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Dog Flea Treatments : How To Tell If Your Dog Has Fleas

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Dog Flea Treatments : How To Tell If Your Dog Has Fleas

Dog flea treatments are a common inquiry that dog owners seek. Dog fleas are one of the parasites that affect dogs. How to tell if your dog has fleas? The symptoms of a flea infestation are unmistakable.

Dogs Fleas

A Closer Look At Fleas

There are a wide variety of parasites that affect dogs:

- Fleas
- Ticks
- Mites
- Lice

These parasites are organisms that lives off the resources your dog has to offer, obviously, fresh blood, and also a warm place to settle in, which is of course the fur and the skin. Fleas are the most common parasites that affect dogs.

Fleas are tiny, jumping insects that are light brown in color, and we generally can't see them as they are tiny and move too quickly.

The life cycle of a flea moves very rapidly from stage one (egg) to stage four (adult flea), which means they're capable of multiplying with staggering rapidity.

An adult flea is able to lay hundreds of eggs per day! Each egg will then become an adult flea, which lay hundreds more eggs of its own. One flea becomes a major problem very quickly! Fleas usually carry the common tapeworm (which causes constipation and flatulence)

Dog's Accesories

How To Tell If Your Dog Has Fleas

We can't expect our dogs to let us know when they have fleas.

The tell tale signs when your dog is flea infested are when he scratches constantly where fleas are most prominent, such as the base of the tail, the ears, the belly, and the stifle (the webbing of soft skin between the thigh and the abdomen).

The main cause or the irritation is actually the saliva of the flea, not the bite itself, and some dogs have an allergy to this saliva. Dogs with allergies suffer much more serious negative reactions to a flea infestation, and usually develop "hot spots".

These hot spots are where the infected skin, caused by the saliva of the fleas and your dog's allergies to it become sore, flaking, inflamed and bleeding. Bald patches will sometimes appear too, as a result of repeated scratching and ongoing inflammation.

If you suspect your dog has fleas, you can confirm your suspicions by taking a closer inspection at his skin. You probably won't be able to see the fleas, but you should be able to see what resembles ground pepper (a thin sprinkling of fine black grains) on his skin. This is flea dirt (poop).

If you comb him with a flea comb (which is like a fine-tooth comb), to check for dog fleas, try wiping it on a paper towel. If red blotches appear on the towel, you can confirm that your dog has fleas, because on a white background like a paper towel, flea poop appear red, as fleas feed on blood, their poop is colored accordingly.

Wouldn't You Rather Learn How to Deal with Minor Dog Health Problems BEFORE It Become Major Ones?

Dog Flea Treatments

Fleas typically spend a small amount of time on your dog, and the rest of their time leaping through your house laying eggs and feeding on human blood, so it's not enough to just treat your dog. You also have to target his bedding, the entire house, all human bedding, and even the yard.

Even if it's cold outside, don't be mistaken as cold weather doesn't kill flea eggs, it just puts them into a state of hibernation. The eggs will hatch as soon as it gets warm enough outside.

The first way to treat dog fleas is by using flea pesticide which can be done by foggers(which coat each room, and the yard, in a fine mist of pesticide), or by sprays. The disadvantage of this method is that it's highly toxic to dogs, human and the environment. Although it is very effective and the quickest way to killing the fleas and wiping out the eggs, anyone in the household including your pets, might have allergies or a health condition might be affected by it, so you have to decide if it is a wise decision to do so.

A more health friendly way, although more rigorous, would be to treat your dog with a topical anti-flea solution as prescribed by your vet and consistently clean your house regularly until your dog flea control is taken care of.

This includes vacuuming thoroughly every day at every room and washing all bedding in hot water, yours and your dog's, as often as you can. It is highly recommended that you wash everyday or every alternate days.

You will be able to know when you have get rid of fleas on dogs when your dog seems to stop constantly scratching himself and upon closer inspection, his coat looks clear of flea dirt.

Fleas are just one of the many, many types of parasites that affect your dog. To find out more about the complete prevention and treatment of all types of parasites (external and internal), as well as a comprehensive guide on Dog Flea Treatments : How To Tell If Your Dog Has Fleas, click here.