PammyT wrote:
(snip)

If you don't have a filthy habit like smoking, you won't have a lighted gag
to hand.

'Lighted gag' - nice say. Never heard it called like this before )

I had dogs for about 20 years in England, 4 dogs in all, and strangely
enough they never had ticks. In France, our 2 dogs kept getting them.
Perhaps something to do with the countryside?! My dogs here are however
going with us everywhere, from Scotland to Cornwall ... very strange
(even yesterday we were in Liverpool ;o) In France, we used to take a
thin cloth which we had covered with Eau de Cologne and grabbing the
tick very close to the skin, the scent used to make them dizzy or
sleepy we imagined, the tick loosened their grip and we could twist
them out.

I've lost my appetite suddenly (