We have lived in FL six years and never had a problem with fleas or ticks.

Really? I have lived here three years and this is the first year I am having this problem...Dog still gets fleas on her....we don't see many but I would say one a week or so. Pup is on Preventive meds so I was surprised when she still got them. I just never thought the different meds may have different success rates in different places. Sounded unbelievable so I wanted to check it out. This is a new dog, our old one did not get fleas no matter which meds we used.

I have already gotten many suggestions on how to eliminate them from my yard....we ordered our nematodes this week. I was just curious if I should switch my meds or if they will all be the same.

The fleas are bad this time of year because it is so dry. I use Advantage when I can afford it but I like Frontline the best. My little 4 lb. can't take the Fronline. She had a reaction to it. I have 3 dogs so they all get the same thing.
Do you have cats coming in your yard? They will carry the fleas into your yard and then your yard gets infected.
Let us know how the nematodes work for you.

Do you have cats coming in your yard? They will carry the fleas into your yard and then your yard gets infected.
And so will raccoons, possums and other wild life you have little control over...

Revolution and Advantage work great for my cats. Feral get TNRed - trapped, neutered, returned - and thus not deflead on a regular basis. No problems with fleas, really, where I live

"I use Advantage when I can afford it but I like Frontline the best."

Wanda why do you prefer advantage? Does it work better for you? WE do have stray cats...lots of them in our neighborhood...the people on my corner feed them. I have tried to get the county to come and get rid of them but unless they are dead the county will do nothing. I'm assuming that because of the cats we have not seen any rats or possums or even squirrels recently. I have seen the cats hanging out in my yard....at first I didn't chase them but now I do. We don't feed them or provide them water but they seem to love hanging out in my butterfly garden. Someone had mentioned that the nematodes worked very well for them so we decided to try it. I have also heard of something called Diame somethign earth....supposedly will kill all sorts of bugs and is harmless to pets and humans, but it also kills good bugs so we figured we'd try the nematodes first.

This is one of the reason's the Home Owner's Association has pest control come out once a month.

Cliff

Hi Trini,

I don't know if this is true but I heard some breeds are naturally more resistant to fleas & ticks. I had a sheltie for over 12 or 13 years and never used preventative medicine other than the first year. I heard this from the breeder who also worked at my vets and she had been raising shelties for 30+ years and told me I didn't need the medicine. The vet said it was true he never saw a flea or tick on her dogs. So I ended up just washing her on a regular basis with puppy shampoo and brushing her well. At the time my yard was sprayed quarterly but my dog was frequently called over to the neighbors' yards to play(non-sprayers) and I still never saw any fleas or ticks.

Maybe I had exceptional good luck, lol, or maybe someone else can pipe in about this? My son's dog is on flea and tick and he says she does get both here and in Orlando. She's a short hair dog, and of course the sheltie was a long hair dog if that makes a difference :)

Also,you must keep up with the frontline or advantage,It takes awhile to kick in so be sure not to miss a dose.
Spend the money when you have it do not wait or you will forget pr buy plants instead LOL!
I keep a bunch ahead!

I do the flea med AND heartworm med the first of every month so I don't forget. Also,make sure you read the package about how soon before or after to bathe them and where on the body to place the stuff.
Also I think the fleas will start getting immune and the meds will have to get stronger.
And remind people who want dogs how expensive it costs to take GOOD care of them. I had my dogs in to get toenails cut(6 bucks a piece) and buy them some more meds. THEN I spotted a 3x5 card giving away two Bichons. OH how I wanted those Bichons and was all ready to take down the number when they gave me the bill for several months worth of heartworm and flea meds! I times it by 4 and said BYE!

Trini, Booboo can't take the Frontline, the other 2 could but why buy both Frontline and Advantage.
Good luck with the nematodes.

I have had 2 shelties for 11 years in Florida and have not had a flea or tick problem. I hadn't heard that it might be breed-related; I thought we were just lucky! I don't have the yard sprayed and I don't treat the dogs either. Of course, they both get heartworm preventative but that's it.

Kate

I have to use it on my WHF terrirer and terrier mix especially the ole gal. She will chew herself raw with itching then pant in a frenzy.The sores itch, she chews again til they bleed and the cycle starts all over.

Toots is on both heartworm prevention and the frontline also. She never misses a dose and we give it to her on the day it is due...we also keep it in stock so we never run out.

I am excited about our nematodes...we also bought a natural insect repellent to spray on her when we take her out on her walks and to spray the yard and ourselves and the house too. It has essential oils of citronella, peppermint, geranium, lemon grass, lemon eucalyptus, tea tree, cedarwood, cinnamon. All of them are supposed to keep away the bugs. Hopefully all of our methods will do something to alleviate the flea problem. The dog sleeps on our bed and is all over the furniture in our house so we are really trying to prevent an infestation of any kind on her. I'm afraid if they can't bite her they will move on to us. We have stopped walking her until we get the oil to put on her and we have not taken her to dog park recently either. I just can't stand the fleas and I know not everyone at the dog park takes the precautions we do.

Do you use everything in the house to kill the fleas? Sprinkling Borax on carpets/soft furniture in the house wont hurt the dog but is helpful at killing fleas

We have not actually seen any fleas inside the house....only on the dog. We don't really have carpet. If we see any in the house we will do something. I don't like the idea of powder all over the house...but if we must we will :-) We're hoping the essential oils will do a good job.

Wow, Kate...I'm thinking Shelties have super powers besides being just the sweetest dogs, lol!

Trini....never tried it but heard that you can put a saucer of beer on the floor and if there are fleas around they go after the beer and drown in in :) I think it works for slugs in the garden too.

I spoke to my vet after finding at least 5 fleas on her this week. They said that the fleas develop an immunity to the meds and that we should switch up. So now we will try Andvantix for awhile and when that stops working Frontline Plus again. They also mentioned COmfortis, but its fairly new on the marker so I'm not sure about it yet, but if advantix does not work I will have to try something else. WE are still waiting for our nematodes. Apparently they are backordered. I think we will also be getting the DE for around the house. We bought this essential oil mix that is supposed to make bugs stay away, smells mainly of citronella, anyway we can make all sorts of stuff out of it, like carpet powder. I am trying everything right now so that we don't get infested. The only thing I have not been able to try is the watering more. We are still on only twice a week and I don't want to waste water.

4 big dogs - cattle ranch - lots of land with brush = fleas and ticks .
Our dogs get Sentinel - heartworm and flea control in one chewable tablet .
Works really well .
It is the only form of treatment we use .
No baths , no lawn spraying , no house treatment - just treat the animals .
Not cheap but easy and highly effective .
And , the dogs live in the house with us and one even sleeps with me .
Flea control is a constant chore in Florida .

Trini, Olya has an idea, buy some twenty mule team borax and put on your floors. Vacumm up after 1/2 hour or so. It does help with the fleas and bugs. Also put under the coushions on the sofa.
There just isn't anything that is 100% on bugs,it is Florida. You just have to do the best you can!

We will be using the DE earth instead of the Borax....I have read very conflicting information about the Borax and since the DE has no negative press I could see I think we will go with that. We will be making a flea carpet deodorizing powder, hubby found the recipe online, using the essential oil, baking soda, salt, and the DE earth Borax). Not sure what the salt is suppossed to do though. I also like the idea of putting the earth under the sofa cushions. We might still do the borax in light sockets and such where Toots can't get. I just read about someone who built their house and put the Borax in between the walls...how brilliant is that :-) Thanks again for all the great suggestions, I'm sure we'll be using them all.

I give my 2 comfortis - it kills fleas shortly after they bite so there is no chance for them to lay eggs, it cost more then other brands but it works.
i never have any in my house or yard but when i go to the dog park they start itchin and scratchin nad i dont want the fleas to come home with us lol

Sillybugs we may try comfortis next depending on how well the Advantix works.

Yes, I forgot to mention the vacuuming part - you do not leave Borax sprinkled forever! Let it be for some time them vacuum it up - thank you Wanda

Olya.....I did originally think I was to leave the Borax on the carpet forever :-)What do I know :-)

Trini,

I had a bad infestation in an apartment long ago and when the flea bombs weren't doing the trick, my grandmother suggested using the borax in the rug, and also sweeping it all over the wood floors, to get it down in the cracks. Worked like a charm. You could do the same with DE, though I haven't found it very effective.

I'm afraid we have to tent the house for termites, so that will wipe out any fleas too. Hate to do it, but my hippy organic side goes into serious remission when bugs threaten my wood floors.

Also, the vet switched us to comfortis and we really like it. The puppy has a flea allergy so he really suffers with them, and we see a difference in about 30 minutes. I'm still waiting for the nematodes too (they may not be able to ship them in the winter.)

good luck
S

Really we have to wait that long? Since we put her on the advantix we have not seen any fleas on her...and she even went to the dog park yesterday and came back clean :-) We bought the borax too...it was easier to find than the DE and we could get it immediately. I'm surprised the DE did nothing for you...I heard its really good. I like to hear real life stories though.

I've had a horrible time with ticks when we go into state parks and other places. Not really in the yard, but dang, the dog is attacked by ticks while we go camping or hiking!!

Got my nematodes this week. With the rain we've had, now is the perfect time to use them, so that will be my project this afternoon. Unfortunately, that probablly means I'll need to start sprinkling the yard a little for the next few months, which I wasn't planning on doing. I'm figuring that using water on grass will be balanced out by not having to buy chemicals to use on the pets.

I got mine this week too. They came in a little sponge type thing. We are trying to figure out how to use. Let me know how it goes. Ive been telling hubby all week that now is the time to use them.

the instructions say they can only survive in the fridge for a couple weeks, and I kept them refridgerated a full two weeks last year before I used them, and had great results. I think they do better in the rainy season, but I'm game to try them now.

I found they clogged up my sprayer too much and finally just used to watering can, really hitting the areas where the puppy spends most of his time. Not a terribly efficient method of spraying them, but it worked.

the only thing I did right about them last year was I did sprinkle them on a rainy day. That would have been yesterday I'm afraid, so I'm going to wait and see if we get another gentle rain in the next few days. If not, I'll water the yard, spread the nematodes, and water again, to see if that works. If not, I think I'll reorder once it starts raining every day. A few months without fleas, or chemical flea meds, is worth the experimenting for me.

Good luck with yours
susannah

I've decided to wait until it rains agin too...It's suppossed to rain this week so hopefully it will. How big do the holes need to be for the sprayer. I have a watering can with the "shower" head so to speak....do you think those holes will be too small?

That sounds about like what I used. Cross your fingers for that rain!

Comfortis!! Saved my dog!!! She was allergic to flea bites and I could no longer take her to the dog park, walks, or around other dogs. Let alone if any walked into our grass, it was the worse year of her life and ours!! Well, one pill, 24 hours later and it was done! nothing in over 4 months!! it last 30 days, one pill and within minutes they are gone! she is back at the dog parks and loving life. And she has her hair back!!!

Hey all-
Was looking for some unrelated pet info and came across this post and the reference to comfortis. I can't tell you what a lifesaver this stuff has been since my vet recommended it about 6 months ago! My dog was allergic to every RX or not flea medication that was actually supposed to work!! We went through countless different treatments and then possible herbal solutions for fleas and if he wasn't allergic to it, it just didn't work AT ALL for fleas....I was at a loss as to what was left to try and was so frustrated that I couldn't make my dog's summers with the little pests more pleasant and healthy....after hearing about it and purchasing a 6 month supply from my vet, I came home and gave my dog the first pill....I watched him the rest of the day to make sure he didn't have any adverse reaction and....wow! he didn't have any side effects at all :-)....I couldn't believe it! Not only that, but his flea situation is completely cleared....no more itching, etc...if you are looking for something to alleviate you and your pet's flea situation, especially if your dog is sensitive to topicals, I highly recommend this to anyone :-). Good Luck the remainder of the summer with the pests-
cb

I just wanted to post an update on my second summer using organic flea-eating nematodes. We haven't treated the dogs once this summer for fleas. And the poor puppy is also alergic to fleas and really suffers with them.

I was pretty haphazard about the application, just soaking the sponge in a watering can and sprinkling it around the yard. When I got that first dirty sponge in the mail and it had all those instructions about sprayers with a certain size hole and soaking the yard evenly... I figured I'd never get it right. When the sprayer promptly broke, I just put the sponge in the watering can figuring I might as well try that, hoping it would help a little, so my $35 wasn't a complete waste. (The instructions do say to put the sponge in the vegetable crisper in the fridge if you can't use it right away, which I did for two weeks, and it didn't seem to hurt it.)

And that haphazard approach worked. I didn't do the sprinkling evenly. I certainly didn't hit every blade of grass. But I got the little buggers in the dirt in a bunch of places around the yard. And because they're little organisms that move and breed, they seem to have spread out.

Even my vet was impressed. We did have to redo it this spring. They can't last through the dry season here, but we don't sprinkle in the winter, so in some yards, they may be an almost permanent solution.

We had to treat the dogs with Advantix once this year. But that's down from once every two weeks last July.

And even when I thought I had probably done it a little too early this year, when it wasn't raining yet, they've survived to kill fleas all summer.

We've used comfortis too, and I thank the heavens for it when the pup was suffering so much last summer. Nothing we've ever used worked faster and we really didn't realize how much he was suffering until he passed out asleep when the fleas stopped biting him, exhausted from staying up all night itchy. Poor guy! It's a great emergency treatment, but for long-term, I can't say enough about nematodes. Cheaper, easier, no chemicals and protects all the other animals. I bet my squirrels are more comfortable. :)

I got mine from Clean Air Gardening, but I think other places have them too.

Thanks so much for the update! I'll have to check it out. I've only had to treat my 3 about 3 times this year. I really hate to use the local spot on as I'm sure it isn't good for their health but better than scratching all the time.

Wow. If we could have gotten away with three times a year, I might never have found this. But it wouldn't surprise me if it worked for you if you treated the areas of the yard where they spend the most time. Like I sprinkled a shady spot where one of the dogs likes to lie down and another area where the puppy likes to nose around and see if he can find lizards. I tried to target it a little to their habits, and it's been awesome.

Hopefully all of our methods will do something to alleviate the flea problem. The dog sleeps on our bed and is all over the furniture in our house so we are really trying to prevent an infestation of any kind on her. I'm afraid if they can't bite her they will move on to us. We have stopped walking her until we get the oil to put on her and we have not taken her to dog park recently either.

Here is a link that might be useful: Petvet Supply

Another vote for Comfortis! My sheltie & golden would lose their hair wherever topicals were applied and we still would see fleas. Not anymore & I loved that it's organic, taken from a naturally occuring bacterium spinosad.

I brought ana to my vet on monday dec.13. She had a cold that she caught at a AKC dog show the week before, other than that she was a complete picture of health. she turned 1 on nov.29,2010. Ana and I run 2 miles every day and she was my heart. Dec. 14,2010 I gave her comfortis at 9:30. She was acting very weird. Pacing around with a strange look on her face. At 11:30 my baby fell over and died in my arms. Comfortis claims that they have never had a claim like this. They have been paying to send peoples dogs off for testing for years. It seems they get out of trouble because of a gray area. If comfortis or the manufacture have payed to test your dead dog , please please contact me. We may have a case. Don't let them off the hook any longer. They are killing peoples dogs every day.

stacybinagia@yahoo.com

409-293-1334

Just an FYI, after my sister used Comfortis at her Vet's prescribed dose her dog went rapidly downhill. Vomit/runs/lethargic, since she could not afford the bills i paid for blood work, xrays, urinalysis. Nothing made sense. Her adverse reactions all matched those Comfortis reports and those people have complained about. IV fluids, syringe feeding, she kept vomiting, My sister is not as experienced as I am so I drove 4 hrs to get the dog and see if i could turn her around. IV fluids kept her alive but no eating or being able to keep food down for 20 days took a toll on her and neurological issues started to happen. I can't prove Comfortis is all to blame but the coincidental timing of a healthy dog going down hill after a recommended dose ???? Please do research if any vet prescribes this med. we lost Shoney on the 8th, we just could not turn her around :( its not the thousand plus dollars spent on trying to save her, its the fact we lost her ---- my vet will NOT PRESCRIBE this med as she feels it is unsafe. Question your vet and do your own research.. Read the hundreds of complaints, its just not worth the risk.