This is a specific conversation about Flea and tick prevention — what works — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A hair loss patch from a spot-on is a real sign that treatment isn't agreeing with your dog — it's worth switching rather than pushing through. Oral chewables are a genuinely good alternative, especially for a double-coated breed like a Keeshond where spot-ons can sit poorly against the skin anyway. To point you to the right product: how much does your dog weigh, and are you in an area with high tick activity, or is fleas your main concern?
She's about 18kg. We're in the Scottish Highlands so ticks are definitely a big issue — we walk in moorland most days. Fleas too obviously but ticks are the priority.
inparticular.ai
Got it — moorland in the Highlands is about as high-risk for ticks as it gets in the UK, so you need something with solid tick coverage, not just flea protection. At 18kg she falls comfortably in the medium dog range. Before I give you my recommendation: has she had any reactions to other medications, and is she otherwise healthy? Some oral treatments aren't suitable for dogs with a history of seizures, for instance.
No seizure history, she's healthy — just the skin reaction to the spot-on. We used Frontline and that's when the patch appeared near her shoulder blades.
inparticular.ai
That's helpful — Frontline is fipronil-based and some dogs do react at the application site, particularly with thick coats trapping it against the skin. Switching to oral completely sidesteps that issue. For your situation — high tick exposure, healthy 18kg dog, no neurological history — I'd go with NexGard (afoxolaner). It's a monthly beef-flavoured chewable, kills fleas within hours and is highly effective against the ticks you'll encounter on moorland including Ixodes ricinus, which is the main UK species. It's prescription-only from a vet, but it's widely available and worth the conversation. It consistently outperforms over-the-counter alternatives in independent efficacy data.
Is there anything I can buy without a prescription while I wait for a vet appointment, just as a bridge?
inparticular.ai
Honestly, for genuine tick prevention in high-risk moorland walking, I wouldn't rely on an OTC product as anything more than very partial cover. The non-prescription oral options available in the UK don't have strong tick efficacy. What I'd actually suggest as a bridge is daily tick checks — run your fingers through her coat after every walk, paying attention to ears, groin, armpits, and between the toes. That's genuinely more reliable than a weak OTC product while you wait. Book the vet call as soon as you can; NexGard is the right long-term answer here.
That makes sense. And once she's on NexGard, is there anything else I should do given the Keeshond coat?
inparticular.ai
One practical thing: keep up the post-walk tick checks even on NexGard — the product kills ticks after they attach rather than repelling them, so they can still latch on briefly. With a Keeshond's double coat you may need a fine-tooth comb to get through to the skin properly. A tick removal tool like the O'Tom Tick Twister is worth keeping in your kit for anything you find before the medication takes effect. Other than that, NexGard should handle the heavy lifting without any of the skin issues you had with Frontline.
