If you're a Pug dog owner, then you need to be particularly attentive when spring rolls around and ticks become a real threat. Ticks are technically called "Rhipicephalus Sanquineus", but more importantly these blood-sucking bugs can carry germs and diseases that can make you or your Pug sick. In fact, ticks can give people diseases such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and ticks can pass on diseases that can even be fatal to Pug dogs!

Quite simply, ticks are parasites that live on the blood of their victims. Ticks have been blamed for causing the spread of disease among both people and dogs. In fact, they were shown to be behind the famous mass deaths of military dogs during the Vietnam War.

Although there are several different species of ticks (wood tick, brown Pug tick, etc.), a tick by any other name is still a tick. Because of resistance to insecticides, the tick is one of the most difficult external parasites to control.

This can really gross people out, but it's absolutely true that a female tick can produce several thousand eggs - yuck! They usually lay their eggs under the carpet, in a little whole in the baseboard, or some other dark and out-of-the-way place. Ticks lay their eggs in a safe place but never on the body of their victim. Once the eggs hatch after a month or so, they turn into larvae. Tick larvae seek out their first host, where they'll suck down some blood and then detach to go find a place to hide out.

Six to twenty-three days later, the larvae molt and become eight-legged nymphs. The nymphs obtain another blood meal from a Pug, drop off again and go into hiding. Twelve to twenty-nine days later, the nymph tick molts and becomes an adult. As an adult, it once more seeks the Pug, engorges blood, and mates.

Adult ticks can live for up to 2 years without eating...which is really bad news for Pug dog owners, as this means you can have ticks lurking in ambush.

Once the tick finds its way outside, it will climb up into a bush, tall grass or a tree to lay in wait for a new host. A perfect opportunity for a tick is when a Pug dog walks under a branch or goes potty in tall grass. A tick can jump pretty far as well.

Once in your home, ticks will emerge from beneath rugs and carpeting, climb walls, table and chairs, and even up as high as wall pictures, to await the passing of a Pug. They may even have to wait up to six months, but a tick can instantly sense the approach of a Pug and jump on it as it passes.

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Listen to a free interview where a top Pug vet explains exactly how to keep fleas and ticks off Pugs. Visit Pug Health Guide for Pug health tips, step-by-step training and Pug health tips for Pug owners.