Was at the Vet the other AM and was so happy to see 2 yellow lab pups come in with a darling family. They were adorable together! Was talking to mom and went to pet the pups and noticed that they were infested with fleas. (I’m not talking 3 or 4, they were crawling all over the head, around the ears, let me tell you that it was icky). They had just gotten them from the breeder and brought them to the vet. My pups didn’t have fleas like this when they went home so I was a little surprised. I’m not sure if it’s just a bad flea season in Texas or what. Have you ever experienced that many fleas on pups because of a bad flea season?

What do you do to get rid of fleas before they go home with their families?

In years past fleas have not ben such a problem esp when pups are ready to go home in the spring. In 2008/2009 our litters picked up fleas the end of February, a first for us here in the northwest. I had to buy Frontline at our vets as one pup was being shipped and needed to be treated asap. Frontline is pricey to treat 2 litters plus all the dogs in the family.
Costco sells their brand Flea for cats and dogs. I would not put their signature brand on cats but it seems to work on our young 5 month old dogs and adult dogs so far. I put it on my daughter's 3 yr old cat and he had a bad reaction to kirkland sig brand for cats so we had to give him a bath. He's a finicky cat and we can't even use Frontline on him so we bath him with flea shampoo..such a pain to bath a cat.

Also wanted to express how disgusting it is when breeders ship or allow one of their pups or adult dogs be sold with fleas on them. I'll never forget the time when a top breeder sent a cute little yellow 4 month pup to me. We got the pup out of her crate upon arriving home to find little fleas jumping around inside the crate. She must have had 200 little sand fleas all over her. By the time I was able to buy some Frontline to treat her, all my other dogs were infested. When I contacted this breeder about all the fleas, she said she didn't see any fleas on her when they shipped her that morning. Really ?

Dawn dish soap....

Does Dawn dry the skin out ? How long do you keep the shampoo on the puppy or dog before rinsing it off ?

Repeated use would indeed dry the skin out but Dawn is a good soap to clean fleas off of puppies, disolve dandruff and generally clean them up and have them smell good to go home.

A dab with lots of water.(don't use any of the fancy new formulas). Work up a good lather and rinse right away.

Have fun!!!

I think this year if you had a milder winter it will be worse,here in the NE it was, no snow and mild winter, there was an article in the paper today warning about how bad it was going to be bad with ticks this year. I've noticed the mosquitos are out in abundance, and early in the season too, I use BT on the ponds and that usually takes them right down but not this year.

I rescued 2 Jack Russells from a rescue, noticed that as I was sitting with them on the ferry back to NE that they were scratching, casually flipped the hair back and they were crawling,even had them on their face,the woman said she didn't notice any when she gave them a bath the day before, but I can't imagine you could miss hundreds upon hundreds of fleas.(she also clipped toenails but missed the dew claws on the one which were curled all the way back around, so they must have been pretty long and why to this day I can't clip Gabbys toenails)
I treat the perimeter of our property with a yard spray (it's for the mosquitos) and we have not had an issue with fleas and hardly any ticks either and we have a huge squirrel population,the mice and chippies not so much with the cat :)

Ummmm, I think I'd be worried about the fact that you have fleas at all, not just getting rid of them before you send puppies home????????????
WTH?
Try buying the Frontline or Advatage just like the rest of us!
I's be absolutely HORRIFIED if my beautiful puppies (that are born and raised IN MY HOME) had FLEAS!

Must be nice for you that fleas don't reside in your yard. Did you have a heart to heart talk with all the bunnies and other critters that carry fleas to stay off your property ?
Why do judgmental people come on this forum just to spread their negative venom

Use frontline spray on the puppies. Treating the mother would also keep the puppies from getting fleas. Fleas carry Tapeworm. If you have a serious problem with fleas, then you sure have Tapes. Everybody would have yards and kennels infected with fleas, ticks, and flies if we wouldn't do anything about it. Not sure how can you (or the breeder) NOT have noticed that the puppies had fleas before......don't you (or the breeder) interact or touch them at all????

OP here... When my girl was pregnant, she didn't not get flea or heartworm meds until she had finished weaning. I think I waiting until the pups were about 10 wks old. Can you please tell me do you do the same? When do you start back flea & heartworm meds. I'm not planning on a litter for at least 1-2 years. We had such a mild winter, I think maybe only 1 freeze maybe 2 in Houston. Having a senior moment and I can't remember anything today. Ugh!

Since our weather was so mild I'm sure our flea/tick/mosquito are going to be awful this year. Last year didn't seem so bad as we were in a drought. Thanks for your replies.

Joy, I think you must be special that the bunnies bring you fleas. The critters around my house must not like me. They are here, but they haven't brought me any fleas in the 20 years I have lived here. And, no. I do not use frontline.

I find it funny when families come to adopt a dog from us and we talk about fleas. When they tell me their dogs don't get fleas and we've never used they've never used flea treatments. I tell them, they've just never seen the fleas on their dogs or they have not looked good enough.
My vet told me that people have been bringing their cats and dogs in to their clinic with horrible flea infestations, biting, chewing causing sores and infections. Some of these people live in condos. You tell me how cats get fleas if they live in condos and never leave the condo ? My vet explained that Fleas hop aboard anything they can and they make their way to warmth when the weather starts getting cold in the early fall. You don't have to have pets and they find their way into warm environments.
You can also treat your dogs and cats with Flea topicals and they still get Tapeworm. If the fleas are in the ground, they can end up in your pet's mouth causing the tapeworm cycle. It's a vicious cycle at times. I have been feeding our dog's DE human grade and haven't seen any tapeworms. In the past I have treated our dogs for tapeworms using regular tapeworm meds from our vets but they would come back after continuous follow up treatments throughout the year. After awhile, I think pets build up a resistancy towards some of these worming meds.
When my husband used to treat our property for fleas on a regular basis, we'd still end up with some fleas. They are stubborn little buggers at times. I give lots of flea baths to our little indoor dogs and treat our big dogs with Flea topicals throughout flea season and use Frontline on our pregnant moms which helps with the pups who are new borns to 8 weeks of age and going to their new families.

It can happen, believe me! I've had labs for 20 years and, when fed a decent diet, they are flea-free. My first lab pup came to me from a BYB, loaded with fleas. We treated her naturally by bathing, flea-combing, washing bedding and vacuuming the house. Over the years they've picked up the odd flea or so, but we have always managed to get rid of them by natural methods - or maybe they just don't stick around for long!

Vets are astounded that we don't use chemicals and cannot wait to run a comb through the dogs' fur. I find it rather insulting and am happy to see their disappointment when they come up with nothing!

What do you feed your dogs? Also to Joy what is DE?

Don't know why I find the Flea Topic so interesting

There are so many different factors that play into whether or not fleas becmoe a problem or not. Feeding a top quality dog food is a given at our house but yet we still get fleas here and there. It's not nearly the problem it used to be once we ditched all our carpeting, except the stairs.

I don't think people realize their dogs or cats have fleas until it becomes a bit of a problem. With one or 2 fleas, you are not going to be able to tell esp on dark coated animals.

Sometimes the only way we know if one of our indoor pets has fleas is if my husband and youngest daughter gets a bite. They are the only 2 who are sensative to flea bites. Our 2 dogs sleep with us so it's a dead give away when they have fleas..even one flea and they find their way to my husband.

Maybe some dogs have a certain odor to them that fleas are not attracted to..who knows why fleas bother some pets and not others who are not treated with flea meds.

If there is one flea crawling around on one of our pets, I start getting creeped out. I'm just happy we don't have problems with ticks in our region.

http://www.earthworkshealth.com/

I bought a huge bag of DE years ago and still have it. I could use it on our lawn but it woudl cost so much money on shipping that large amount. I forget which company I bought it from originally but it was a family run busines and they had the best price for buying in bulk.
I add a cup of DE in a large container of kibble and mix it up that way all I do is scoop the kibble every day. Their stools are firmer to. I feed Costco Salmon, Nature's Domain.
I mix a teaspoon of DE in my plain yogurt. Doesn't taste all that great but I do it for the benefits not the taste. You can also add the DE in your smoothies which would mask the taste.

Knock wood, we rarely get them and I'm in the south!! I don't Frontline. We do get ticks pretty often, though. Thinking about getting myself some Guinea Hens!!!

Vacuuming daily, keeping bedding washed, good food, good grooming etc will help keep fleas at bay. And if you find even one, get on it right away. Treat the dogs/cats, bedding, carpeting, yard, and the car ASAP!!

I feed a raw diet.

You may already know this
Fleas go dormant in wood flooring in a somewhat empty house. Once there is warmth and movement, out they come. Not sure if this happens when you have your wood floors sealed. Something I remember the floor guy saying...