My dog has worms again. How do I get rid of them in my yard?

Great question! There is always a risk of dogs getting intestinal worms from the ground. Picking up the feces will help, but eggs do live in the soil. The best thing to do is make sure Ginger is up to date on her deworming treatments. I recommend Panacur, it's a three day course of treatment that is available OTC. Deworm her now, again two weeks after the first course ends, and then every three months thereafter. I hope this helps! :-)

Based on the photo, these look like tapeworm segments. Tapeworms are harder to kill than most other intestinal parasites, so in most states you will need to get a prescription dewormer from a vet to get rid of them. As far as disinfection goes - tapeworms have an indirect life cycle, so they cannot be contracted directly from coming into contact with an infected dogs feces. Dogs normally get them either from swallowing a flea, or from eating roadkill or some type of rodent. So you don't need to worry about your yard - the best way to prevent tapeworms is to keep your dog on a good quality flea medication, and keep them from eating dead things outside. They cannot get tapeworms directly from the ground, so this should not be a concern :)

Just in case, make sure your veterinarian is confirming the presence of roundworms (tapeworms can sometimes be confused for roundworms). If tapeworms are present, Koda will need a special medication. The two most common reasons for persistent infection with roundworms are not yet clearing the infection he was born with (yes, they can be infected in uterus) or your yard is contaminated with roundworm eggs (one study showed roundworm eggs remained infective for 20 years). Continue with the routine dewormings and start him on a heartworm prevention like Interceptor. You should also alert your vet who may change the deworming schedule. Remember that these worms can also spread to humans so make sure to practice good hygiene. Here is a link with more helpful information: https://www.petcoach.co/article/roundworms-toxascaris-leonina-toxocara-canis/ I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

You can submit a stool sample and deworm Miso every 3 months, or you can simply deworm him on the same schedule without submitting a stool sample. Discuss OTC and prescription dewormers with your veterinarian. Miso should still be on a flea and tick preventive as well.

Yes, I can certainly sympathize that with 2 Huskies that you need lots of dog park time! One thing I would suggest would be to discuss with your veterinarian changing from Heartgard to Advantage Multi. The dewormer in Heartgard (and the ones we use most commonly) only work one time to kill the adult worms in the GI tract, but do not continue to work on newly developing larvae. Since it sounds like your dogs are getting repeatedly exposed, Advantage Multi may be a better option to maintain a constant blood level of dewormer. I have attached a handout below about hookworms. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1530 And here is more information on Advantage Multi. https://www.bayerdvm.com/show.aspx/productdetail/advantage-multi-for-dogs Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

This is a great question! Yes, you should clean up the feces from the yard and dispose of it properly to help reduce spread of parasites. Feces left in the yard can lead to spread of microscopic parasites or parasite eggs that can infect other animals and sometimes people. Make sure you practice proper hygiene and wash your hands after handling feces to help keep yourself and your dogs safe.

Hi, I'm Dr. Johnson. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Poor Midnight Yes, heartworm disease is serious. Dogs get heartworm from being bitten by an infected mosquito. The mosquito injects microfilaria (baby heartworm) in to the skin when they bite the dog. It can then take 6 months to travel from the skin to the pulmonary artery. If they get a lot of heartworm they back up in to the heart (Caval syndrome). That is very serious because the adult worms have to be extracted from the heart via the jugular vein. Your other dogs can not get it from Midnight, only from a mosquito. You should have all your dogs tested then started on heartworm prevention. The gold standard of treatment is injectable adulticide as 3 injections. One is given then the other 2 a month later 24 hours apart. During treatment and 2 months after the 3rd injection the dog has to be strictly cage rested. The major risk of treating and HAVING heart worm is sudden death from clots to the lungs. Talk to your Vet about treatment options. I wish you the best!