by Kimberly Morin

Created on: September 15, 2008

Preventing fleas on dogs can be controlled by following these simple guidelines. In the following you will learn about preventative flea medications as well as more natural and holistic techniques. You will benefit from great success and have satisfaction of knowing your dog's fleas are under control.

Fleas can and will spread disease as they feed off of your dog's blood. Fleas multiply extremely fast and before you know it you could have an infestation. This is an important fact to know so you can better understand the ways to control flea outbreaks. When a dog swallows a flea it then turns into a tape worm. These tape worms become present in your dog's stoole and will keep coming if not medicated properly.

Frontline or Advantage are wonderful flea medications that you apply directly on the back of your dog's neck between their shoulder blades. It is a topical ointment that penetrates into their skin and within 24 hours all of the fleas on your dog's body will have died. It then continues to kill any fleas that jump on and this treatment lasts for one month. To prevent fleas from reoccuring it is pertinent to apply this treatment once a month all year long. This flea medication can be purchased at you local veterinarian's office. Your vet will inform you whether to choose Frontline or Advantage, however only one choice is necessary to prevent fleas.

A more holistic approach would be to add a dropper full of apple cider vinegar to your dog's fresh drinking water daily. This is completely safe for your dog and they are not affected by the taste at all. Fleas tend to stay off dogs that have a bitter smell on their skin. This is a result of the apple cider vinegar. We as humans will not smell this bitter odor but fleas will definitely detect it and they will stay away.

Tape worms can be diagnosed by taking a stoole sample to your vet and then they will administer the proper medication if needed. Tape worms look like white rice and once observed, you should contact your vet right away so the problem can be corrected.

One thing I must say is please stay away from generic brands of flea treatments. These generic alternatives can be harmful to your dog. If you decide to use a flea medication, please go to your local veterinarian and purchase either Frontline or Advantage. You will be happy you did!

I hope this article has been informative as these preventative techniques guide you to control and prevent fleas on your dogs.

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