Flea control for heavy coated breeds?

misfitz · Jul 19, 2009

Sorry if this belongs in Dog Health, it seemed like sort of a grooming problem to me. Fluffy dog owners - what do you use for fleas? My dog is a mix of (I think) Sheltie and/or Pom, and she has quite a mane. We use Advantage successfully on the cats, but Sienna's fur just soaks it up. It's like I haven't put anything on her at all, the fleas are still there, and it doesn't spread over her coat the way it does on the cats.

Going to try the diatomaceous (sp?) earth thing, but curious as to what Sheltie, Pom, Chow, etc. owners use on their dogs?

Romy · Jul 19, 2009

We have a borzoi and have had great success with Comfortis. It's a fairly new oral medication. They eat a pill once a month...and that's pretty much it. None of the topicals worked on him either, so it was a skin saver.

dobesgalore · Jul 20, 2009

I use k9 Advantix on our Australian Shepherd. It works wonderful! No fleas, no ticks, and mosquitoes stay away. When you put on any spot on, make sure you part the hair all the way to the skin, and be sure the spot on is directly on the skin. If you do that, it will spread on the oils of the skin over the whole dog. I put it on at the shoulder, then part the hair at the base of the tail and do it again. I will cover quicker that way.

bubbatd · Jul 20, 2009

I've had no problem with Ollie or my past Goldens . Agree you have to part the fur .

misfitz · Jul 23, 2009

Yeah, I part her hair and get it on the skin. I've tried putting it above and below her ruff, below the ruff and at the base of the tail... She just has such a dense undercoat that it never gets past! I'll look into that pill, that sounds like a pretty good idea.

bubbatd · Jul 23, 2009

Don't do it by the tail !!! Only where they can't lick !

Lolas Dad · Jul 23, 2009

misfitz said:

What your supposed to do is part the fur enough to see the skin and then apply. Also only apply it in between the shoulders or a bit higher.

I use Frontline Plus with no flea problems. With Revolution that the previous owner of Lola was using she had fleas.

Athebeau · Aug 1, 2009

We have Newfoundland dogs and do not have any problems with fleas therefore we do not use any preventatives. Our dogs get a home prepared diet with garlic and nutritional yeast added to their meals. I have used diatomaceous earth on my Rottweiler to prevent her from picking up ticks on our hikes, it leaves a very clumpy coat and I probably would not sprinkle on the Newf's. You can however use diatomaceous earth in your home where the dogs sleep. Many people say the health or adding garlic and nutritional yeast to the dogs diet does not prevent flea infestations. But I feel that a dog with a strong immune system will be less attractive to fleas. Our dogs have been around other dogs crawling with fleas and never pick them up.

dogsarebetter · Aug 1, 2009

Im a comfortis fan for my shelties

Dreeza · Aug 2, 2009

hmm, i may have to look into this comfortis as well...

I used advantix but Oakley still gets fleas...YUCK. I can never even find them his coat is so thick...i can't even imagine dealing with a sheltie, haha

Pam111 · Aug 2, 2009

I have a really hard time putting Frontline on my cats and dogs. I can never seem to get it right--even the short haired ones. More of it spreads onto the fur then onto the skin. With the longhaired animals, I actually cut a small spot of fur off so I can get to the skin easier

misfitz · Aug 9, 2009

Wow, I didn't see all these replies! Thanks everyone.

Well, I gave up on the Advantage. Sienna is rawfed, and I think her immune system and general heath are great, but the fleas still go after her like crazy. I imagine it's because of the cats - between myself, my roommate, and our landlord we have 5, I'm sure they pick up fleas in the yard. The cats are treated regularly with Advantage, so of course all the fleas go on the dog!

I ordered some diatomeceous (sp?) earth, which arrived the other day. I tried it on Sienna and OMG, I am never doing that again. Her fur is so dry now, especially her poor tail! It did kill the fleas, though, she hasn't been scratching anymore. It did a great job of killing her coat as well. I think it's better for short haired breeds!

New plan - bathe her once a week, using conditioner!!! And I'm going to try some herbal flea repellant sprays on top of that. I got one at Petsmart that has cedar and some other oils in it. They didn't have any Neem which I've heard is good, probably have to order that online. I was, however, inspired to read up some Sheltie forums and learn how to properly groom her, and bought some good brushes and shears to trim her feet...hopefully between the bathing, the spray, and the Advantage on the cats, she can stay flea-free.

Izzy's Valkyrie · Aug 9, 2009

I thought garlic was bad for dogs

Izzy used to wear a flea collar back in the day when she was like... 10 weeks old. since then she's never itched once and been to the dag park many a times. I have used flea/tick stuff from wally world *gag* and really just ended up with a greasy dog. (We were going to a place with a high HW+ population)

dobesgalore · Aug 10, 2009

misfitz said:

Wow, I didn't see all these replies! Thanks everyone.

Well, I gave up on the Advantage. Sienna is rawfed, and I think her immune system and general heath are great, but the fleas still go after her like crazy. I imagine it's because of the cats - between myself, my roommate, and our landlord we have 5, I'm sure they pick up fleas in the yard. The cats are treated regularly with Advantage, so of course all the fleas go on the dog!

I ordered some diatomeceous (sp?) earth, which arrived the other day. I tried it on Sienna and OMG, I am never doing that again. Her fur is so dry now, especially her poor tail! It did kill the fleas, though, she hasn't been scratching anymore. It did a great job of killing her coat as well. I think it's better for short haired breeds!

New plan - bathe her once a week, using conditioner!!! And I'm going to try some herbal flea repellant sprays on top of that. I got one at Petsmart that has cedar and some other oils in it. They didn't have any Neem which I've heard is good, probably have to order that online. I was, however, inspired to read up some Sheltie forums and learn how to properly groom her, and bought some good brushes and shears to trim her feet...hopefully between the bathing, the spray, and the Advantage on the cats, she can stay flea-free.

Don't bath weekly, you will continue to dry the coat by washing away natural oils in the coat. Monthly is a lot better. You won't dry them out that way.

yassy · Aug 10, 2009

Try flea comb,vacuuming often,washing dog bed often for inside the house then use nematode outside the house(yard).Lemon+water solution works good for my dog.I have Pembroke welsh corgi.

dogsarebetter · Aug 10, 2009

What they taught us where I learned to groom dogs is that you can bath a day as much as you want. A few times a week even is just fine. But you have to be using a high quality shampoo for dogs. All natural if possible. Its the heat from blow dryers that drys out the skin.

It makes since that a bath in something no matter how gentle would wash off the oils, but I was told it was fine.

sammgirl · Aug 11, 2009

My mom is having a horrid time with her keeshonden right now. Frontline is a total bust, and her pooches get groomed once every three weeks professionally, and then she picks fleas out every night because they're so intense.

She's going to try sentinal, but I'm not sure if that will work. I think that Comfortis may work better, but it's obvious that a topical treatment is not working.

Flea control for heavy coated breeds?

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