so cedarwood and its essential oil are popular ingredients in repellent products for ticks, fleas, ants, mites, mosquitoes, and other biting insects. In 2022, a U.S. Department of Agriculture study reported that cedarwood oil repelled five species of tick nymphs, especially black-legged ticks.
Cedarwood oil kills ticks on contact because its chemicals dehydrate the body, interfere with neurotransmitters, cause paralysis, and disrupt physical movement and bodily functions.
Turmeric
A study published in the journal Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases in 2018 tested the essential oil of turmeric (Curcuma longa), the familiar culinary spice, against orange essential oil and diethyltoluamide or DEET, a tick and insect repellent that is safe for humans but potentially dangerous to dogs. Tests involving blankets infused with orange oil, turmeric oil, and DEET as well as dogs who walked in an area infested with black-legged ticks showed that turmeric oil significantly reduced the attachment of ticks to dogs or blankets, more effectively than either DEET or orange oil.
Additional Options
Other herbs and essential oils that have been shown to help repel ticks include:
- Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens)
- Rosewood (Aniba roseadora)
- Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
- Peppermint (Mentha piperita)
- Clove (Syzygium aromaticum)
- Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.)
- Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Ticks are most active in spring and summer, but it’s a mistake to assume that they aren’t active all year round. Fall and winter can still be high-risk seasons for tick bites, the spread of tick-borne diseases, and tick infestations. According to the Tick Research Lab of Pennsylvania, adult black-legged (deer) ticks are most active in autumn and even winter if temperatures remain above freezing. Brown dog ticks, which live throughout North America and are often brought into homes by pets, can complete their entire life cycle indoors no matter how cold the weather.
When conditions are right, ticks can bite people and pets even when there’s snow on the ground. Newly hatched ticks are tiny and difficult to notice, so get in the habit of checking your dog for ticks throughout the year.
Over-the-Counter Natural Tick Repellents for Dogs
There are also a number of over-the-counter natural tick prevention products available.
Wondercide Flea and Tick products were created after the founder’s dog suffered pesticide poisoning from conventional flea-and-tick treatments. Wondercide products include flea and tick sprays for direct application, tick collars, spot-on treatments, flea and tick shampoos, and sprays for lawn and garden. The products’ primary ingredient, cedar essential oil, is derived from Texas (Juniperus Ashei or Mexicana) and Virginia (Juniperus Virginiana) cedar.
Cedarcide uses fractionated Texas cedar oil (Juniperus virginiana) to make bug sprays, pet shampoos, a flea-and-tick brush that distributes Cedarcide products through the dog’s coat, plus outdoor bug-control sprays and tick-repelling cedarwood granules for lawn and garden.
Vet’’s Best Tick-killing Spray for Dogs and Vet’s Best Flea and Tick Spray for Dogs contain thyme, peppermint, clove, and cedarwood essential oils in an isopropyl alcohol base. The tick-killing spray is applied to ticks that are attached to dogs and the repellent spray can be applied to dogs as well as their collars, leashes, harnesses, and bedding.
Nantucket Spider’s Natural Bug-repellent Spray for Dogs contains organic rosemary, thyme, peppermint, cedarwood, and geranium essential oils and is sprayed directly onto a dog’s skin and coat. The company’s Natural Tick-repellent Spray is more concentrated and, while safe for human skin, is best used on a dog’s bedding and leashes.
Oscar’s Critter Spray from Frogworks combines lavender, geranium, lemongrass, and lemon eucalyptus in an essential oil blend that helps deter ticks, fleas, black flies, and other biting parasites when applied to a dog’s skin and coat.
Neem Oil, which is pressed or extracted from the seeds of the Azadirachta indica tree, is a thick, pungent-smelling oil best known as a nontoxic pesticide. In clinical trials, concentrations of neem oil and neem leaf extract killed up to 82% and 95% of brown dog ticks in Trinidad, and several neem products are sold for topical application to dogs. Neem is usually recommended in combination with other tick-repelling ingredients rather than as a stand-alone tick repellent for dogs.
Patch Test Tick Repellent Products First
Essential oils are concentrated and have to be diluted before being applied to a dog’s skin and coat. The products mentioned here are diluted and comply with FDA guidelines for canine application. Study and follow label instructions carefully. Most of these essential oil products can be applied more than once a day, and repeated applications increase protection.
Before applying a tick repellent to your dog’s coat and body, check for reactions with a patch test by applying a small amount to bare skin, such as on the abdomen, then check the skin for irritation, redness, swelling, rashes, or discomfort. If any of those symptoms develop within 24 hours of application, use a different product.
Ticks are on the move, so even if you live in an area not associated with tick-borne illnesses, they may pose a threat. The most problematic ticks for dogs are black-legged, Lone Star, and dog ticks. For up-to-date maps showing where these and other ticks have spread, see Where Ticks Live from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Black-legged or deer ticks (Ixodes scapularis), most associated with Lyme disease but also transmitting anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and ehrlichiosis, have spread from the Northeast to the Midwest. Rocky Mountain spotted fever is carried by brown dog ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus), which live throughout the Continental United States, and the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), which covers the eastern half of the U.S. Lone Star ticks (Amblyomma americanum), which carry ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, are moving north.
Simple DIY Tick Repellent Formulas for Dogs
For an effective homemade tick-repellent spray, mix 20 drops of rose geranium essential oil with 2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) vodka and add more as needed to make the oil dissolve completely. When there is no longer a thin film of oil on the surface, add one cup (8 ounces) water or aloe vera juice or gel. Use a sprayer to apply the blend to your pup’s skin and hair, avoiding the eyes and nose, and brush or massage well.
For another tick repellent, combine 7 tablespoons (3-1/2 fluid ounces) Witch Hazel with 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) liquid coconut oil and 50 drops of turmeric, geranium, or lavender essential oil (or 50 drops of any combination) in a spray bottle. Shake well, spray lightly over your dog’s coat, avoiding the eyes and nose, and use a flea comb or brush to distribute the repellent evenly.
Dog-Safe Natural Anti-Tick Powder
Food-grade diatomaceous earth from Wholistic Pet Organics, Harris, and other brands can be safely applied to a dog’s coat (don’t breathe its dust or apply it close to your dog’s nose), where it will kill ticks through dehydration. See here for detailed instructions.
Buck Mountain Parasite Dust combines diatomaceous earth with neem powder and yarrow. Apply a teaspoon or less to your dog’s spine, then brush it in. A single application may deter ticks for weeks or months.
Popular Natural Tick Repellents for Dogs That Don’t Work
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is a household staple, and it’s often recommended as an effective, inexpensive, nontoxic tick repellent. In theory, frequent application makes dogs unattractive to ticks, but according to veterinary and public health experts, apple cider vinegar has not been proven to repel ticks when added to a dog’s food or water or used topically, and it should not be relied upon for tick prevention.
Coconut Oil
Another popular recommendation for tick control is coconut oil, which contains fatty acids that repel ticks under controlled conditions, but research supporting this claim used isolated fatty acids, not off‑the‑shelf coconut oil. There is a lack of scientific evidence supporting coconut oil for flea and tick control when applied to a dog’s skin or added to a dog’s diet.
Make Your Yard Tick-Unfriendly
In addition to tick repellents, an important part of tick bite prevention is keeping your yard in a condition unfriendly to ticks. Maintain your yard by trimming tall grasses and removing brush that can be tick habitats. Use natural tick-repelling yard sprays such as Wondercide Flea and Tick Control for Yard and Garden, Cedarcide Outdoor Bug Control and Cedar Granules for Yard and Garden, and Vet’s Best Flea and Tick Yard and Kennel Spray. Diatomaceous earth can be applied as a barrier to ticks in your yard; see here for instructions. Garden supply stores sell neem oil products to control ticks and other pests outdoors by killing or repelling them in different stages of growth.
A new tick control method interrupts the life cycle of black-legged (deer) ticks by treating mice, which are common hosts for their first and second blood meals. A 2024 Pennsylvania State University study examined the efficacy of tick tubes for reducing ticks on mice. Tick tubes are small cardboard tubes stuffed with cotton batting treated with permethrin, a commonly used insecticide extracted from the chrysanthemum flower that kills ticks but is safe around humans and mammals. Mice gather the treated cotton batting to line their nests, which transfers permethrin to their fur and kills ticks that attempt to feed on treated mice. The study found that the tubes reduced the number of ticks on mice within one season, and that mice’s use of tick tubes increased over time. Tick Control Tubes are easy to use and help reduce the incidence of Lyme disease in pets and people.
