Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness that is difficult to diagnose and even harder to cure. Prevention is the only good management strategy. Lyme disease can be prevented in three ways:

1. Keep your dog away from ticks-Dogs that go outside for only short periods of time are probably not going to be exposed to ticks. We know of one case where a dog who only went out in its own yard for short periods of time did contract Lyme disease, but that situation is rare.

On the other hand, dogs who are visitors to parks and wooded areas are prime candidates for tick exposure and, therefore, Lyme disease. If you have a dog who enjoys playing outside, you should plan to take definite preventive measures.

2. Keep ticks that might attach themselves to your dog from injecting the Lyme disease bacterium. There are two products we use to keep ticks from attaching to your dog, Frontline®, a topical "spot on," and the Preventic® collar.

3.Vaccinate against Lyme disease-The Lyme disease vaccine is given as two injections the first year and a booster each year thereafter.

Ticks are a threat from spring until mid-summer.

Read more about Lyme Disease here.