Flea and Tick Season in Northern Virginia:
What to Know

It's June in Northern Virginia. The trails at Algonkian Regional Park are shaded and green. The fields at Claude Moore Park in Sterling are full of dogs and kids. Your backyard in Ashburn probably looks great right now.

It also looks great to ticks.

Northern Virginia sits in one of the highest-risk regions in the country for tick-borne illness. Loudoun and Fairfax counties consistently report some of the highest tick encounter rates in the state. The combination of dense suburban deer populations, humid summers, and wooded neighborhoods means that from May through September, every walk through tall grass is a roll of the dice.

Fleas are less dangerous but more persistent. Once they get into your home, they're remarkably hard to get out. The good news is that both are preventable — and your groomer plays a bigger role in that prevention than you might think.

Why Northern Virginia Is High-Risk

The eastern blacklegged tick (the species that carries Lyme disease) is established throughout Northern Virginia. The lone star tick, which can cause a different set of problems, is even more common in our area and aggressively seeks hosts during summer months.

A few things make NoVA especially hospitable:

• Deer population. Suburban Loudoun and Fairfax have large deer populations that move through yards, parks, and along roads like Route 7 and the Dulles Greenway. Deer are the primary hosts for adult ticks.
• Humidity. Ticks and fleas thrive in warm, humid conditions. A Virginia summer delivers both in abundance.
• Wooded suburbs. Towns like Great Falls, Reston, and Clifton have heavy tree cover and natural areas that border residential lots. That edge habitat is exactly where ticks wait for a host to walk by.

If your dog walks anywhere with tall grass, leaf litter, or wooded edges — which includes most parks and many backyards in the area — exposure is a given, not a possibility.

Signs Your Dog May Have Fleas or Ticks

Fleas and ticks don't always announce themselves loudly. Here's what to watch for:

Excessive scratching, licking, or biting. If your dog suddenly can't stop chewing at her base of the tail, groin, or armpits, fleas are the first suspect. Flea allergy dermatitis — an allergic reaction to flea saliva — can cause intense itching from a single bite.

Small red bumps or scabs. Look along the belly, inner thighs, and around the ears. These are often flea bite reactions.

Tiny dark specks in the coat. This is flea dirt — digested blood. If you're not sure, comb some onto a wet paper towel. If it smears reddish-brown, it's flea dirt, not regular debris.

A small bump that won't go away. Ticks burrow their heads into the skin and feed. They feel like a small, firm pea attached to your dog's body. Common attachment spots: ears, neck, between toes, armpits, and the groin area — the warm, hidden places they can feed undisturbed.

Lethargy or limping. In the days or weeks after a tick bite, watch for fever, loss of appetite, swollen joints, or reluctance to move. These can be early signs of tick-borne illness and warrant a vet visit.

How to Prevent Fleas and Ticks

Prevention is far easier than treatment. Here's what actually works:

1. Use a vet-recommended preventive year-round. This is the single most important step. Oral preventives (like NexGard or Simparica) and topical treatments (like Frontline) kill fleas and ticks after they bite your dog. Talk to your vet about which is right for your dog's size, age, and health — some products work better for ticks, others for fleas. Don't stop in winter. Ticks in Virginia are active whenever the temperature is above freezing.

2. Check your dog after every walk. Run your hands through the coat, paying attention to the head, ears, neck, armpits, between the toes, and the groin. Ticks take several hours to attach and transmit disease, so finding and removing them promptly matters.

3. Keep your yard tidy. Mow regularly, clear leaf litter, and create a buffer of wood chips or gravel between wooded areas and your lawn. Ticks don't fly or jump — they wait on grass blades and transfer when a host brushes past. Short grass gives them fewer places to wait.

4. Treat your home if you see signs. Vacuum frequently, wash your dog's bedding in hot water weekly, and talk to your vet about environmental treatments if fleas are established. Flea eggs can survive in carpets for months.

5. Remove embedded ticks promptly and correctly. Use fine-tipped tweezers. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull straight up with steady pressure. Don't twist, squeeze, or use home remedies like petroleum jelly or heat — these can cause the tick to regurgitate, increasing disease transmission risk. Save the tick in a sealed container in case your vet wants to identify it.

Why Your Groomer Is Your First Line of Defense

Here's something most dog owners don't think about: your groomer sees your dog's entire coat, up close, every four to six weeks. That makes the grooming appointment one of the most reliable regular health checks your dog gets.

A groomer who knows your dog will notice things you might miss — a new lump, a skin irritation, hair loss patterns, or a tick hidden deep in the coat behind the ears or under the legs. Fleas and ticks favor the exact areas that are hardest for an owner to check thoroughly: the groin, armpits, under the collar, inside the ears.

During a mobile grooming session in your driveway, the groomer has your dog one-on-one, in good light, for a full 60 to 90 minutes. Every inch of the coat gets washed, dried, and brushed. If there's a tick embedded in a spot you can't easily see, the groomer is likely to find it. If there's flea dirt in the undercoat, you'll hear about it before it becomes an infestation in your home.

This isn't a substitute for your vet or for preventive medication. It's a complement. Your vet provides the medical prevention. Your groomer provides the early warning.

When to Call the Vet

If you find a tick, remove it and watch your dog for the next two to three weeks. Call your vet if you notice lethargy, fever, loss of appetite, joint stiffness, or any behavior change after a known tick bite. Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses are treatable, especially when caught early.

If you suspect a flea infestation that home treatment isn't resolving, your vet can recommend a comprehensive plan — treating the dog, the home, and any other pets simultaneously.

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Due for a grooming appointment? Book one here and we'll be in your driveway. Every session includes a full coat check — because catching a tick or a flare-up early is part of taking good care of your dog. We serve Sterling, Reston, Ashburn, Leesburg, McLean, Great Falls, Herndon, Centreville, Fairfax, Chantilly, Oakton, Tysons, South Riding, Vienna, and the surrounding area.

A clean coat is about more than how your dog looks. Sometimes it's the first sign that something needs attention.

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