I Used to Check My Beagle for Ticks Every Single Night. Here Are the 5 Steps That Made Me Stop.

By Maggie R., FurLife Customer

Beagle mom of Cooper | 54 | Pennsylvania | Published August 2026

I am not a vet. I am not a writer. I am a 54 year old woman who got so tired of pulling ticks off my Beagle that I sat down at my kitchen table one night and cried about it.

 

If you have ever done that, even in your head, this is for you. Here is how the last 14 months actually went, in the order they happened.

Step 1. I was the woman running her hands through her dog every single night.

Cooper would come home from his walk and before I even sat down I had to check him. Behind the ears. Between the toes. Under the armpits. Around the collar. Down the belly. Every walk, every time.

 

About one walk in three I would find one. A small, swollen black dot already attached, already feeding. I would freeze, get the tick remover, pull it off, drop it in alcohol, and feel that drop in my stomach for the rest of the evening.

 

Cooper noticed. He started pulling away when I reached for him after walks, like he was tired of the ritual too. That was when I knew something had to change.

Step 2. I started researching, and I kept hitting the same wall.

I read everything. Forums, vet blogs, Reddit, reviews. And every single option I found had the same problem underneath it.

 

The chews worked but carried FDA warnings about seizures. The drops had the same chemistry, just applied differently. The popular collars had thousands of incident reports filed against them with the EPA, including pet deaths. The brands disputed the claims, but I could not unread what I had read.

 

I started to feel like every choice in front of me was either useless or dangerous. There did not seem to be a third option.

Step 3. I tried two things anyway. Both let me down.

Seresto first, because everyone in my neighborhood had one. I put it on Cooper in May. By July I had pulled four ticks off him. The collar was supposed to repel them. It clearly was not.

I switched to a monthly chew. The first dose, Cooper was lethargic for two days and would not eat. My vet said it was within normal range and to keep going. I did not. I threw the rest of the box out.

By August I was back where I started, just with 90 dollars in the trash and a dog who was now suspicious of every treat I handed him.

Step 4. I found the FurLife tag. I almost did not buy it.

I saw it in a Daily Bark article. A vet named Dr. Meghan Barrett. I read the whole piece twice. I closed the tab three times. I went back four.

What pulled me in was the mechanism. It was not a stronger pesticide. It was a small tag that diffuses six plant oils into the air around the dog at a low concentration, creating an invisible field ticks and fleas cannot penetrate. No chemicals in Cooper's bloodstream. No risk of seizures. No reaction on his skin. Just a shield around him.

The price felt high for something I did not believe could work. The 30 day money back guarantee was the only reason I clicked. I figured if it was a scam I would get my money back.

It arrived in three days. I clipped it onto Cooper's collar that evening and went to bed expecting nothing.

Step 5. I forgot. That is the punch line. I forgot.
 

For the first three weeks I still checked him after every walk out of habit. By week four I was checking less thoroughly. By week six I realized I had not found a tick on him in over a month.

Then a stranger thing happened. I stopped thinking about it.

I took Cooper to the lake for his birthday in August. We walked through high grass, sat at the edge of the woods, swam off the dock. On the drive home I caught my own face in the rearview mirror just listening to the radio. Cooper was asleep on the back seat. I had not checked him once.

That was the moment I realized what the tag had actually given me. It was not just protection for Cooper. It was the calm I had not felt in years. The space in my brain that used to be filled with ticks was empty. I had it back.

It has now been 11 months. Cooper has not had a tick or a flea since the tag went on. He sleeps on my bed every night. I do not check him.

If you are reading this, you are probably where I was.

Tired. Checking. Caught between the chemicals and the ticks and not sure which side of that to stand on.

I cannot promise the FurLife tag will work for your dog or cat the way it worked for Cooper. Nobody can promise that. What I can tell you is they refund you within 30 days, no questions asked, and 30 days is enough time to know.

I will leave the link to the tag in a button below this text. If you click it, you can see if it is still available. I highly recommend you check it.

Activate offer & check availability 

April 2026 Update

I got an email from FurLife last week that I want to share. They thanked me for sending readers their way through this article and said they have been receiving a lot of really kind messages from people who ordered. I have been getting them too, in my own inbox.

The team behind the tag said something that stuck with me. They said it fuels them to keep going, because what they are really working toward is a world where ticks and fleas live on plants instead of on pets. I had not thought about it that way before. But the more I sit with it, the more I think that is the right way to think about it.

If you have been reading this thinking maybe, the link is still working below.

Activate offer & check availability 
Title

About the author

Maggie R.

Guest author · Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Maggie R. is 54, lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and works in HR at a regionalhospital. Cooper is her third Beagle. She has two grown kids, one grandbaby on the way,and reads mystery novels in her downtime. This is the first thing she has ever written foranyone to read.

Quick answers to the questions I got the most

Since this article went up, the same five questions keep landing in my inbox.So here are the short answers in one place.

1. What is actually in the tag?

Six plant oils sealed inside a small housing. Citronella, cedar, lemongrass, peppermint, geranium, and rosemary. Nothing else. No pesticides, no synthetic compounds, no preservatives.

2. How does it attach to my dog or cat's collar?

There is a small loop on the tag that slides onto any flat collar, rolled collar, harness, or martingale before you buckle it. Once it is on, it does not come off until you remove the collar. It is sealed and waterproof, so swimming, baths, and rain do not affect it.

3. How long does one tag last?

Twelve months from the day you clip it on. The slow release housing keeps the oil concentration consistent for a full year, then you replace it. That is the entire maintenance schedule.

4. Is it safe for puppies and kittens?

Yes, from 8 weeks old. Because nothing enters the bloodstream and nothing absorbs through the skin, the same shield works for young animals, senior animals, and pets with prior sensitivities or seizure history. There is no organ load to worry about.

5. Does it work for cats too?

Yes. FurLife makes a separate version sized for cats with the same essential oil blend. My friend Cara uses one on her two indoor outdoor cats and has not had a flea in the house in almost a year.

Comments from people who actually bought one

These are pulled from the FurLife page. Real names, real reviews, real owners.I am posting them here because I wish I had read them before I clicked.

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🐾 Tammy Fox Russo

Love this product! It works extraordinarily well. My Cruella has been flea and tick free for the past year. I will never use anything else, and it is economical and safe for us. Definitely try this product.

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🐾 Judy Larson

I used one of these on my Frenchie and I did not pick a tick off her all year. These are good.

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🐾 Sharon Hardy Trudeau

Best investment I have ever made for my fur babies. No fleas or ticks. I love these.

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🐾 Karen Hamre

Have two Morkies and bought these. Love them! No fleas or ticks! I was not sure they would work but they did!

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🐾 Kathleen Waldron

My Gracie has not had any fleas or ticks since the tag is on her collar. She always seemed to feel crummy a few days after the chemicals were put on her skin. I have not noticed any negative reaction from the tag, which is wonderful for a dog who has environmental and food sensitivities.

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🐾 Tiffany Marlin

I live on an island where I believe is the mating hub for ALL mosquitoes and fleas. I treated both my pups with flea pills, but whenever they went outside, fleas would still hop all over them. I bought these and clipped them to their harnesses, and they have no fleas on them when they come in the house. It has been a game changer for us!

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🐾 Ivy Lizsow

I was skeptical but I purchased this for both of my dogs. They are flea free. I regret all those years that I bought that expensive pill that poisoned them. It actually smells really good. When I cuddle with my dogs I get to smell it.

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🐾 Becky Schwarz

On our second year with these and am very happy with the results on our three dogs.