We have a fenced yard with horses next door and our dogs used to bring in a lot of ticks when there were shrubs and weeds coming in through the fence. We removed all of the weeds/trees from the fence line, keeping it all well mowed, and added a gravel path between our fence and the horses. I'm happy to say that we didn't see a single tick this past summer. I am a big believer in the gravel barrier now. Good luck!