Are Tick Spray For Yard Safe For Pets? 9 Clear Facts

One of the most effective ways to get rid of yard ticks is by using sprays. But pet owners often express concern on whether these yard tick sprays are really safe for their pets. This article explores that subject in a comprehensive manner.

Are tick spray for yard safe for pets? The safety of a yard tick spray for pets depends on the ingredients in. Most yard tick sprays which are made using harsh synthetic chemicals are not entirely safe for pets. Even the ‘natural’ yard tick sprays that come from essential oils may be unsafe for some pets.

Finding a truly pet safe tick spray for yard can be a huge challenge.

For instance, if you own a dog, you may have challenges finding a truly dog friendly tick spray. In fact, the search for that sort of dog safe tick yard spray may take you to areas you never thought you’d ever venture into.

But it is worth noting that besides the chemical sprays, there are other more pet-friendly strategies you can use to control yard ticks.

Simple measures like keeping the vegetation in your yard short and creating a physical barrier go a long way. So does a measure like making use of biological tick control agents, such as nematodes.

Thus if you are completely unable to find a pet safe tick spray for yard, those measures can be helpful.

There is also the option of making a DIY tick spray for yard safe for pets.

To that end, you can come up with a homemade flea and tick killer for yard that is free of the chemicals that are known to be harmful to pets.

How Are Yard Tick Sprays Made?

For us to be in a position to answer the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question, we first need to know how the tick sprays are made.

Once you understand the makings of the tick sprays, figuring out an answer to the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question becomes easier.

But without any understanding of the tick spray manufacturing process, things may be different.

It may be hard to competently answer the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question without knowledge on the makings of the tick sprays.

So, how do they make yard tick sprays?

The answer is that the making of yard tick sprays is either by mixing synthetic chemicals, or by mixing natural (organic) substances.

Examples of chemicals that you will normally find in tick sprays are permethrin and talstar.

It is also not uncommon to find compounds like diazinon, carbaryl and flumethrin in the yard tick sprays.

On the other hand, the yard tick sprays that come from ‘natural’ compounds are normally simply essential oils.

Essential oils that tend to be capable of killing ticks include the likes of clove oil and peppermint oil.

Besides the main active ingredients, the yard tick sprays also tend to contain ‘carrier’ liquids and other inactive ingredients.

This understanding of how the yard tick sprays are made can be helpful when trying to identify pet safe tick spray for yard.

It will also be helpful when we get to answering the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question.

How Do Yard Tick Sprays Work?

Another thing we need to have insight into, before proceeding to answer the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question is how the tick sprays work.

Understanding how the tick sprays work can also be helpful when it comes to identifying a pet safe tick spray for yard.

Indeed, how do yard tick sprays work?

The answer is that yard tick sprays work in a variety of ways.

There are those that work by directly killing the mature and young ticks on the yard.

We also have those that work by interfering with the ticks’ reproduction. For instance, they kill/dry up the ticks’ eggs, making it impossible for them to procreate.

Then we have those that work by repelling the ticks. Once the ticks sense their presence, they just keep off.

So those are some of the ways in which yard tick sprays work.

Are Tick Spray For Yard Safe For Pets?

The biggest concern that pet owners tend to have, when considering using tick sprays on their yards, is on whether the tick sprays are safe for the pets.

That is what leads to questions like, are tick spray for yard safe for pets? For instance, is spraying yard for ticks safe for dogs? Is tick treatment for yard safe for dogs and other pets?

So, indeed are tick spray for yard safe for pets? The answer is that most yard tick sprays are not safe for pets.

It is possible to find a pet safe tick spray for yard, but one often has to compromise on certain issues.

Most of the yard tick sprays contain chemicals that can harm a pet.

Earlier, we saw that these tick sprays mostly come from chemicals like diazinon, carbaryl and flumethrin. Others are permethrin and talstar.

Even the natural ones are made using essential oils, such as peppermint and clove oil.

All these are potentially harmful to various pets.

Thus finding a genuinely pet friendly yard spray for fleas and ticks is not very easy.

A truly pet safe tick killer is as hard to find as, say, an outdoor flea spray safe for pets.

Nonetheless, there are some tick sprays that are somewhat better for pets than others.

Is there a spray for ticks in your yard that would be absolutely safe for pets? The answer is probably ‘no’.

But a pyrethrin tick spray may, for instance, turn out to be better for dogs than one from a chemical that is more toxic to dogs. Thus if you have to spray for ticks in yard you may have to go with that sort of product.

Some sprays are slightly better for pets than others.

Which Yard Tick Sprays Are Safe For Pets?

In answering the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question, we saw that most of these sprays are not entirely safe for pets.

Yet there are situations in which one absolutely has to spray their yard.

That is what pushes one into seeking for any sort of pet safe tick spray for yard.

And that in turn leads to questions like this one: on which yard tick sprays are safe for pets.

Now the best tick spray for yard safe for pets is usually one whose ingredients are unlikely to harm pets too much.

Take, for instance, the yard tick sprays that come from natural ingredients such as essential oils. These may be somewhat safer for pets than those made using harsh synthetic chemicals.

Thus that sort of organic tick spray for yard may have a somewhat better safety profile.

The essential oils can still harm pets. But they probably won’t harm them as much as the harsh synthetic chemicals.

Thus if you are seeking a pet safe tick yard spray, that may be the direction to look in.

While seeking pet safe tick treatment for yard, you need to consider the specific pet you have.

For instance, a pyrethrin spray may qualify to be termed as a (somewhat) dog safe tick spray for yard. That is because pyrethrin doesn’t hurt dogs too much.

But the same wouldn’t be a pet safe yard spray for ticks if what you own is a cat. This is because pyrethrin is something that cats are extremely sensitive to.

Thus there are many nuances, when it comes to answering the how to get rid of ticks in yard pet safe products.

How Do I Know If A Yard Tick Spray Is Safe For Pets?

Normally, right after the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question comes this one: on how to tell if a given yard tick spray is safe for pets.

This, in other words, is a question on how to identify a pet safe tick spray for yard.

But as noted earlier, it can be quite hard to find a truly pet safe tick spray for yard.

However, some products have better safety profiles than others. Those are the best you can hope for, when seeking a pet safe tick spray for yard.

Ultimately, how to tell if a yard tick spray is acceptably safe for pets is by looking at its ingredients. You also need to consider the specific pet you own.

If you find an ingredient that is obviously very toxic to the pet you have, then you know that particular spray is out.

But if, in the ingredients list, there is none that is obviously very toxic to the pet you have, then that particular spray is acceptable. For that particular situation, it would be a pet safe tick spray for yard.

Ultimately, the specific type of pet you keep determines what may qualify to be termed as a pet safe tick spray for yard.

Take someone who owns a dog. If they research on what tick spray is safe for dogs, they may get answers that are different from what someone looking for cat safe tick sprays would get.

Ultimately, if you are looking for something like a pet friendly tick repellent for yard, you look at the list of ingredients.

Those will tell you whether or not it is a pet friendly tick yard spray.

What In Yard Tick Sprays Can Harm Pets?

Earlier, when we were trying to answer the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question, we saw that most of them are not very safe.

And that is what makes finding a truly pet safe tick spray for yard so hard.

This in turn leads to other questions. Among them is this one on what exactly in tick sprays can harm pets.

Different tick sprays contain different ingredients.

Many contain chemicals like permethrin and talstar. And these are harmful to certain pets.

Others contain chemicals like diazinon, carbaryl and flumethrin. And those are harmful to many pets.

Even the ‘natural’ ones, typically made using essential oils such as peppermint oil and clove oil, can be harmful to certain pets.

That is why our outlook was largely negative, while answering the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question.

And that is also why we said that finding a truly pet safe tick spray for yard can be tricky.

But then again, some of the ingredients are more troublesome than others. For instance, many people will find a tick spray containing peppermint oil better than another one made using diazinon.

The former therefore becomes a more pet friendly flea and tick yard spray than the latter.

How Yard Tick Sprays Can Harm Pets?

While answering the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question, we saw that the answer is largely ‘no’.

One may then want to know exactly how yard tick sprays can harm pets.

Now the commonest way in which yard tick sprays harm pets is when pets happen to ingest them.

If you use a tick spray in a yard, and let the dog stroll there, he may end up licking the grass with the spray on it.

And that is how the spray gets into the dog’s system: where it becomes a toxin.

But some of these sprays are also capable of harming pets when the pets breathe them in.

Thus when making tick spray for yard pet safe considerations, these are things you need to keep in mind.

A pet friendly tick spray for yard should be one that won’t harm the pets too much, if they happen to ingest it.

And a pet safe yard tick killer should also be one that won’t harm the pets too much if they happen to breathe it in.

Those, by the way, would still be largely the applicable guidelines in the search for a kid safe tick yard treatment.

In making a tick repellent for yard pet safe assessment, you need to consider what would happen if the pet were to ingest it accidentally.

And in making the tick treatment for yard safe for pets assessment, also need to consider what would happen if the pet were to accidentally breathe it in.

Ultimately for instance, those would be the key yard tick treatment safe for dogs considerations.

How To Use Yard Tick Spray If You Have Pets?

The first question to ask yourself here is, how do I get rid of ticks in my yard without harming pets?

And as it turns out, there are several how to get rid of ticks in yard safe for dogs guidelines.

We may also refer to these as pet safe flea and tick yard treatment guidelines.

The first thing you need to do is to select a yard tick spray product that has the best possible safety profile.

When we were addressing the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question, we saw that most of these products are not entirely safe.

That indeed is why finding a truly pet safe tick spray for yard is so tricky.

Nonetheless, some sprays have better safety profiles than others.

You need to identify those products that are better for the pet you happen to own. Then go ahead and purchase those.

You may ultimately opt to do tick spray for yard safe for pets Lowe’s product purchases. Or you may ultimately opt to do tick spray for yard safe for pets Home Depot shopping.

You can buy the spray anywhere you prefer.

Just ensure that it is a spray that is relatively good for the type of pet you happen to own.

This is the first step in pet friendly tick treatment for yard. Even if you were trying to do pet friendly flea treatment for yard, this would have to be the first step.

And that is buying a spray product with a reasonably good safety profile.

You then need to mix and apply the spray in the right manner: as per the manufacturer instructions.

Finally and very importantly, keep the dog off the sprayed yard until the spray dries fully.

What Are The Alternatives To Using Yard Tick Sprays?

In the course of answering the are tick spray for yard safe for pets question, we saw that they are mostly not entirely safe.

Hardly any product qualifies to be termed as a 100% pet safe tick spray for yard. Even the best yard spray for fleas and ticks has at least one dubious ingredient.

That becomes patently clear when you go through the ingredients list even for the best flea and tick yard spray safe for pets product.

This then leads to a question on what other alternative measures one can use.

If there is hardly anything that is a truly pet safe tick spray for yard, then one is surely better off considering spraying alternatives.

As it turns out, one way in which to keep ticks off your yard is by simply keeping vegetation short.

If you manage to keep the ticks away this way, then you wouldn’t have to use sprays.

So that is a flea and tick lawn treatment safe for dogs (and other pets) strategy.

Another method you can apply is that of creating a physical barrier.

If there is a physical barrier to the entry of the ticks, they may not get in. Therefore you wouldn’t have to use sprays to get rid of them.

So that is yet another flea and tick yard treatment safe for dogs (and other pets) strategy.

Then there are nematodes, which are capable of eating the ticks before they wreak havoc.

So in those, we find a kill ticks in yard pet safe strategy.

Let us look at how each of these non-spraying strategies for controlling yard ticks works.

Keeping Yard Vegetation Short To Control Ticks

As noted earlier, there is hardly any flea and tick spray for yard safe for pets in the truest sense.

So in reality, you can hardly find any yard spray for ticks safe for pets (in the truest sense). This being the case, we now use a non-spraying strategy.

When you trim the vegetation (especially the grass), you expose the ticks to sun. Ticks don’t like that. So they either flee or die.

Even when you consult professional flea and tick yard treatment experts, they are likely to endorse this approach.

Using A Physical Barrier In Yard To Control Ticks

We are working against a background in which it is so hard to find a tick or flea spray for yard safe for pets in the truest sense.

Because a truly pet safe yard tick spray is so hard to find, we focus on non-spraying strategies.

That is the best we can do, in the absence of 100% yard or lawn tick spray safe for dogs products.

And through the physical barrier, you can easily make tick and flea yard treatment safe for dogs (and other pets).

You can make the barrier using gravel. Or you can make the barrier using chips of wood.

It will be very hard for ticks to jump from neighboring properties to yours, if they have to go through this sort of barrier.

This surely makes a lot of sense, if you are having difficulties finding truly flea and tick spray for yard safe for dogs products.

If the barrier keeps the ticks away, you then don’t need to find any sort of yard spray for dogs (or other pets) safe product.

Using Nematodes In Yard To Control Ticks

The nematodes in question here actually eat the ticks.

Therefore if you get a good enough number of nematodes, they can keep the ticks at bay.

You thus don’t have to use a tick spray.

This is a sensible approach, if you are not finding a tick and flea spray for yard safe for dogs product.

As noted earlier, true tick yard spray pet safe products are not so easy to find.

But through biological agents like the nematodes in question here, you get to control the ticks without using chemical sprays.

Final Verdict – Tick Spray For Yard Safe For Pets

It is not always easy to find tick spray for yard safe for pets products.

That is because most of the tick sprays contain ingredients that are potentially harmful to various pets.

That is the case for tick sprays with chemical compounds such as diazinon, carbaryl and flumethrin.

And that is also the case for natural tick sprays, typically made using essential oils like peppermint and clove oil. Even these essential oils are potentially harmful to certain pets.

Thus a truly pet safe tick spray for yard is not always very easy to find.

Nonetheless some of these sprays have better safety profiles than others. For instance, the natural ones made using essential oils may not have as bad safety profiles as those made using harsh synthetic chemicals.

If you are using a tick spray in a yard, just ensure that you mix and apply the spray as per the manufacturer’s instructions.

Then keep the pet(s) off the sprayed yard, at least for a few days until the spray dries off completely.

Consider controlling ticks using non-spraying strategies. Those include keeping the vegetation (especially grass) short and creating physical barriers to entry of ticks.

Biological agents such as nematodes can also be helpful at controlling ticks in the yard without having to use sprays.

As a pet lover, make sure to learn about pet more and give your pet dog a good and comfortable life!

Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️