Treated him and the house earlier in the week but kept finding the odd one on him and put it down to recent hatches etc but then realised we only found them after he’d spent a bit of time out in the garden.

This morning we did an experiment and combed him through then put him outside for 10 minutes and checked him again when he came back in. Found 3 fleas on the surface of his fur (not burrowed in).

He’s a Vizsla so has very short fur and only one layer so they’re a doddle to spot and we know he was clear when he went out.

So what do we do?

Garden’s your typical suburban job about 60ft long with patio lawn, borders, shrubs, sheds and a fish pond.

Garden’s your typical suburban job

I’d suspect the old mattress that’s next to the rusty washing machine, just across from the Morris Marina with no wheels.

What did you use on him? Fleas now have an immunity to the common ‘high street’ treatments. A vet prescribed treatment like prinovox is he answer. Expensive but good.

For him his usual apply to the back of the neck stuff.

For the house Indorex from the vets.

WE use vet back of neck stuff for the dog and cats. No issues. Though flea immunity may vary from place to place.

Our dog gets Frontline Combo.

I can just picture your dog, leaning casually against the bar saying to the flea sitting next to him, “so, do you come here often?” and winking.

One year we tried the drops with no effect so we got the seresto colar. 10 mins after putting it on the floor was covered in dead fleas. They are expensive though.

orangespyman – me too as I typed it but I couldn’t think of a more elegant way to say it 🙂

“Fancy a jump?”

To clarify, the dog has no fleas on him and as far as we can tell there now none in the house so treating the dog with different chemicals won’t solve the problem.

We need to try and kill the fleas in the garden before they get on him and come back in the house.

the spot on stuff kills them anyway. as he goes about his business he’ll pick them up, kill ’em, and their numbers will diminish. also UV light is not good for the eggs, which is why they like it indoors, so this will also help to cut them back. I think you’ll just find they drop off in numbers anyway.
keep his bedding clean and rain down toxic death on the vacuum cleaner as well, if you haven’t, to stop it spraying eggs around. i just fire a bit of indorex up the nozzle.

How good are you about clearing up his ‘dirt’?

Do you have foxes in the garden? They’re very good at spreading fleas around. If you can deter the foxes/keep them out, you may solve the problem that way, combined with a decent flea treatment.

Search your garden for hedgehogs.

As above, if dog and house are well treated you shouldn’t have a problem and should see the local population drop off. Any hedgehogs and foxes are best left going about their business.

As a side note, I made the mistake of spraying indorex in my un-insulated porch. The area become an Armageddon of dead wood lice and other insects for months later; so I certainly can’t see any way that you can ‘treat’ your outdoor areas without causing severe ecological damage.

Christ thats some dexterity for non opposable thumbs