Designer breeds have higher tick risk 

A new report has shown that certain designer dog breeds are likely to have a higher risk of tick infestation.

Research from the RVC has revealed that breeds including cavapoos, cockapoos, goldendoodles and cavachons have higher risk of becoming infested by ticks due to their poodle parentage.

These breeds have grown in popularity, in part due to the perception that their non-shedding coats make them less allergenic, but the new study has highlighted the increased risk of tick infestation due to their curly poodle-type coats.

Breeds with the highest five-year frequency of tick infestation were cavapoos (5.19%), goldendoodles (5.14%), standard poodles (5.14%), cairn terriers (5.09%), cockapoos (4.79%), miniature schnauzers (4.38%) and cavachons (4.29%).

Random sample

The RVC’s VetCompass study examined a random sample of anonymised veterinary health records from more than 900,000 dogs in the UK during a five-year period and identified almost 2,000 tick infestation cases.

Results show that ticks are a common parasite in dogs, with 2% (one in every 50 dogs) diagnosed with at least one tick infestation during the five-year study period.

The team explored a list of possible risk factors to understand what makes some types of dogs more prone to tick infestation than others.

Risk factors

Factors investigated included characteristics such as the ear carriage, haircoat, skull shape and bodyweight as well as demographic criteria spanning breed, breed purity, The Kennel Club recognised breeds and groups, age, sex and more.

And while the new designer breeds had a higher risk of tick infestation, some longer established breeds were also at high risk, including the cairn terrier, standard poodle, Parson Jack Russell terrier, golden retriever and miniature schnauzer.

In comparison, the breeds with the lowest odds included the Staffordshire bull terrier, Rottweiler, Chihuahua and English bulldog.

Routine checks

Male dogs had 1.24 times the risk compared to females, while dogs with medium-length coats (x2.20 risk) and those with v-shaped drop or long, floppy ears (x1.23 risk) also had higher risk of tick infestation.

Dan O’Neill, associate professor of companion animal epidemiology at the RVC and lead author of the study, said: “There is no single perfect dog breed so it is critical that we fully understand the strengths and weaknesses for the breed we choose to bring into our own family.

“Owners of dogs that are either poodle or have poodle heritage can now be aware of the need to routinely check their dogs for ticks and to perhaps ensure the coats of these dogs are kept short.”