Not AvailableDog ticksare the most widespread ticks in the world and are well-recognized vectors of many pathogens affecting dogs and occasionally humans. A total of 352 dogs of different breeds were examined for the presence of ticks from June 2009 to May 2011 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The collected ticks were identified as Rhipicephalussanguineus. The overall prevalence of ticks was 58.52pert. Among the seasons, highest prevalence of R. sanguineuswas observed in northeast monsoon (34.46pert) followed by southwest monsoon (30.10pert), summer (23.79pert) and lowest level in winter (11.65pert). Adultdogs were heavily infested with R. sanguineus ticks than the puppies (67.96 pert vs 32.04pert). Male dogs were highly infested (74.76pert) than the female dogs (25.24 pert). Among the breeds, Spitz was highly infested (28.16 pert) followed by mongrels (24.76pert), Labrador (17.48pert), German shepherd (12.44pert) and Doberman (4.37pert). Other breeds were infested with very low levels ranging from 0.49 pert to 2.43 pert. Hairy breeds (Spitz, Labrador, German shepherd, Lhasa Apso, Border collie, Golden Retriever and Pomeranian) were heavily infested with ticks (61.17 pert) than the non-hairy breeds (38.83 pert)Not Availabl
