There are a few different diseases associated with both fleas and ticks. Fleas, in particular, can transmit intestinal parasites to your dog. Ticks can also transmit a few different types of tick-borne diseases, of which the most common are Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, which can cause complications and disease in your dog.

Acupuncture's extremely safe. We don't find a lot of side effects. The worst-case scenario we've seen is some small reactions to the needle, and then we usually just change up the needle if that's the case.

Yes. I love to use acupuncture in conjunction with medical therapy for things like disc issues, arthritis, kidney issues, and even lymph issues.

Acupuncture is not painful, or at least we try not to make it painful. A lot of times, if I find a painful area that the pet is sensitive to, I remove that needle to ensure the pet is comfortable. For instance, here's my own dog, and this is the needle. It will simply insert the needle into the pet, push it in, give a little spin to attach to the muscle, and then look. You can see she didn't even flinch.

There are three different schools of training for acupuncture. Essentially, though, they are all based on Chinese traditional medicine. They all work, just in different ways.