Are you afraid that your dog might have fleas? There are 6 different ways to help you stop guessing and know for sure, this is how you can check and find out if you’re right. Also, read this informative post about flea treatment!
Make a thorough inspection of your pet’s body:
You have to look carefully and thoroughly. Analyze all parts of your pet’s body. Do you see any fleas? Pay special attention to it’s armpit and groin areas, those are most popular among fleas, since they’re warmer and better protected than the other parts.
Check your dog’s skin looking for signs
To check the skin you’ll have to use your fingers to part your pet’s fur in order to expose it. Do you know what signs you’re looking for? First of all, is the skin of your dog red and bumpy from scratching? Do you actually see any fleas, like tiny adult ones, any cocooned larvae or larvae that has already hatched? And another sign on the skin that your dog might have fleas is if you see traces of so called ‘flea dirt’ that looks like finely grated black pepper.
Make a light trap for fleas
This is one other thing you can try – set a light trap for fleas in your home. It’s something you can do by yourself, you just need to put a dish with soapy water laying on the floor next to a nightlight. If there are any fleas, you’ll notice them jumping to towards the light and falling down in the soapy water.
Collect black specks with paper towel
You might not be sure if the black dirt falling from your dog is just regular dirt or flea dirt. Try collecting the black specks with a white paper towel and lightly spray them with water, if they start turning reddish/brown, it’s flea dirt you’re dealing with.
What can you do about it?
Ok, so you’re positive your dog has fleas, but what do you do next? What’s the best way to deal with them?
Step one: Use flea shampoo
Choose a nice high-quality, gentle flea shampoo. The way it works is that you start washing from the neck, you leave the lather in the coat for five minutes and then rinse it off with clean water. Fleas are easily spotted since they simply start falling off the dog.
Step two: Try a flea comb
It’s a perfect way of making sure if your dog is flea free. You use the flea comb on your dog’s hair, moving from the very root of the hair to the ends. If there are any fleas, they’ll get stuck between the teeth of the comb, but once they do, don’t forget to dispose them safely in some soapy water in order to make sure they don’t stay alive.
Step three: Quarantine your pet
You don’t want your pet to infect your other pets or the neighbor’s, so keep your dog away from any other pets.
Step four: Treat the home
Wash the bedding your dog slept on, wash it’s bed (or even throw it out). Next, get an insect growth regulator spray (or flea bombs) and use them in your house, especially on the carpet. At the end, vacuum the house very very thoroughly, vacuum all the furniture and carpets in the house.
