Max goes to the Vet

I don't know if it's the heat in this country or what, but I'm losing it over here.  Seven days, with temperatures over 90 degrees, and heat advisories issued on the news, I'm wondering...is this normal?  I've been hiding out in my bedroom with the a/c on, but that's not helping much because the A/C is giving me a headache and I developed cabin fever.  Yesterday, I got out of the house for a little while. We took Max to the vet for his second round of vaccinations.  The doctor was very annoyed that I kept asking so many questions.  It's my first dog, I wanted to make sure everything was okay.  But, he didn't speak English very well, and I didn't know how to say some of the words in Macedonian, so my fiance ended up translating all my questions, then all of his responses.  I was mostly concerned with the amount of ticks this dog gets.  I have never seen a tick in my life until I came here.  I don't understand why my dog keeps getting ticks.  We live in a urbanized city, there is very little wildlife, but for some reason, this dog manages to acquire 2 or 3 of these disgusting little blood suckers everyday.  The vet provided very little assistance on this matter.  He said to keep him out of the grass because this is the season for ticks.  Thanks, that helped a lot. And he mentioned we could buy one of those medicated collars to kills fleas and ticks.  But when we went to the pet store, we found out that they banned the sale of tick collars, for safety reasons.  I think insects sucking the blood from my dog and spreading disease is much more of a safety concern, but I don't pass the laws here.  However, they did have a medicated collar for fleas, so we purchased that one instead.  Apparently, it's not as strong as the tick one, but what choice do we have?  Hopefully it will work.  Here's a video of little Max in action:
 

However, I have found other ways to get the medicine.  Amazon, lol, probably illegal to have it shipped here, but maybe they won't notice.  Finger's crossed.
Hartz-Ultra Guard flea and tick Collar for Dogs 2 PackMerial Frontline Plus Flea and Tick Control for Dogs and Puppies, 6 Doses, For Dogs 89 to 132 Pounds
Merial Frontline Plus Flea and Tick Control for Dogs and Puppies, 6 Doses, For Dogs 89 to 132 
Hartz UltraGuard Rid Flea & Tick Shampoo for Dogs 18oz (Citrus)