Flea control?

[sleek]

Seems I have a flea problem and the liquid you put on the dogs skin and flea collars aren't doing the trick. I need drastic measures.  I'm going to flea bomb, lay borax on the carpets, I need a way to treat hard wood, and bathe my dogs, but is there anything else yall know of thats quick?

[Pat B]

The least toxic way to control fleas is to place a shallow pan on the floor with water in it and a few drops of dish soap. Place a light directly over the pan, about 6" or so. At night when it's dark the fleas will jump for the light, fall in the water and the soap will break thew surface tension and the fleas will sink. Keep this up for a week or so so you will get the newly hatched fleas later too.

[Hawkdancer]

Interesting solution, Pat!
Hawkdancer

[Pat B]

It works like a champ. We've used this method for many years. It works best if the light is pointed directly at the water. I noticed on a TV commercial recently that one of the pesticide Cos offers a device that does the same.

[BowEd]

The thing to remember with fleas is that they only live on the dog 20% of their life.Otherwise they live in the bedding.Front line plus spray is good stuff on the dog too.It's waterproof.Once a month.Clean out their living quarters good to prevent reinfection.
I used to keep my hounds flea and tick free with 10% cattle ivomec.1 half cc per 70 pounds[ivomec to glycol] down the throat once a month.Keeps heartworms away too.It'll kill if any ear mites in their ears too.
It'll keep tapeworns away from your dog too but will not kill tapeworms directly.The flea is a host to tapeworms.

[Eric Krewson]

I moved into a rental house one time that had a flea infestation, the owners had moved out taking their pets with them, the fleas were ravenous. I could walk across the carpet and they would swarm me in seconds.

My wife and I went on a vacation to the mountains for a week, I set off a bug bomb in every room just before we left. When we came back the fleas were gone.

[Pat B]

I give our dogs Ivomec once a month for heartworms but they rarely have fleas or ticks, maybe a few ticks early but only a few. They are in the woods all the time and with bears, deer, coyotes, coons, skunks, possums, etc. The only times they might get fleas is when they go to the vet. 

[AndrewS]

 Fleas lay eggs and the eggs are not destroyed when using anti-flea drugs .
New fleas hatch from the eggs and the whole thing starts all over again.

For our dog we have a collar which she wears permanently.
The ingredients work against fleas and ticks. This way fleas are killed over time, generation after generation.
So we have no fleas and can search for dead ticks.
It is called Seresto from Bayer .  A collar works for about 8 months.

[BowEd]

Correct Andrew....To irradicate them from the bedding area a second treatment is necessary 10 days later or the life cycle of the flea.
It's good to know as much about your enemy as possible to get rid of him.The dog or cat will appreciate it.
With pets in the house it's different.The house needs to be fumegated.
With kenneled dogs I've tried it all.Different types of bedding that is [straw,hay,shredded paper,even red cedar chips.It does'nt deter them.In the summer my hounds slept on bare wood in their dog house or if your really nice a small pad of some sort.Anything to reduce the bedding debry for the flea to live.No sand around the kennel either.In the winter it's different.At least in the northern climates.Bedding is used then as it's too cold for fleas to live there.
Parasites on dogs just mean vet bills.With common sense all that can be done by the owner without much expense and the dog is happier for it.

[BAfromPA]

I also am a huge advocate for the seresto collars but man, they are EXPENSIVE. If I ever need to treat for fleas again I may try that water trap. Ticks though, not sure how to solve that other than setting up a possum breeding program.

[Hawkdancer]

That way, the dogs can hunt possums while the fleas die!
Hawkdancer

[BAfromPA]

Possums, while ugly, are also the number one critters for going out of their way to eat ticks. That's why I pretty much always stop when I see a roadkilled one in spring to see if there're any babies in the pouch.