Dog Flea Treatment — Protecting Your Pet

Dog flea treatment -- learn how to best protect your pet from these parasites.

Dog flea treatment programs vary from commercially manufactured products to natural holistic treatments, and there is room in the world of pet care for both types of dog flea treatment.

Many pet owners think that since their family pet lives inside the house, then their pet is perfectly safe from any threat of parasite infestation.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  As long as your pet goes outside and meets other animals, or frequents areas where other animals have eliminated onto the ground, then your pet can get infested by fleas. Thankfully, dog flea treatment programs are easy to adopt and relatively quick to take effect. You will get the desired results, provided that you do everything correctly.

Dog Flea Treatment — Establishing An Effective Program

The first thing a pet owner needs to do to establish a good dog flea treatment program is to choose the right dog flea treatment medication. The standard dog flea treatment shampoos, powders, sprays and rinses will kill most parasites almost immediately. However, these dog flea treatment programs do not offer any form of long term protection. New fleas can infest your pet on a regular basis.  Larvae can hatch from flea eggs and continue to grow on your dog’s skin. For these reasons, you need to use a dog flea treatment medication that provides a complete and long term effect.  There are topical dog flea treatment products which are effective for up to three months, which break the development cycle of flea growth.

Dog flea treatment programs should be performed according to the manufacturers instructions.

Life’s An Itch?

People who study the lowly flea will tell you that one of the best ways to keep the tiny pest out of your house is to vacuum.

Fleas can cause many problems – some serious – in house pets. And homeowners may find it maddeningly hard to get rid of an indoor infestation, which usually requires an integrated attack targeting the ones on your pet and the ones on your stuff.FLEA FACTS

SIZE: 1/12-inch to 1/6-inch

SHAPE: Flat

LEGS: Six

COLOR: Dark-reddish

MODE OF TRANSPORT: Jumping onto a host

FOOD: Blood

LIFE CYCLE: From egg to adult can range from 16 days to a year

FAVORITE CONDITIONS: Moist and warm, but not hot

OFFSPRING: A pair of fleas can produce 400 to 500 offspring in their lives.

DID YOU KNOW? A flea can jump about eight inches, or more than 100 times its own height. That would be like a 6-foot-tall man jumping more than 600 feet in the air.

A lot.

And don’t forget to empty the vacuum bag right away.

Sounds simple. But if you don’t, you’ll be creating more of a problem for yourself.

“Fleas would survive very well in a vacuum bag,” says Jim Dill, pest management specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Orono. “It’s warm, they have debris (for food) and eggs and larvae. When you have fleas, you really have to vacuum, and then always empty the bag.”

After a very wet summer followed by an unseasonably warm fall, people in Maine are finding flea problems popping up where there used to be none. And they’re also finding out, as Dill points out, that there’s no easy way to get rid of fleas in your home.

It takes an integrated attack, for one thing. You’ve got to treat your pet — after consulting with a veterinarian — at the same time as you treat your house.

And treating your house may mean doing lots of small, painstaking tasks on a regular basis.

LITTLE PEST, BIG PROBLEM

Vacuuming is important, flea experts say, because it stimulates larvae to come out of their dormant stage and start moving around. Then it’s easier to spot them and get rid of them.

“We find that people who have a recurring problem maybe aren’t vacuuming the hardwood floor, or aren’t vacuuming the cracks and crevices where lint and cat hair can get into, or they’re not treating the garage and the basement and all the other areas of the home the pet can get into,” said Ralph Blumenthal, operations manager for Maine-based Atlantic Pest Solutions.

So why are people having more flea problems this year?

(  Read More  )

Dog Flea Treatment — Fleas Survive In Areas Other Than On Your Pet

Dog flea treatments are important for getting rid of the fleas on your dog’s body, but what about the environment in your home?  The flea eggs, larvae and pupas of fleas can survive in bedding, carpets and cracks in wooden floors, even if the dog is treated for these parasites. For this reason, a pet owner has to maintain a clean environment from parasite style pests. The bedding of your pet should be washed regularly. Don’t let your pet’s bed stay humid after washing–dry it out thoroughly.  A pet owner should vacuum the floors frequently. It’s also best to clean carpets and rugs with strong cleaners on a regular basis as well. If the problem is persistent, you can purchase dog flea treatment programs for your entire home from residential pest control services.