Toxocara canis accomplishes its life cycle in dogs, with humans acquiring the infection as accidental hosts. Following ingestion by dogs, the infective eggs hatch and larvae penetrate the gut wall and migrate into various tissues, where they encyst if the dog is older than 5 weeks. In the older dogs, the encysted stages are reactivated during pregnancy, and infect by the transplacental and transmammary routes the puppies, in whose small intestine adult worms become established. Thus, infective eggs are excreted both by lactating bitches and puppies.
Humans are accidental hosts who become infected by ingesting infective eggs in contaminated soil.
While the larvae do not undergo any further development in these sites, they can cause severe local reactions that are the basis of toxocariasis.