Tick prevention for Belgian Tervuren agility dogs

A year-old Belgian Tervuren doing agility training outdoors year-round is exactly the profile where tick prevention really matters — constant ground-level movement through grass and undergrowth, every month of the year. The most effective prevention depends on the dog's size and weight, your local tick risk, and whether you want a spot-on, collar, or oral treatment. Some widely sold products are significantly less effective than others, so it's worth getting this right. What does your Tervuren weigh, are you training in a high-tick area like woodland or heathland, and do you have a preference for how you apply the treatment?

Good — 28kg, high tick pressure, and you're open to any format. That makes this straightforward. The supermarket spot-ons are almost always permethrin-based or use older actives, and they're genuinely much weaker than prescription-grade products. For a dog like yours, I'd move to Bravecto spot-on for dogs. It's a single application that covers ticks and fleas for 12 weeks, so you're not trying to remember monthly treatments around your training schedule. It kills ticks within 12 hours of attachment, which is well within the window before transmission risk becomes significant. At 28kg she'd be in the large dog bracket. One thing to be aware of: it contains fluralaner, and while it's very well tolerated in the vast majority of dogs, some owners of herding breeds — including Belgian shepherds — like to know about it before using it. Has she had any sensitivity to flea treatments before?

Good question, and worth knowing properly. The MDR1 mutation (now called ABCB1) is a real concern for collies and related breeds, but it primarily affects drugs in the macrocyclic lactone class — ivermectin, milbemycin, selamectin. Fluralaner, the active in Bravecto, works on a completely different mechanism and is not affected by the MDR1 mutation. Belgian Tervurens can carry the mutation, but Bravecto spot-on is safe regardless. You're fine on that front.

Bravecto spot-on is a prescription-only medicine in the UK, so you do need a prescription — but it's much easier than it used to be. Many online vets like PetDrugs Online or VetUK will issue one after a short online consultation, often for free if you buy the product through them. It's also on Amazon UK if you already have a prescription. Given your training schedule, I'd suggest buying two or three doses at once so you're not caught short — each dose covers 12 weeks, so three doses sees you through the year. It's genuinely one of the best-value tick products when you factor in that it's quarterly rather than monthly.

Absolutely — Bravecto kills ticks quickly but a daily check is still good practice, especially after woodland sessions. Run your fingers through the coat focusing on the head, neck, ears, armpits, and between the toes. Those are the spots ticks favour and they can be harder to spot in a Tervuren's thicker coat. If you do find one before it's been killed, use a proper tick hook to remove it cleanly — never squeeze or twist. Keep a tick hook in your kit bag. With Bravecto doing the heavy lifting and regular checks as backup, you've got a solid system for year-round training.