New to Seattle, are fleas and ticks prevalent?

I haven't found any on my Boston Terrier. It depends how often your dog is out in public areas with other dogs. A flea protectant is never a bad idea, but I think in breeding season it can get bad.

Thankfully, no. Ticks aren't much of a problem here in Seattle, and thankfully Lyme disease doesn't seem to be prevalent yet. But if you take your dogs to other areas, you might want to do a protectant. I recently traveled to Massachusetts and was just walking the dog around the condo complex and she got a tick. It totally freaked me out. Uggggh, they are so gross. Normally I only give my dog the flea medication during the Spring/Summer in Seattle, but I ran out and got some Advantage/Frontline and applied it right away.

I'm in Portland, but also lived up in Bellingham, WA for a number of years with my last dog. None of the three dogs I've owned in the PNW have ever had fleas or ticks. My two dogs now hardly ever get preventative, since the vet and I have never found so much as a speck of flea dirt on them. They spend lots of time around other dogs and running around in forests, fields, etc., so if they were going to get fleas/ticks they probably would. I'm not sure how much of that is their susceptibility (or lack thereof) and how much is the relatively low prevalence of fleas and ticks in the region.