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We all know that fleas are one of the most common parasites affecting pet dogs. If you have a dog, from time to time you will have fleas as well. When this happend, most folks want to completely rid fleas fom their home.

The the common dog flea is extremely small and brown. These little insects jump very quickly and can be hard to kill. That, however is only the start of the various problems when you get a flea infestation. Here we will find out a little more about fleas and what to do to rid fleas from your dog.

Fleas feed on blood, yours, your dog’s blood, and any other animals in the house. The life cycle of a flea is four stages from eggs to the flea itself and can move rapidly in the right circumstances. When you consider that an adult flea can lay many hundred of eggs each day and those eggs rapidly develop into egg-layers as well Then you can see how just one flea can become a big problem very quickly!

So how can we tell if our dogs have fleas?

A dog with a fleas will tend scratch almost constantly, especially in these places: the ears, the base of the tail, the belly, and the the skin between its leg and belly.
It’s actually the saliva of the flea that causes the irritation, not the bite itself, and some dogs have a genuine allergy to this saliva (as opposed to a standard irritation). Dogs with allergies suffer much more significant negative reactions to a flea infestation, and usually develop “hot spots”. These are areas of sore, red, skin caused by the flea saliva and can bleed and become infected easily. Constant scratching may cause the dog to develop bald spots too.

To check for fleas, groom your dog with a fine toothed flea comb (available from vets, petstores or pharmacies). Watch out for what looks like ground black pepper in your dog’s fur while you are grooming – this is actually flea excrement. This can be confirmed by wiping the comb onto some white kitchen paper. The spoor should look red when smeared on the paper.

If your dog does not show signs of having fleas then preventative action is the sensible thing to do If you are reading this article out of curiosity or you have assertained there are not fleas on your dog, then heres what you should do: Scheduled flea treatment is the best prevention. Use prescribed treatment products according to a calendar and stick to the schedule. Your vet will recommend the best product for your size and weight of dog.

OK, so maybe its a little late for that and you have identified that the dog has a flea problem. Well, actually, you have a household problem that you will need to deal with but the important thing is not to panic just work through the steps methodically and you will rid fleas from your life. Also remember there is no shame in getting a flea infestation, it can happen to anyone with a pet.

You will need to treat your dog and his bedding. You will also need to treat all of the house – your carpets, bedding as well as fleas will be present throughout the house and yard.

Eventually, groom your dog again and check that the problem is going or has gone. Then start on the preventative treatments mentioned earlier.

There are one or two things to remember:

Flea treatments can be quite toxic, make sure that you have the right treatment for the size & age of your dog and do not use more than one type of treatment at any one time.

Treat all of the other animals in the house too – other dogs and cats.

Don’t stop treating your house and your pets until the problem has gone. If you stop prematurely, you will get the full problem back again pretty soon.

The war against fleas is win-able but you need to get the best possible advice. At Poochdogs, there is a comprehensive how-to guide to rid fleas from your pets, your house, your life! Click on the underlined text to get it today.

There is also a FREE e-book called ‘5 Myths of Dog Training’ available for you to download and keep at http://www.poochdogs.com Go there today and get your FREE copy!