[erinella]

HELP!
I think my dog has fleas! He has been scratching and chewing on himself all day and I have some bites on my ankles and calves!!! I haven't actually seen any on him, but I am going treat him as if he does have them.
What do I do to get rid of them? Any tricks that work really well????

[MissyChrissy]

Beyond the flea sprays and medicines for home & dogs?

I've heard Downy will keep fleas off your dog (and give him/her nice fur!). I belonged to a specific breed message board (I have a maltese) for a while, and many on there swore by rinsing their dog's fur with Downy fabric softener after their bath. They swore they never had fleas, and that was the reason. I've also heard-sorta unrelated but worth mentioning-that having Downy dryer sheets in your pocket or under your hat when you're outside will keep mosquitoes and other little bugs away from you. There may be some truth to all that...but my dog did get fleas & still needed the vet's medicine. She had really great fur though...and I didn't keep trying it...I only tried it like 3 times. These other people used it at every bath. I don't know if it would have made a difference, or even how often they bath their dogs. Maybe every day?

Now, for the house, you can get a table lamp and a bowl of water & sit them both in the middle of your floor. The fleas will jump for the light, land in the water, and drown. I don't know if it'll cure your house, but it'll significantly reduce the number of them.

Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Then do it some more. And after every time, you have to empty the bag somewhere outside-or into a plastic bag which you securely close up tight. Vacuum again.

My grandmother is against using those bombs (which I will use-I cover my aquariums, take my pets to grandma's, & bomb the house!)...What my grandma does is the light trick at night in every room, the vacuuming fetish (3x a day or so), and she mops everything with vinegar. She's the only person in the world that I know who uses vinegar to get rid of fleas...but she's also the only one I know of first hand who can rid her house of them without using chemicals from the store.

Good luck-they're not any fun at all. I use the purple Raid can around the house..it works really well. Along with Advantage or Frontline for my pets.

[purelegance]

like missychrissy, i'm on a breed-specific board (only chihuahuas, not maltese's lol). so it's easier for me to just copy & paste my list.

any flea/tick shampoo will get them off, but once your dog has them -- they're already in the house and no matter how many baths you give, it's not going to solve the flea problem until you do a serious house cleaning. (don't forget that dogs' skin is very sensitive, so they really shouldn't get a full-out shampoo bath no more than once a month. if they're smelly, use baby wipes). i would recommend washing the dog AFTER cleaning the house.

some flea shampoos tend to be very drying, so if you can find one that has a conditioner in it too -- that's great. or you can use downey. it's your choice.

when you buy the flea/tick shampoo, don't forget to pick up some flea/tick medicine too! while frontline & advantage are the best on the market, you can get something from the store. but be very careful, DO NOT buy anything made by Hartz. i've seen quite a few dogs have SEVERE allergic reactions to basically everything made by this company. i'm not sure what they put in their products, but my neighbor's cat reacted so badly to a flea collar, it looked like the skin (fur was gone) had blisters.

use borax [found in the laundry aisle] on your carpets (kinda like when you sprinkle baking soda on the carpet, only with borax.) let it sit 15-30 minutes, then vacuum. i'll sprinkle the borax when i go to work, then vacuum when i get home, that way i know it's had PLENTY of time to work it's magic.

walmart supposedly sells a flea-killing carpet powder, but i've never tried it.

by putting a flea collar in your vacuum bag, you'll kill any fleas/flea eggs you suck up.

don't forget to move the furniture around when you vacuum! fleas are little buggers, they get everywhere! wash all sheets, blankets, rugs, ANYTHING you can get in the washer in super hot water & bleach or oxyclean if possible.



sorry about this being so long, but like i said, i have a list saved for these kinda situations. hope it works out!

[1angelinheaven]

Fronline plus is definately my #1 choice!!! But I have a friend who washes her dog (a huge German Shepherd) in a mixture of dawn dish soap and Avon Skin So Soft. Wait about 5 or 10 minutes and wash it off. She swears by it.

[purelegance]

Originally Posted by 1angelinheaven

Fronline plus is definately my #1 choice!!! But I have a friend who washes her dog (a huge German Shepherd) in a mixture of dawn dish soap and Avon Skin So Soft. Wait about 5 or 10 minutes and wash it off. She swears by it.

the dawn really helps to prevent it too. something in the dawn causes it to kinda form a protective barrier around each hair follicle & a layer on the skin.

[swt1899]

Frontline has always been my favorite. Also they have those high frequency repellants that you plug into the wall by doors and windows that keeps them away.

[Beaglesfly]

The stories I could tell about dogs with fleas after having been a dog groomer at one time myself.....ugh.

Two fleas can multiply to a hundred pretty quickly and dogs can feel those bites - it's no worse than a mosquito bite, but if the dog has 20 fleas, that could mean 20, 40, 60 bites or more a day.

Most people aren't allergic to the bites (if you aren't allergic, you won't even realize that a flea's been on you and bit you; if you are allergic, it's like a mosquito bite).

First, where to look on your dog to see how bad the problem is....fleas like to go where it's warm and dark. Look under and behind their ears, in their "armpits" (y'all know what I mean ), on the inside of their back legs, and on their stomach. They are easiest to see on their stomach towards their hind legs where their hair naturally thins out a bit.

Fleas are "hiders," they'll run for thicker fur as soon as they are exposed, so even if you don't initially see any, it doesn't mean the dog doesn't have some. Look for little red bites also for evidence of fleas having been there.

I had never heard of the downy trick. In dog grooming, we usually just used flea shampoo to get rid of the fleas. Really lather the dog up everywhere to make sure you are reaching all the places.

I don't really like the idea of flea shampoo and the preventive flea drops because of the chemicals in them, but I never found a natural way that was really effective (might have to try the Downy or the Dawn though).

Believe me, dogs do feel those bites, so getting rid of them quickly will make for a happier dog.

[PetScribe]

When we had our dog Budly in Tucson in the early 90s he got a horrible case of fleas that he tracked inside. We "dipped" him (I would NOT recommend doing this...works, yes, but is the foulest smelling stuff. Not sure they even sell this stuff anymore) and the bucket was FULL of fleas afterwards. Poor dog. (But why I wouldn't recommend is because I personally think that stuff has to be bad for the dogs in the longrun too. It just smelled so bad.)

MissyChrissy suggested bombing the house and that's what we did back when we had Budly to rid the house of fleas. That works, but make sure to follow directions and be prepared not to go back in for 3 hours minimum.

After we bombed we even did that flea carpet powder stuff that PureElegance suggested. (I believe we even got that from Walmart back then too.)

Since that incident we've always had our dogs on Frontline or something similar so as not to ever endure a flea breakout again. Sometimes I do spot a flea here or there on Murph, but we've never had the kind of problems poor Budly endured.

Sorry you're going through it. Hope the Downy tricks and other ideas on here help!

[evelynmarieg]

We haven't had a flea problem in a while, and when the dogs start itching, I spray them with a natural product called SoluMel. It is made by Melaleuca the Wellness Company. You dilute it in a spray bottle and can spray it directly on the dogs. Also repels bed bugs, ticks, fleas, and safe for you and your dogs. Also you can use it as a mosquito repellent right on your skin.

[shelbybear62]

The real trick to getting rid of fleas is timing. If you get rid of them on the dog, but don't get rid of them in the house, the dog will get re-infested. Everything that comes into contact with the dog should be treated at the same time. If you give the dog a bath with flea shampoo, wash any blankets/bedding that the dog lays on, too. Use hot water and a high setting on the dryer. Vacuum the carpets and furniture, mop, and be sure to empty the bag or container in the vacuum! Flea eggs can hatch in a few days or up to 2 weeks, depending on the enviroment, so keep treating the floors. Be careful if you use frontline, don't give your dog a bath with flea shampoo and then add the frontline right away, you can poison them.
A hint: we had a real bad problem with fleas one year and actually had to have the yard treated-fleas can live in the grass. Also, we had them on the kids stuffed animals too. They went into the freezer for a couple days.