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10/2/11

Stop fleas and stick on dogs

Not so long ago we looked at how to remove a tick from a Dog and it seemed like a more thorough look at the subject of both tick and flea preventions and remedies was in order. Dog fleas and Dog Ticks are two of the most common infestations Dog owners face and learning how to prevent ticks and fleas is something a lot of Dog owners ask.
I will take a comprehensive look at both how to get rid of fleas and ticks on Dogs as well as how to prevent fleas and ticks on Dogs. Once your Dog has ticks or fleas then  frontline medicine or something similar is your best way to treat themThis will be quite a long post (2500 words now I have finished) so for your convenience (and if you wish to skip a section) the post will be broken down in to the following chapters:
  • How to prevent ticks and fleas
  • Natural flea prevention
  • Natural Tick prevention
  • How to get rid of ticks and fleas
  • How to get rid of ticks naturally
  • How to get rid of fleas naturally
  • Flea and tick medication
  • Frontline flea and tick medication
  • How to apply Frontline
  • Natural flea and tick medication or Chemicals
Hopefully this will cover the topic very comprehensively and should give all of us a good idea of exactly how to prevent ticks and fleas and how to get rid of ticks and fleas when our Dogs get them. Having done quite a bit of research for this I think some of the different methods will be seen as interesting alternatives to Frontline or similar products. I have certainly become intrigued by some of the interesting ways to kill Dog fleas and Dog ticks.

How To Prevent Ticks

For some Dog owners ticks are a real problem. I am one of them. Learning how to prevent ticks can drastically cut down on the number of Dog ticks you will have to deal with.

For some of us trying to prevent ticks is a bit of a challenge. The best way to prevent ticks without any medication is to stay away from areas that contain ticks. Ticks are most often found in long grass and woods. if walking your Dog in such places the ticks will attach to the Dog and quickly burrow its head in to the dogs skin. How to prevent ticks when you live in such an environment can be extremely difficult without some form of home tick treatment. Without using some form of tick treatment for Dogs, such as frontline medicine, preventing Dog ticks simply comes down to staying away from grassy and damp areas as much as possible.

How To Prevent Fleas

Natural flea prevention, without adding anything to your Dogs skin can be difficult. However one of the best ways to prevent fleas is the use of the vacuum cleaner. For every flea on your Dog there will be many more, in different stages, around the home. It may be time for a spring clean. Natural flea prevention without applying anything to the Dog or the surroundings will come down to keeping an area as flea free as possible by cleaning. Vacuum all areas extremely well and you will go a long way to cutting down on the number of fleas in the area and break the life cycle of the fleas.As with preventing ticks, it is difficult to beat the chemically based frontline medicine.

Natural Flea Prevention

Apart from keeping the surroundings clean there are a few good tips for natural flea prevention. Firstly we should ensure that we bathe the Dogs regularly. A good hot shower can work wonders to prevent the build up of ticks. After bathing a good brush to keep the Dog clean is in order. There are special flea combs that can be purchased to get rid of fleas on the Dog.
Also bear in mind that fleas will not survive in a very hot wash. Gather up all the Dogs bedding and run it through the washing machine on a hot wash. The same goes for anything else in the house that you feel may have been infested with fleas.
Searching around the internet there are quite a few recipes and directions for natural flea prevention. Preventing fleas on your Dog naturally is certainly worth a go. A lot of natural ways to prevent fleas rely on essential oils.
Lavender oils have been cited as quite effective in flea prevention. Add a few drops of lavender oil to 8 oz water and spray over the Dog. Some people have found it effective.
Eucalyptus Oils used in a similar manner can also be employed as a natural flea prevention. Also try a few drops on bedding etc or even some leaves.
Adding a third apple cider vinegar to two thirds water and poring all over the Dog after bathing has worked well for some. Just dry the Dog lightly and the smell will soon disappear.
A lemon, cut up and left in 8 oz of water for a day has seen good results when then sprayed on your Dog. Preventing fleas in Dogs has a lot of these type of solutions and a lot of the different essential oils mixed with water are said to be very effective.

Natural Tick Prevention

Apart from staying away from areas with ticks, which is not always possible, what other ways are there to naturally prevent ticks on Dogs. Well apart from learning how to remove Dog ticks there are a few natural ways to prevent ticks. Similar to natural flea prevention, lots of essential oils have been cited as being quite effective when it comes natural tick prevention. Oils such as lavender, lemongrass, eucalyptus,etc can be added to water and applied to the Dog. How effective these are as a natural Tick prevention I really don’t know but you wish to try them.
It is also important to remember to keep all Dog bedding washed regularly. Young ticks are minuscule and if you allow your Dog to sleep on the bed and you live in an area where ticks are prevalent I would check the bedding if I was you. Sorry!
There seem to be a lot of natural tick prevention solutions on the market, many simply containing the natural oils stated above. I don’t know if they work well but again you may give them a try. Natural tick prevention really comes down to avoidance. They are much tougher to prevent naturally than fleas. I eally have found little to support these treatments. Frontline medicine, or something like advantix, though chemical based, is definitely the most thorough and effective solution.

How To Get Rid Of Ticks And Fleas

We will now take a look at how to get rid of ticks and how to get rid of fleas.
Learning how to prevent ticks and how to prevent fleas really is best attempted to control by avoidance and keeping the house and bedding well cleaned. There really is little else that seems to really work if you want to avoid your Dog getting infestations. Essential oils may help but to be honest I have found little to know actual people who have said these natural remedies completely eradicate ticks and fleas.
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How To Get Rid Of Ticks Naturally

Without resorting to any chemicals such as Frontline there are not many ways to get rid of Dog ticks. You will basically need to know how to remove Dog ticks by using a pair of tweezers. Pulling off the ticks is the best way to remove or get rid of ticks naturally. Forget trying petroleum or a just extinguished match to the tick to remove it. It simply does not work. How to get rid of ticks once they have them is by tick removal or the application of something like frontline tick medication.
To get rid of dog ticks you can try a little apple cider vinegar in their water. Just how effective this will be to get rid of ticks I am rather dubious about. The reality of Dog ticks is this. If you don’t use a chemical the best way to get rid of Dog ticks naturally is to avoid areas where they are are remove the tick from the Dog by pulling it out.

How To Get Rid Of Fleas Naturally

As stated in “how to prevent fleas”, you can get rid of fleas on Dogs using a god Dog shampoo and then brushing thoroughly with a flea comb for Dogs. Try to use a flea comb every day as part of the Dog grooming routine and it will help tremendously.
To use a flea comb you need a god supply of soapy water. Dip the flea comb in the water between each combing. This will kill the fleas in the water and make combing easier. Apart from the flea comb you can again try the natural oils mixed with water and applied to the Dog. However as with how to get rid of ticks naturally I have found little evidence that these will effectively get rid of fleas like the Frontline, Advantix type of remedies do.
To kill Dog fleas without the use of chemical is really down to vacuuming thoroughly, washing any related bedding and the regular use of a flea comb for Dogs.

Flea And Tick Medication

There are a number of flea medications and tick medications that will kill Dog fleas and kill Dog ticks. There are also flea collars and tick collars but these really are not as effective as spot on medications. Flea and tick collars maybe effective on small Dogs but will do little to protect the body of a large Dog.
There are a few bestsellers when it comes to flea and tick medication. Frontline plus may be the best well known but Advantix and X-spot are also very well regarded. I use X-spot as here in Spain it is cheaper and prevents leishmania which can be a killer here. In the UK we always used Frontline medicine and it works extremely well. Frontline flea medication is particularly effective and we have never had a problem with fleas if we applied Frontline regularly. Home flea treatments and home tick treatments should be used in conjunction with a commercial product unless you find one of the natural flea preventions and natural tick preventions really do work.

Frontline Flea And Tick Medication

Although I will talk about Frontline medicine, as it is the most widely used way to kill Dog fleas and kill Dog ticks the same applies to any of the major flea and tick preventions like Advantix and X-Spot. How does Frontline work? Frontline ticks treatment medication works by a process called translocation. Frontline flea and tick treatment gradually works its way in to the oil glands of the Dog and then spreads through the Dogs fur. Frontline medicine normally takes about 24 to 48 hours to kill all Dog ticks and Dog fleas after it is applied.
Discount Frontline is still an issue. These applications are expensive and although they work very effectively cheap Frontline for Dogs would still be nice.

How To Apply Frontline

The same technique applies to all spot on medications. Ensure you do not let your Dog get wet after applying Frontline flea or tick medication. It takes up to two days for them to work effectively so keep the Dog dry for a few days.
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