Helping Man's Best Friend

[Rick]

A lot of you have indicated you have dogs and like for them to go with you when you go out into the wilds. Unfortunately, fleas like to ride home on them. Here are some tips to keep the fleas at bay and the ants away from your dog's food if the bowl is outside:

1. Fill your dog's bedding with cedar shavings - fleas hate it and will stay far away.

2. Make sure that your dog has a good flea collar. Most of these collars will be a little too long - so just take the extra that you cut off, and put it in your vacuum cleaner bag. This will kill any bugs you happen to vacuum up.

3. Another way to combat fleas is to pick up some pennyroyal oil - look for it at any health food store. Remove your dog's collar, take a cotton swab and apply the oil to the outside of the dog's collar. Be careful not to get any of the oil on your skin because it can burn, and be sure you let it dry completely on the collar, because it can burn your dog's skin too!

4. If your dog spends a lot of time outside and the ants are getting most of his food...just put a ring of petroleum jelly around the outside of his dish to keep the ants out. (It works on supports for humming bird feeds, too!).

[Alpine_Sapper]

2. Make sure that your dog has a good flea collar. Most of these collars will be a little too long - so just take the extra that you cut off, and put it in your vacuum cleaner bag. This will kill any bugs you happen to vacuum up.


I hate flea collars.

Most of the time (especially with Hartz) all they do is put a rash around the animals neck and give it a flea free ring of rash under the collar. It cost a little more, but Frontline ROCKS. Once a month squeeze the little tube on the back of your dogs neck and set a reminder for 30 days later. Make sure you get it ON THE SKIN. It absorbs into the skin and they secrete it through the oil in their skin. Keeps the fleas and ticks GONE. I still check my dogs when I get home from the wilds, but I NEVER see ticks. And I live in the Deer Tick state. I also use Revolution for TDW's cat cause it protects against heart worms, too. Incidentally, if you do use Frontline or another product that works the same way only bath your dog once a week or less. Otherwise you wash away his/her protection from the pests.

Taking the flea collar and putting it in the vacuum, however, is a pretty good idea. I never thought of that.

Oh, and you shouldn't use a shampoo like Hartz or the other ones you can get at Wallieworld either. Either use a shampoo that you get from the vet, or use a human shampoo. The "dog" shampoo's and normal flea dips tend to SERIOUSLY irritate their skin and causes more dander, which causes worse allergies, etc. etc. I've seen dogs chewing their fur off because they were getting dipped every two weeks. Guy couldn't figure it out. I told him to stop bathing his dog with it. A few months later he no longer looked like a mange case.

Never heard that about pennyroyal oil, but everything else I agree with.

[dilligaf2u2]

Ugly (Buddy)gets the tube on the back of the neck. He also gets bathed once a month with shampoo at our vets.

Buddy is now the wifes dog. He is our only dog now and she has spoiled him rotten. I am not allowed to take him out unless I check him over before I get him home and the good Lord help me if he comes back scratching.

Pet peeve of mine. People that have pets and do not take time for them or care for them properly. A pet is a responsibly just as having a child is a responsibility. If you do not have time for a pet you should not be allowed to have one!

Don

[Rick]

Frontline is good stuff. I had a collie that I used it on. No argument with that.

A great shampoo for your dog is Aveeno. You can talk to you vet about it. Dogs don't replace the oil in the coat as quickly as humans replace the oil in their hair. Once you strip the oil out of a dog's coat it takes a while to be replaced. Aveeno is much gentler on the coat and doesn't strip all the oil like human shampoos do. Plus it's hypoallergenic.

[Tahyo]

Don't laugh... Our dog, a Redbone Coonhound (yes the one in my avatar), goes to the parlor once every 2 months. She gets pampered with some kind of aveeno or aloa vera stuff that seems to have been working great.

I use the tube behind the neck in the summer time and I don't think this dog has ever had a flea. Of course she's not running around in the woods and is the envy of dogs everywhere.

I would go into more detail on how much and why this dog is spoiled so much, but ya'll would only get queezy.

[Ole WV Coot]

Our fine dog Mr. Muttley, the only attack trained beagle in the county uses Frontline and never had a flea or tick. He doesn't spend much time in the woods. He perfers the deck to watch deer, squirrels & turkeys from. He sleeps by the kitchen door and will attack anyone with a porkchop around their neck.

[Aurelius95]

I assume this will work on all pets, but I've used Dawn dishwash soap to kill fleas. It seems to be more mild, but it will definitely get the fleas floating face down in the bathwater. I discovered this when I picked up a stray that had so many fleas he looked like a carbonated beverage.

[amranch]

We have fleas as well,,very rainy here,2 products on the market,,1 is Revolution & the other i can't think of,,U put a drop on the back of the neck & rub it in,it's good for 1 whole month + ,,u pay by quanity of the dogs weight,,works very good,excellent.