If you are seeing fleas on your dog, only about 5 percent of the problem is actually on the animal. The other 95 percent — eggs, larvae and pupae — is in your carpets, bedding and floor cracks. That is why a single bath never works and why infestations feel like they keep returning.
Treat the dog
Start a fast-acting vet-recommended product to kill the adult fleas on your dog, then keep them on a monthly preventive. A flea comb run through the coat over a bowl of soapy water removes adults and lets you monitor progress.
Treat the home
- Wash all pet bedding, throws and your own bedding in hot water.
- Vacuum every day for a week — floors, skirting, under furniture and upholstery — and empty the vacuum outside each time.
- Pay attention to shaded, humid corners where larvae thrive.
- For heavy infestations, ask your vet about a home spray or fogger with an insect growth regulator that stops eggs hatching.
Be patient
Pupae are protected by a cocoon and can survive treatments, hatching days or weeks later. That is normal. Keep up the dog's preventive and the daily vacuuming for three to four weeks and the cycle will break. Treat every pet in the home at the same time, or the fleas simply move next door.
