Natural Flea and tick control

The thing I was most afraid of has happened...fleas!!! We were doing really well until I agreed to watch a friends dog for the weekend. Now all three are infested. As most of you know, who follow this blog, I have a dog with liver disease. That means any form of chemical control, either applied to the dogs, the house or the yard is not recommended. So what do you do when fleas invade your home and how do you prevent it from happening? Well, I hope I can address both! If you want to address all natural flea prevention, here are a few tips that were working quite well for us until the introduction of a dog riddled with the little pests. Fleas and mosquitoes hate a clean blood stream. Immunity support is crucial if you go with a non chemical approach. The best dog food your money can buy is crucial. Look for good protein and no grain dog foods. Never assume a dog food is good before reading the label. For more about selecting a good dog food, read here. Vitamins and herbs are necessary for this approach. See previous posts for amounts but all get a multi B/C blend, vitamin E and a garlic/ brewers yeast powder. All have tremendous effects on the heart and blood stream and allow the natural defenses against fleas, ticks and heartworm to do their best. In addition, I do the following. In their drinking water a put a capful of Black Walnut Tincture and a few drops of Wormwood Tincture (available at any health food store.) Both are essential for cleansing the blood and the dogs love it! If fleas are already an issue, bathe the dogs in Dawn. Start at the head and work your way down. Leave them soaped up for 5 to 10 minutes. I tie a leash to my soap stand so they can't evacuate. Rinse them and spray them with 2 1/2 cups of water mixed with oil of lavender and oil of cedarwood. Shake well to mix. Same spray can be used on rugs furniture and bedding. Flea combs are helpful too for day to day maintenance, but I can't even imagine using it on a thick or long coated dog. Very tight teeth and I have a hard enough time with my short coated dogs. At any rate, we have the fleas under control, but the dogs' skin are so aggravated, that we need to calm the bites. Hearing liquid aloe vera is good for this, so I will keep you posted!

Dawn: it's not just for wildlife anymore!

Who would have thought that Dawn Dishwashing Liquid makes an excellent shampoo for flea control.

The oils in it will suffocate the fleas, keeps the eggs from sticking to the hair follicles, and also keeps your dog’s skin/fur from drying out. When using it, just make sure to soap up the dog’s neck first and this has to be done quickly, otherwise the fleas will swarm to the dog’s face and crawl in theirs ears, and nose to hide. You will notice many fleas crawling around their eyes when you bathe them if your dog is heavily infested with fleas. The trick is to completely soap them up, and then keep them saturated for at least 5 minutes. Rinse well, and most of them will be gone, or go away soon. You may have to follow up in a week or so to get rid of any remaining stragglers.

Dawn does little to prevent fleas from coming back however. To stick with a non chemical approach Mix 2 drops of oil of lavender and two drops of oil of cedarwood, easily found in natural health stores, to 600ML (roughly 2 1/2 cups of warm water) shake and spray down your dog being cautious to avoid the eyes. I usually spray a small amount in my hand to treat the face and rub it in carefully. For more about flea and tick control check this site.