[maggiefox]

I use flee advantage but i think I was to late and the dog is scratching

[CorkyMax]

This link (A thread done previously in this forum) may be of some help. Be sure and click on the many other links given in the posts!

Natural Flea Control

[Yogi]

Just because you think you were late does not mean you still can't use Advantage. Just apply it and within 24 hours the dog will be fine. The assumption that fleas do not get on dogs with flea treatment of any sort is
misleading, they will. It is after they get on the dog is when they will die if the dog is treated.
I use Advantage on mine and often after they already have a flea or 2 on them and have never had a problem with it working.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by Corky/Max

This link (A thread done previously in this forum) may be of some help. Be sure and click on the many other links given in the posts!

Natural Flea Control

I agree with Barb. Way to many risks involved with conventional flea treatments in my opinion. Try some natural methods. You'd be surprised what they can do. The link she provided is great!

[nattiej1976]

fleas are a never ending issue with our pets, they are so often exposed to them beyond our own control. Certainly remember though, that even if you pets are treated and you have got rid of the current flea issue, that they can still come back, as they can harbour in our environment.

the old place we used to live in had garden beds right along the foundation of the house, and were riddled with fleas, at the time our only pets were the two indoor cats, and for the life of me I could not understand why they were constantly getting fleas, until we discovered them in the garden beds, they were finding ways into the house and of course.....you can guess the rest.

So not only were we treating pets but the direct environment around us, inside and out. We never really eradicated them from the home, there were just way too many of them, but we did reduce the numbers over the time and made it more manageable.

Needless to say when we moved out of the flea ridden home, we bombed and treated EVERYTHING coming into the new house, luckily we have very few issues here.

Im sorry, ranting, short story of the long, dont foget to treat your surroundings as well

[Todd]

Originally Posted by nattiej1976

fleas are a never ending issue with our pets, they are so often exposed to them beyond our own control. Certainly remember though, that even if you pets are treated and you have got rid of the current flea issue, that they can still come back, as they can harbour in our environment.

the old place we used to live in had garden beds right along the foundation of the house, and were riddled with fleas, at the time our only pets were the two indoor cats, and for the life of me I could not understand why they were constantly getting fleas, until we discovered them in the garden beds, they were finding ways into the house and of course.....you can guess the rest.

So not only were we treating pets but the direct environment around us, inside and out. We never really eradicated them from the home, there were just way too many of them, but we did reduce the numbers over the time and made it more manageable.

Needless to say when we moved out of the flea ridden home, we bombed and treated EVERYTHING coming into the new house, luckily we have very few issues here.

Im sorry, ranting, short story of the long, dont foget to treat your surroundings as well

good point. speaking of treating the enviroment as well, you can also place Nematodes which are microscopic worms around the house which reproduce and eat fleas. I mentioned this in the natural flea treatment thread.

[harley_quinn]

This is strange, but I don't use anything on my dog and have only found 4 fleas since we got her. The reason she had those fleas (I think) is because she walked around the yard at my Bf's mother's house and they have dogs. They said that she was probably going to get fleas because their yard had them.
Well, later that night I bathed her and she had one. Since then I've found a couple more, but none lately. She's an inside dog, but she spends time outside. I've seen her scratch under her neck a few times, but when I take her a bath, no fleas crawl up to her head. It's strange because I try not to wet her head at all and clean it later with a damp cloth. You'd think the fleas would head for dry land. I take her more baths then I probably should (1 every two-three weeks) and use puppy shampoo. Her skin hasn't dried out and it hasn't had an effect on her fur as far as I can tell, it remains super soft and cuddly. I only take her baths because for an inside dog she does get dirty. She loves running around and rolling in the grass, and gets pretty smelly.
I've been expecting to find fleas sooner or later, but until then I'm enjoying this time of (what I believe) is flea free dog ownership.

[Yogi]

unlike ticks, fleas need a specific environment to breed. Warm moist areas. In TX, this is not common as generally the moisture is not in line with the heat.
Moist wet year round ground with warm or humid air is what fleas strive on.
Thus more fleas.

[harley_quinn]

I didn't know that. You got that right, Texas has a lot of hot and not a lot of moisture

[Yogi]

Originally Posted by harley_quinn

I didn't know that. You got that right, Texas has a lot of hot and not a lot of moisture

My ex was born and raised in Garland, did not leave until she was 35 years old. She has since relocated and now lives in Austin. As does my eldest step-son.
What is commonly used on large breed dogs in TX is Sevin Dust. Same thing used on horses and cattle. It is like tossing a 3lbs bag of flour on a dog and rubbing it in. It suffocates fleas and insects. Coat feels grungy but the dog is in seventh heaven. She taught me this trick years ago on our 80lbs Shep/Husky and 175lbs Mal/Wolf. Problem is, a couple minutes after we applied the stuff and gone into the house I was at the kitchen sink washing up and the 2 dogs were so excited with the stuff on them the started to play. Well needless to say when they ran into each other it looked like 2 50lbs bags of flour had been dropped to the ground from 100 feet. Huge cloud of dust and not a dog in site for about 5 minutes. To this day it still makes me laugh my a** off.