How to Win the War against Your Dogs Fleas

All dogs pick up fleas, ticks, and chiggers at oneand horizontally up to fourteen inches. They have
time or another, usually during the warm weatherpiercing - sucking mouth parts and spines on their
months. Even a pampered city pet can pick up abody. Adult fleas cannot survive or lay eggs
stray flea from a potted plant. Hunting dogs oftenwithout a blood meal, but may live from two
return home with a collection of chiggers or ticks.months to one year without feeding.
Fleas hop from one dog to another with amazingIn order to effectively control an infestation, fleas
speed and agility. Your pet only needs to greetmust be removed from the pet, the home, and
one flea infested friend in order to acquire thethe yard. Starting with the pet, there are
beginning of a flea colony of his own.shampoos, topical treatments, sprays, collars, and
External parasites are not a special affliction oforal medications. The least recommended is
dogs. The dog is simply a convenient host forshampoo, due to the grooming the pet does to
them. We would probably have them too, if ourhis own coat. The pesticides can be toxic if they
bodies were covered with hair and we ran aroundare consumed in quantity. Topical treatments are
without shoes and clothing and sat or slept on thebetter, along with sprays and collars, but the best
ground. Fleas are the most common, the easiestand most recommended is the oral medication
to detect and to get rid of. Fleas appear as blackLufenuron called "Program" from your veterinarian.
specks on a fine tooth comb, and a single one canTo clean the home, all areas frequented by the
drive a dog crazy.dog should be cleaned thoroughly by vacuuming,
The worst part of fleas is that they act as hostswashing bedding and rugs and possible treatment
to tapeworm larvae, and if your dog swallowsby insecticides. Treating your carpet with a Borate
one you may end up with a worm problem too.powder such as "Borax" laundry powder works as
You can trap fleas in a silky smooth coat with aa poison upon ingestion by the flea, simply sprinkle
flea comb, but fleas that nestle in the densethe powder on your carpets and leave it for a
undercoat of double coated dogs must be treatedfew h ours before vacuuming will rid most homes
with a product that penetrates the skin, and aof their fleas. A second treatment can follow if
regular mild treatment is safer than an occasionalnecessary. It's cheap, you can do it yourself and
severe one.there are no insecticides used.
In one day a single flea can bite your pet 400To treat the lawn and around the homes exterior,
times, while consuming more than its ownpyrethroids such as "Archer" or "Nylan", as well as
bodyweight in blood. Some dogs can contract fleafenoxy carb such as "Logic" or "Torus" can be
allergy dermatitis, an allergic reaction to the flea'seffective. Outdoor treatment is usually only done
saliva. The severity and length of the flea seasonin extreme or severe cases of flea infestation
varies depending on what part of the country youand may not be necessary. You should however
live in, but it is best to treat your pet in earlykeep your lawn trimmed to create a drier, less
spring, (April - May). In northern climates, flea andideal environment for flea larvae. If you don't
tick season usually lasts approximately 4 months,want to handle the pesticides yourself, any
but in the extreme south, fleas can live all yearlicensed professional pest control operator can do
long.the treatment for you.
There are more than 2000 species of fleas in theIn summary, you should check with your
United States alone, but the one that attacksveterinarian before using any form of flea
most pets is the cat flea, Ctenocephalides Felis. Atreatment. Never use products for dogs on a cat,
cat flea can lay up to one egg per hour, andas cats are more sensitive to the pesticide and
within two days, a wormlike larvae will hatch fromthey groom themselves more thoroughly. Never
those eggs. The eggs are oval, smooth, andapply pesticides to young, pregnant, or sick
about 0.5mm in size. The hatched larvae will rangeanimals, and use alternative methods to control
from 1.5 to 5mm in length. The complete cyclefleas, such as combing frequently with a flea
from egg to adult takes approximately 30 to 75comb, vacuum your home frequently and dispose
days depending on temperature and humidity.of the vacuum bag, wash all pet bedding regularly,
Adult fleas are about 1/16 to 1/8 inch long, areand bathe your pet with a pesticide free
dark reddish brown, wingless, hard bodied, haveshampoo. Prevention is much easier than dealing
three pairs of legs and are flattened from side towith an infestation.
side. Fleas can jump vertically up to seven inches,