If your dog is outside, there is always a tick-risk even if you use flea & tick meds, which I don't recommend. Flea & tick meds often come with a scary list of side effects that I personally don't think outweigh any benefits. You can read more on that here. When I learned about these side effects, I never gave my bulldog, Sheldon, flea & tick meds again. Instead, I put him in a t-shirt and sprayed wondercide on him and he never once was bitten by a tick.
In early April of 2017, we took him to a cabin in the woods and I wasn't prepared with flea & tick meds or a t-shirt because I thought it was too early in the season for ticks. I was wrong. Ticks were climbing all over him and he was bit twice. We successfully removed both ticks completely and found them quickly, but I still was concerned about Lyme Disease and wanted to minimize any risk.
We gave him a homeopathic remedy called Ledum Palustre 200c, which is made from wild rosemary. We gave him the first dose of this immediately after we removed the tick and repeated every 3 hours for the first day. Beginning the next day, we gave him the remedy twice daily for a week, then twice daily for a month and then once a week for another month. He was completely fine and thankfully was Lyme Diseaes free.
If your dog does get Lyme Disease and is not presenting with symptoms, aurum arsenicum 200c is your answer. Dog's Naturally suggests the following protocol:
- Dose twice daily for one week
- After the first week, dose twice weekly for a month
- Then once per week for another month
If your dog is presenting with Lyme Disease symptoms, Borrelia burgdorferi 30c, which is also called the Lyme Nosode 30c. Nosodes are homeopathic medicine made from diluted pathogens that help to heal chronic illness. Dogs Naturally suggests to give Borellia once daily for 3 days and then stop for a total of 3 doses. This may be repeated every few months if the symptoms remain.
If you are able to begin treating as soon as you see that your dog was bit by a tick, this protocol is highly effective in preventing Lyme Disease. This protocol was published by originally Joette Calabrese, a homeopathic practitioner. You can read more about it on her blog here.