In reply to dhuhkosi:
My dog gets ticks all the time in the summer--she's very furry and seems to pick them up from the forest. It's not uncommon for her to have three or four of them at once.
When (if!) we find them, the usual tactic is to use a special tick removal device. You can get them from vets and they remove the ticks safely and painlessly. The problem is that ticks are tiny until they've consumed rather a lot of blood, so are difficult to detect in the early stages. On occasion, though, we've seen ticks crawling around in her fur before they've bitten. At this stage they look like tiny mites.
I wouldn't worry too much--after eleven years of this none of us have ever been bitten. Ticks are rather torpid, stupid creatures that move very slowly. I'm sure they must drop off her and lie low in the carpet but they never seem to jump on any of us! They certainly won't crawl around the house on the prowl for blood. Their tactic appears to be to lie in wait until something actively brushes against them, then they'll attach themselves to the new host.
My advice would be, if you go for walks in wooded or grassy areas, check your clothes (particularly your socks and trouserlegs) when you get home for little creepy crawlies, and if you're concerned, talk to your vet about ways of keeping ticks off pets. In my experience though, ticks are loathe to bite humans.
