Health • Seasonal Alert

Why this tick season has veterinarians worried, and what dog owners can actually do about it

Experts are calling 2026 one of the worst tick years in recent memory. The two things most owners rely on may not be enough.

By Megan Ellison June 2026 6 min read

A healthy dog standing in tall summer grass, with a no-ticks warning badge — **Higher risk this year.** Mild winters and longer warm seasons have driven tick populations up across much of North America.

If you own a dog, you probably know the feeling. You come back from the same walk you take every morning, you run your hand along your dog's neck, and your fingers catch on something that shouldn't be there. Small, hard, already dug in.

It happens to careful owners constantly. People who stay out of the tall grass, who check their dogs after every walk, who do everything they're told to do, and still find one behind an ear. The reason is simple, and it's worth saying plainly.

Your dog can't check himself. He can't tell you something bit him. He walks where you walk and trusts that you've handled the part he can't see.

This year, that gap matters more than usual. Veterinarians and public-health agencies have warned that mild winters and longer warm seasons are pushing tick numbers up, and the blacklegged tick, the species that spreads Lyme disease, is expanding its range. More ticks, active for more of the year, in more places dogs walk.

The two options most owners have, and why neither feels right

When owners go looking for protection, they tend to land on one of two choices. It's worth understanding the trade-offs of each.

Option one

The chewable tablet

The monthly chew many vets prescribe. Effective, but the FDA has issued a warning about the isoxazoline class of ingredients used in these products, citing reports of neurological events in some dogs, including muscle tremors, loss of balance, and seizures.

Option two

Vigilance alone

Checking after walks, avoiding long grass, and hoping. It helps, but it's reactive by design. By the time a tick is found, it has usually already attached, which is exactly the moment owners are trying to avoid.

That leaves a lot of owners stuck between a product they're uneasy about and a routine they know isn't foolproof. For households that prefer to avoid the chemical route, the question becomes whether there's a third path that actually holds up.

The case for cedar

It turns out one of the more promising natural tick repellents isn't a synthetic chemical at all. It's cedarwood oil.

The active compound in cedarwood oil, cedrol, appears to interfere with how ticks breathe and move. Ticks tend to avoid it, and unlike many "natural" claims, this one has been put to the test in a controlled setting.

The research

In a USDA study, cedarwood oil repelled Lyme-carrying ticks as well as DEET.

Researchers at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service found that cedarwood oil repelled blacklegged ticks, the species that transmits Lyme disease, comparably to DEET, the standard synthetic repellent.

A plant oil performing on par with the strongest conventional option is the kind of result that has put cedar on more owners' radar.

Source: Flor-Weiler et al., USDA Agricultural Research Service. View the study →.

A few caveats are fair. Field results vary between products, and no topical repellent should be treated as all-day, all-conditions armor. The practical takeaway from the research is narrower and more useful: a well-made cedarwood spray, applied before a walk, can meaningfully cut a dog's exposure without the chemicals that make some owners nervous.

What to look for in a cedar spray

Not all cedar products are equal. If you're considering one, a few things separate the serious formulas from the gimmicks.

A real concentration of cedarwood oil, not a trace amount added for marketing. A short, readable ingredient list without harsh additives or anything from the isoxazoline class. An age-safe formula gentle enough for puppies and seniors, since the whole point is daily use. And a spray format, which lets you apply it in seconds before heading out, rather than relying on a monthly dose you have to remember.

A product that fits the criteria

Good Boy Herbs Cedar Shield

Of the cedar-based sprays we looked at, Cedar Shield checks the boxes above: a real cedarwood oil concentration, a short ingredient list with no isoxazolines or harsh chemicals, an age-safe formula, and a spray bottle built for daily use before walks. It repels and kills ticks on contact and is made specifically for dogs.

Check Cedar Shield AvailabilitySee current stock & pricing

The bottom line

This is a heavier tick year than usual, and the standard options leave real gaps. Your dog can't protect himself, and vigilance alone tends to catch ticks after they've already latched on. For owners who want to avoid the chemical chew, a well-formulated cedarwood spray applied before each walk is a reasonable, research-supported way to lower the risk, starting with the next time you head out the door.