We have a lot of ticks in the South-West Finland and so I have been removing ticks from our dogs on regular basis every spring. We never seem to treat the dogs with tick repellent early enough.
To remove ticks I have used normal tweezers, special "tick-tweezers", bare fingernails and a tick lasso. So far the absolutely best device for removing ticks has been a tick lasso. I'm not affiliated with the company named in the picture, but for the old saying; a picture talks a thousand words. A tick lasso:

Using this device is easy, safe, almost 100% success, and you don't even need protective gloves in hand. Push the button on the other end of the "pen" and a lasso of a thin nylon string will come out from the other end. Ease the lasso over the tick so that it goes around the tick near the dog's skin. Release the button, which tightens the lasso, and raise the pen straight outwards from the skin, then rotate the "pen" while simultaneously pulling gently out. Tick comes out whole, usually still alive even. Drop the tick in a toilet and flush.
I have removed ticks from real tough places, like from the corner of a dog's eye, where you would not dare go with normal tweezers. I won't recommend anything but a lasso for removing ticks.

Red dot = tick