Ectoparasites play an important role not only as pests but also as vectors of various infectious diseases of humans, livestock, pets and wild animals. The aim of this survey was to determine the prevalence of ectoparasite infestations in stray dogs in Mazandaran, Guilan and Qazvin provinces from December to March 2013. Seventy dogs from studied areas (30, 20 and 20 dogs from Mazandaran, Guilan and Qazvin province, respectively) were examined for ectoparasite infestation. In order to survey on mites, suspected areas to dermatitis were scraped deeply with an oily scalpel blade. Deep otic swab specimens were obtained from all dogs for detection of ear mite. The rate of infestation in these areas was 100%, 68.5% and 93.3%, respectively. In this study, the most common ectoparasites on dogs were flea, lice, ticks, flies and mites, respectively. The isolated arthropods were fleas in 45 (77.5%), lice in 29 (50%), ticks in 5 (8.6%), flies in 4 (6.8%) and mites in 3 (5.1%) infested dogs. The ectoparasite of the dogs included 4 flea species, Ctenocephalides canis (29.8%), C.felis (19.9%), Pulex irritans (2.9%) and Xenopsiella cheopis (0.7%), 1 louse species, Trichodectes canis (41.3%), 1 tick species, Rhipicephalus sanguinus (0.7%), 1 fly species, Hippobosca sp. (1.1%) and 1 mite species, Sarcoptes scabiei (3.6%). Triple and double infestation was observed in 8.6% and 39.7% of the infested dogs and 51.8% presented single infestation with lice or fleas. The highest prevalence of infestation was observed in < 3 years old (88%) followed by 3-5 (77.7%) and > 5 years old (70.5%). Ectoparasitic infestations in male and female dogs were 33 male (89.1%) and 25 female dogs (75.7%). No statically difference was observed between ectoparasite infestation and dog‟s age and gender (p>0.05). Conlusion: According to the high ectoparasite infestation of stray dogs in this study and their transmission risks to humans and other animals, regular monitoring of distribution patterns of ectoparasites is an important concern to control the arthropods and arthropods-borne diseases.

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