controlling fleas?

I have had my two greyhounds for three years and in that time they have never gotten fleas and we did not have to do anything to keep them flea free. This year it seems that my hounds are a flea buffet.

When I spotted a couple fleas I used some peppermint Dr. Bronners on them and the fleas did not seem to like it and washed off, but in a couple days more hopped back on.

Now my poor hounds are LOADED with fleas. My male is chewing himself raw. He has thin white hair and I can see masses of fleas on him. I was desperate so I tried standard flea shampoo (ughhhhh). It cuts down on the fleas for a few hours but then as soon as they go outside they are covered again.

I may have to resort to something yucky to kill this batch of fleas.

If I do that how can I prevent reinfestation? Is there anything I can put down in my dog area that is safe for them but will kill the fleas? Anything I can put on the dogs as a second line of defense?

Have you read my flea control article?

http://www.richsoil.com/flea-control.jsp

No but I will read it now. Thank you!

Very well done. I had planned to get some DE for the yard. I did not know I could put it right on my dogs and rugs. Thankfully the fleas seem to be happy enough feasting on the dogs and they have not started biting us YET.

Just a little side note that might interest you. When I was reading the part about heat killing off the fleas. I live in Florida and it has been in the 90's a few times in the last week or two. The area where the dogs go has a patch of sand that is in the sun (where they are foolish enough to lay). I am sure that when the sun is shining on that sand and it is 90ish that sand is HOT. The humidity has been pretty low (by FL standards) on those days as well. Still plenty of fleas. I don't think the fleas care if it is hot or not.

Low humidity in florida is probably something like 80% RH.  I think you need to get below 50% RH for a looooong time to make a difference.

Excellent article, Paul.

My dogs 1. chow/border collie mix and 1. Italian greyhound mix have fleas.  Ive tried BT.
It does not seem to be effect, in my case anyway.

The chow is allergic to fleas and will eat off all his hair that he can reach in summer.  A naked chow/collie boy is not a pretty sight.

He gets a shot at the vet and that seems to be the best solution for a dog that's allergic to fleas.

Beyond that I try to keep the dogs in and keep the areas where they hang out flea free.

The best solution Ive found is to vacuum alot, and steam clean their sleeping areas every week.  I put borax in the vacuum cleaner because otherwise the fleas come right out again after they are vacuumed up.  Their bedding covers are removable so they can be washed every day or so while their foam beds are steam cleaned.  They dry fast with the steamer.

My dog is allergic to flea bits.  I found a product several years ago that I have been using since and only on a rare occasion do I ever find a flea on him.  The are all natural.  Here is the website www.fleatreat.com

wombat,

Do they make a BT for flea larva? 

nalley,

That does sound interesting.  I read the stuff at the site.  It sounds good, but I am still a little skeptical about what all is in it.  Do they have a complete ingredients list?

The Ingredients list is: Brewer's Yeast, Liver, Silica, Stearic Acid, Cdellulose, Thiamine HCI, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine HCI, Folic Acid and Cyanocobalamin.

Each Tablet contains 2.0mg Vitamine B-1(Thiamine HCI), 20.0mcg Vitamine B-6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), 30.0mcg Pantothenic Acid, 20.0mcg Folic Acid, and 2.0mcg Vitamine B-12(Cyanocobalamin)

If you have other questions about the product, send them an email, they are very responsive.

paul wheaton wrote:Have you read my flea control article?

http://www.richsoil.com/flea-control.jsp

the diatomaceous earth doesnt do shit for fleas my dogs and cats are itching more and they are multiplying in my carpet my feet turn black when i go into my room

iva garton wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:Have you read my flea control article?

http://www.richsoil.com/flea-control.jsp

the diatomaceous earth doesnt do shit for fleas my dogs and cats are itching more and they are multiplying in my carpet my feet turn black when i go into my room

Did you dust the carpet? Or just the dogs and cat? Did you familiarize your self with the life cycle of the fleas? If you have an abundance of fleas and DE do an experiment for us. Two containers, one dusted with DE and the other not, 20 or so fleas in each container.

DE workes in my home. I dusted the dogs, thier beds and the entire floor. Something about dehydrating fleas makes me smile. Cleaning up the dust a few days later is the only downside I find.