Hello Everyone,

I need some advise/help please. Around thanksgiving my poor boy was infested with fleas. I immediately began treating the issue not only with him but my environment. Three months of treatments, from baths to his topical medication, oral medication, washing his bedding weekly and his surrounding daily I was having no such luck. These buggers were still present. Feeling like i had exhausted every option, his vet recommended the Seresto Flea collar and within two weeks I was finally able to take a breath and see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Fast forward to a week ago Monday and my husband noticed my poor dog was covered again. We immediately treated him with CAPSTAR and kept him in the garage overnight. The following day he received a flea bath, treated everything and on Friday of this past week put a brand new Flea Collar(we assumed his old one ran its course).


5 days later poor guy still has them on him. NOT covered but enough to have my skin crawl and be on alert. He's tired of being picked at and secluded to a section of the house. I have spoken to other dog owners who fortunately for them, have not encountered any issue with FLEAS and with that being said are no help.

I don't know what I am doing wrong, or if its the breed of my dog but nothing seems to be working.

How do i prevent this from continuously occurring? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
-Val

Huskies do seem to be sweeter. The fleas like my huskies far more than my gsd mix and I will see them on them long before I see them on my gsd mix. I haven't had issues with getting fleas off my dogs. I give them capstar and they get the fiproguard topical. The Saresto collar should have lasted 8 months I think but I have heard that if you are bathing often that it will shorten it's like by a few months.

For me, the hardest thing to dealing with fleas is the environment, especially if you have carpet. When I had carpet I couldn't seem to get out ahead of them. Once we ripped the carpet up and put in hard floors my job got easier, but it didn't get rid of the problem. Eggs can end up in area rugs, pillows, in cracks of tile and along baseboards. Just vacuuming isn't enough. You have to brutally spring clean every nook and cranny multiple times a week. Flea combing them out of the dog every day to keep track of the life cycle can help as well. If you do have carpet a mixture of salt and borax spread across it and allowed to sit for a day then vacuuming and reapplying. Spread the mixtures on chairs. All it takes is for one adult to jump off the dog and it can lay eggs anywhere and eggs can be dormant for months so even if you think you have gotten ahead of them you could be reinfested in 6 months when a couple lone eggs under a cabinet hatch. A mixture of apple cider vinegar and water sprayed lightly on your dog can run them off, if you can stomach the smell of vinegar.

Outside is also a trouble spot. They will be in your yard or at the park. If you have a yard you can treat it with diatomaceous earth by spreading it across the ground. It works for some. Biggest thing for me if just keeping topicals on the dog and keeping the house vacuumed to the nth degree. Some will feed their dog garlic sparingly (very sparingly as too much garlic can harm your dog.) Think it's like half a teaspoon a day. If you search on here for garlic I believe more information will come up on it. It makes your dog undesirable to many pests.

Hi Jenn,

Thanks for the tips. Luckily I have NO RUGS just hardwood floors and tile. i daily sweep with my dust mop and vacuum so ill be sure to continue these steps along with picking at my dog until i get them all.

I will be sure to read up on the garlic suggestion and try this option as well.

This is a quote from another thread that gives amounts and how often that this member actively uses it.

Huskyluv wrote:

Yep, garlic is good for dogs.  Massive quantities are bad but the amount in dog foods and dog food/treat recipes is fine.

I add garlic straight to my dogs' food at least 4 times a week not only for their health but also to repel fleas and ticks.  I put about 1/16th of a teaspoon in their food (about 1/3 to 1/2 a single clove depending on the size of a the clove).

thanks again Jenn!

I had the same problem with my two and I finally gave in and put them on a chewable called Nexgard. I haven't seen one flea since, this stuff really works! It's one of the only few that kills ticks too so that's an added bonus if you live in an area with lots of ticks.

With the D.E, it's food grade, not the one sold for pools. Also, after you apply it, if it gets wet, you have to reapply. It's DUSTY too, I have carpet and so I applied it in the house too, OMG the dust.

I use a topical that has pyriptoxiphen once every 4 months. It's an insect growth regulator and prevents eggs/larvae from maturing into adult fleas. Then Z'ev on flea season, once every 3 months fiproguard.