At-least 3 times I'v noticed fleas in the feeding bowl.
one time there were hundreds.


Never found one on my dog though.
I did freak out the first time and bought a multitude of products.

I want to know are they coming from the grass or another feral animal is going there for leftovers when my dog isn't around?

another thought is someone is trying to give my dog fleas

Are you sure they are fleas? They could be fruit flies or gnats or some other bug attracted to the food residue. I would just pick up the bowl and wash it with soap and water when he's done eating.

tiny little black things, and when they move they jump around. not crawl.

I hate the things,
once had a guy living in our next door garage with a 3 legged dog. when that guy moved out i went in there in summer time when they hatched, must have had 100+ bites on myself.

their almost too tiny to identify. but i will capture one a photograph it if need be.

Either way, keeping the bowl clean and off the ground will solve the problem.

It doesn't sound like fleas, tbo. One, fleas aren't attracted to food, though an occasional one might be in a water dish. Of 40 years of living in FL (flea capital!), I've never seen them congregate by the hundreds except one time when an infested dog and it's family were away for a month. They came back, and the fleas were hopping onto the person's white socks. Two, fleas aren't *that* small (not adult ones, anyway). Three, if there was that severe of a flea infestation, you would see signs of it on your dog - either the fleas themselves or the larvae (looks like dirt, usually around the base of the tail and groin area). When in doubt see if they are easy to squish. If they are, then they are not fleas. If they aren't, then they could be. Stranger things have happened.
Out of curiosity, why would you suspect someone is trying to give you fleas? Do you mean on purpose? Fleas get passed from outside where another animal has been staying. There are different species of fleas, and most stick to specific types if animals when possible (cat fleas, dog fleas, etc). Do you have a lot of dogs visiting your yard? Though they could be coming from the yard that used to have the three legged dog. Fleas can easily jump 15 + feet from one yard to the next. If a neighbor treats his yard, then fleas typically just hop to the next yard. Hard to get rid of unless all the neighbors coordinate and treat at once. Or, you could use a flea preventative that sterilizes fleas when they bite the dog. They eventually die, and the infestation is gone.
Like Jen said, if these critters are attracted to the food dish, the easy fix is to remove the food dish and wash it after your dog is finished eating. It will help keep away other critters too, such as ants.

Does not sound like fleas to me either. As has been said, fleas are blood suckers so they will not be attracted to a pile of dog food.

If bugs are attracted to the dog's food, then simply don't leave food laying around to entice them. Keep the yard and bowl clean and treat your yard as needed with relevant pest control.

FURAI wrote:

tiny little black things, and when they move they jump around. not crawl.

I hate the things,
once had a guy living in our next door garage with a 3 legged dog. when that guy moved out i went in there in summer time when they hatched, must have had 100+  bites on myself.

their almost too tiny to identify. but i will capture one a photograph it if need be.

google springtails

Amy, I regret that google, and now I feel itchy everywhere. I'm not normally grossed out by bugs but eeeee!

wpskier222 wrote:

Amy, I regret that google, and now I feel itchy everywhere. I'm not normally grossed out by bugs but eeeee!

Oops. Sorry. Snakes and possums get me. Snakes 'cause they surprise you and possums 'cause...they're the ugliest creatures I've ever seen (except that they do have unbelievably beautiful silver fur). And they tend to surprise me too - like in the shed, behind things or on the back porch if I forget to bring in the cat food at night (though Ami takes care of that, now  )

I just had to google them too...and yes those are some creepy critters!!!

looks like i have a springtail issue. which is a bit of a relief.
will have to treat the grass and surrounding areas,
never noticed them before.