Getting Rid Of Ticks And Fleas?

Question

My dog, Mastiff and German Shepherd mix, has a very bad flea and tick problem. I've tried the flea collar, but it won't stay on and this past thursday I put the flea and tick cream on him and I just looked today and I can see little bugs moving on his fur.

He's an outdoor dog because everyone (including me) is allergic to pet dander.

What should I do?

He stays in the backyard and sleeps in the garage. I got him to guard the backyard against cats and squirrels that dig in our garbage.

Answer 1

I use Bio Spot® Spot On® Flea & Tick Control for Dogs

Effective flea and tick control available without a visit to the vet.

Kills and repels fleas, ticks and mosquitoes for up to 30 days
Kills flea eggs up to one month and prevents reinfestation

It is cheap and works really well. I usually get mine on ebay.

Answer 2

Maybe rehome the dogs to someone who isn't allergic to them and don't get other dogs. Why do people do this? Why get a dog if you are all allergic to it so that they can't really be a part of the family?? How would you like it if you were prisoner in a backyard away from your group? Anyway... The fleas and ticks are in the dog's environment - putting stuff on the dog won't eliminate the parasites. You need to take the dog off to be bathed and likely dipped and at the same time have the yard treated for both fleas and ticks and likely bomb the house since they will get in there if you have walked outside and brought them in on your cloths. All this needs to be done at the same time with good products and redone in two weeks. You may not have to dip the dog again if he has been kept clean and you can put Advantix or Frontline on him. If the critters are being brought in the yard by other animals, cats, stray dogs, then it is pretty well useless but if the yard is fenced then you might need to figure out a way to keep the cats away since they are notorious about bringing fleas into everyone's yard. Keeping the Advantix or Frontline on the dog will help and you shouldn't dip or treat him again but the cats might reinfest the yard and the house if they are bad (I had horrible issues with stray cats under my house bringing fleas in - finally was able to close up all entrances into the crawl space which helped a lot!).

Answer 3

For the your future reference, don't use the flea collars any more. I worked for a vet for a couple of years and if there is one thing that I learned it was that flea collars don't work. Also, if you are buying the Wal-mart or any other cheap store brand of flea medicine those don't work either. At first I thought it was a money thing to get people to buy the more expensive stuff, but as time went on I realized it wasn't. You first need to buy a flea dip (this can be from a store, but watch the really cheap ones!). After that, you will wait one day then bath the dog in a gentle flea and tick bath. You may have to repeat this a couple of times, so be prepared. You need to wait three days after any bath before apply any kind of flea medication. You need to buy frontline or advantage (these work the best). Definately make sue you clean out the dogs sleepy area. If the problem seem to presist, you may need to bomb the dog's house and around in the yard in the spring time with outside bombs. If you have problems with ticks as well, you need to make sure you pull the whole tick out of the dog and burn it! I hope this helps.

Answer 4

You should go get some allergy pills and bring your dog inside, first of all. I have allergies to cats, so I know how it feels, but that is no reason to keep a dog outside in poor conditions where it is infested with parasites.

Get something called Adam's Flea and Tick shampoo, and give him a good washing with that. That stuff is amazing, I've used it for years. When he's been deflead, put some Advantage, Frontline, or Advantix on him to keep them off.

Add: You got this poor creature to keep cats and squirrels out of your garbage? That's responsible of you -- NOT. Get locking trash cans. Find that poor dog a home with someone who will actually care for him.

Answer 5

Flea collars don't work. Don't even bother, they're useless.

You need to pop in to a vets for some proper treatment i.e Frontline or Revolution, or Advantage. These are spot-ons that you apply to the skin on the back of your dog's neck. They work.

Nice reason/way to keep a dog by the way, bet he really feel like part of the family (!)

Chalice

Answer 6

Flea collars are not really effective as they only really cover the head and neck area.
Bio-Spot is great, and alot less expensive that the other topicals.
www.dog.com
has the best prices around. You can get a 6 month supply for $17.

Answer 7

Go to petsmart and get frontline flea medicine. It's more expensive then the stuff you have been getting because it works lol. The collars don't work because it stays jost on their neck and fleas will still go on their back.

Frontline works b/c after you put it on his neck, it'll go into the skin (or blood) i don't remember which my vet said. But it will get delivered to the whole body.

I went to petmeds.com and got it for cheaper then in the store. Also, make sure your dog doesn't have tapeworm...they get it from swallowing flees while chewing on themselves. Look in the poo and if it looks like there is rice in the poo...he has tapeworm, then you have to go to the vet and get him de wormed. Banfield (In petsmart) has free clinic hours during the week, it's a good thing to know...it'll save ya about $50 bucks whenever you have to go to the vet!

Answer 8

buy him revolution flea medicine or put him inside or put him in the pound or give it to your friend. If you were allergic to pet dander then you shouldnt have gotten a dog