While ticks are often visible, they can also cause itching and licking in dogs. Similarly, certain mites, such as sarcoptes (mange) or demodex, can lead to itching, licking and skin irritation.

Demodex mites are tiny eight-legged parasites that mostly live in hair follicles and oil glands on your face, neck, or chest. As alarming as this may sound, they’re generally harmless.

Dr. Alejandra Perotti, who studies Demodex mites at the University of Reading in the UK, explains the biology of Demodex mites, which live in the pores, eat, mate, and lay eggs. In 1841 ...