When Ellen Holmes takes her two cocker spaniels for a walk on her 40-hectare property — a pooch paradise made up of ponds, trails and thick brush — they always return home with unwelcome guests: ticks.

“This year has just been horrendous,” says Holmes of St. Anns, nestled in the Niagara Region. “This is most definitely the worst year so far.”

About eight years ago she spotted her first tick, the only one she saw all year. Now she finds two or three a day on her dogs, Felix and Oscar. Earlier this season Holmes found 29 while cleaning their beds — most were dead because of the tick-killing drug they’re on. But four were alive.

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While picking up ticks, her dogs are also gathering valuable information that may help researchers monitor the spread of ticks and the potential for tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease.

That’s why a University of Guelph scientist has created a new online reporting system called the Pet Tick Tracker. It asks pet owners and veterinarians from across Canada to enter details about ticks found on dogs, cats, horses and other domestic animals. Information such as where the tick was picked up, how many were found and the type of tick — photos are provided to help the untrained eye.

Pathobiology professor Scott Weese, who developed the Tick Tracker, says the data could serve as an “early warning system.” He says that knowing where ticks are spreading, and if any news species is establishing a foothold in an area, helps determine the need for prevention practices and if any new diseases should be considered, in both animals and humans.

In the battle against disease-carrying ticks, dogs are “good sentinels” because they’re on the front lines, running in and out of tall grass and wooded areas.

“A dog can give us information about human risk because we go to the same habitat that dogs do,” says Weese, a veterinary internist and infectious disease specialist.

Since its launch in May, the Tick Tracker has garnered about 2,000 reports — roughly 90 per cent from Ontario.

“It’s a way to get easy free data — it lets us get a lot of value for a little bit of effort,” Weese says, adding that the data can help guide future research. Based on the reports received, he’s created a map of where ticks have been found and the species. The information is shared with provincial health officials.

Curtis Russell, a senior program specialist at Public Health Ontario says the agency is in the early stages of working with partners, such as the university, to explore how it can use different pieces of information to help with its own surveillance programs.

“One of these pieces is looking to see what additional information ticks from pets can provide in determining if blacklegged ticks are establishing in new areas of Ontario,” Russell says. “Our surveillance programs will continue to evolve as new surveillance tools are developed and new information becomes available.”

The spread of blacklegged ticks, which have migrated north from the United States, is concerning. A bite from an infected blacklegged tick, also called a deer tick, can transmit the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi that causes Lyme disease, if attached for at least 24 hours.

The risk of Lyme disease is well-established along the north shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. But Weese has received reports of blacklegged ticks in areas, such as Barrie, Orillia, Sudbury and North Bay, where there hasn’t been much activity. This could signal an emerging risk.

In Ontario, Lyme disease is the biggest tick-borne disease in dogs — but they can be given a Lyme disease vaccine, and drugs to repel or kill ticks. How to best protect your pooch may depend on if you’re in a high-risk area.

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In humans, the disease has been on the rise — in 2016 there were 343 cases in Ontario, but experts say the real number may be tenfold. Initial symptoms are flu-like and there may be an expanding bull’s-eye rash at the site of the bite. Antibiotics should clear early symptoms, but if untreated it can be a potentially debilitating illness, affecting cardiac and nervous systems.

Although dogs are more exposed to ticks than people, they seem more resistant to the bacteria.

“The number of dogs that are exposed and get sick is thought to quite a bit lower than people,” Weese says. “If you and your dog are both bitten by a tick that’s infected, and it stays on the same length of time, you’re probably more likely to get sick from that than your dog is.”

The Tick Tracker may also reveal if rare ticks are beginning to pop up, which is key because different ticks carry different diseases. For instance, Weese has received reports from a couple of areas about Lone Star ticks, whose bites can trigger a meat allergy in people and cause Ehrlichiosis, a bacterial illness that affect animals and humans.

In Ontario, Lone Star ticks periodically appear. Experts have largely considered them adventitious, thinking they surfaced after hitching a ride on a migratory bird or mammal. But given the various reports, Weese wonders if the Lone Star tick is establishing a foothold here.

Weese shares information about unusual ticks with other university researchers who may go out and do active surveillance to determine if the species is becoming established and if there are changes in what these ticks are carrying.

Back in Niagara Region — a hot spot for blacklegged ticks and the less harmful American dog tick — Holmes thoroughly checks her dogs, and herself, after each outing.

She’s diligent because she’s found live ticks crawling on the floor — adults are the size of a sesame seed — and on herself.

And, her previous dog, Gordie, had a close call. In 2011, Holmes found what she thought was a burr on the top of his head, but when she pulled it out, all bloodied, she realized it was a tick, which had broken off. The next morning, Gordie couldn’t walk and was showing symptoms of tick paralysis. A vet surgically removed the remainder of the tick embedded in the dog’s head and put him on medication. Gordie did recover.

Nowadays, Holmes is determined to protect Felix and Oscar as best she can. She just recently learned of the Tick Tracker and plans to use it.

“If there’s something we can do to help and if it’s going to educate people then I’m happy to help,” she said. “The more information out there the better.”