Find, counteract and prevent dog fleas

hundefloh-kratzenMany dog owners know the suffering of their dogs from flea infestation: Constant itching, scratching, chafed wounds and bald patches in the fur. But that doesn’t need to be! We show you how to find fleas on your dog and how you can counteract them effectively. We also show you how to prevent new fleas.

These are dog fleas

katze-floehe-entfernenDog fleas are small, brown parasites that nests in stubbornly in the dog’s fur. The length of the fleas is about 2 to 4 millimeters.

They do not have wings. But they can jump very well. 50 cm wide and 25 cm high is a distance that can be overcome easily.

These little nasty parasites feed on the blood of the dogs and afflict the dog by stitch to enter the blood.

How will the dog get infested with fleas

Mostly the fleas jump over from dogs or other animals to your favorite. Even people transfer these dog fleas. Consequently, each dog has a risk to get infested with fleas. The dog flea jumps into the fur and makes himself comfortable.

Sometimes dogs get infested by contact with flea eggs. The flea eggs are lying, for example, on the blanket of a conspecifics. Your favorite takes place on the blanket and captures the parasites.

How to perceive dog fleas

Dogs that regularly scratch until a wound is formed are likely infested with dog fleas or other parasites such as mites. You can examine your dog with a fine-toothed flea comb. These combs are available in almost every pet shop.

Combing through the fur of your dog you can look whether you can find small dark parasites in the tines. You can also look for flea dirt. Please put your four-legged friend in the bath tub, shower or on a bright, water-resistant underground. Then tousle vigorously through the fur (by hand), surely a lot of dirt will come out of the fur.

flohkot-taschentuchWith a damp cloth you can find out if there is flea dirt in the fur. Press the cloth on the fallen dirt and look if the crumbs are red-brown discolored. If so, you have unfortunately discovered flea dirt and your dog is infested with dog fleas.

The discoloring crumbs are the dried blood of your dog which was excreted by the dog fleas.

How to get rid of dog fleas

In stores or pharmacies you can purchase a flea control product, which combats the fleas with chemicals. This is usually a so-called spot-on, a liquid that you drip into the neck of the dog and then spread all over the skin. The fleas will be killed and can be vacuumed simply with our Cofix “R” dog brush.

There are also flea sprays that have a similar effect, but always contain strong chemicals. Better are these methods:

  • Use a dog shampoo or flea shampoo (please ask your Vet)
  • Bath your dog und add some drops of lavender or tea tree oil
  • Mix lavender oil or cedar wood oil with 500ml of water and put it in a spray bottle and spray it onto the dog (avoiding eye area)

Thereafter you should vacuum the dead dog fleas with Cofix. An alternative would be to comb them out with a flea comb which is very time consuming.

To get rid of fleas in the household

Unfortunately, it is not only necessary to treat your dog. The complete household has to be cleaned up because the flea eggs can lie everywhere and the plague begins anew.

Against flea eggs you can do the following:

  • You have to vacuum thoroughly the sleeping places (pretreat vacuum cleaner bags with flea powder)
  • You should wash all blankets and carpets (60°C)
  • Spray an area flea spray (open window before)
  • Please vacuum the car seats

How to prevent dog fleas

Purchase a flea collar for your dog and care the fur regularly from now on. The sooner you discover the fleas, the faster you are going to get rid of them. With the Cofix “R” dog brush you can abbreviate the grooming and vacuum directly the flea dirt, the flea eggs and the dead fleas.