

You also need to determine how to get rid of fleas in your home. Killing the fleas on your dog is just one part of the problem.

Again, it’s important to ask your dog’s veterinarian for recommendations. You can also use a flea shampoo or a fast-acting chemical treatment, such as a flea pill that kills the fleas on your dog within hours. If your dog already has fleas, these preventatives will still kill them, but you may need to take more aggressive action, like a prescription preventative. Talk to your vet about the flea preventative that is safest and right for your puppy or dog. There are several options out there, from flea collars to topical liquid applicants and pills. Flea and tick preventatives kill fleas that come in contact with your dog, preventing your pup from bringing them home in the first place. The best way to deal with fleas is prevention. It’s important to know about these stages because different flea treatments for dogs address different parts of the flea’s life cycle, so make sure you read the label of any flea elimination products and follow the directions before use. Then they hatch, become adults, and infest their animal hosts – such as your dog. During the pupa stage they form cocoons, where they wait for several days or up to one year - preferably for the fleas in the comfort of your carpet, sofa, or bed - until a warm-bodied host appears. They then hatch into larvae that can move on the host and feed on blood and flea dirt (digested blood from the adult fleas). These eggs hatch in 1-10 days and spread throughout your home and yard every time your dog scratches, shakes, or lies down.

One female flea can lay up to 2,000 eggs. The adults live on animals like your dog, where they digest blood and lay their eggs.

The first step is understanding the enemy. Here are the four steps you need to take to eliminate these unwelcome freeloaders. If you and your dog are scratching your heads, and you’re wondering how to kill dog fleas, we’ve got you covered. They can transmit germs that cause disease by feeding on hosts or through fecal contamination, when infected flea feces are scratched into an open wound. Fleas can also cause tapeworm and anemia.Īccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fleas prefer animal hosts but will resort to biting people when animals are unavailable. Many dogs are allergic to flea bites, which can cause intense scratching, red and flaky skin, scabs, hot spots, and hair loss. These tiny, blood-sucking parasites irritate your dog and infest your home - often before you realize that fleas have moved in.
