No #1 give away that my dog has picked up a flea from outside . "Honey, did you see that? What? He just scratched. I saw that too!"
No #2 give away that he has picked up a flea. "How long has he been knawing and biting like that? A little while ago. Awe!!!!!!!!!"
My dog is a house dog, Yorkshire Terrier, and goes outside to potty and will go out with us when we are in the yard, or down to the dock and loves to ride in the car, on the lawn mower, in the boat and... is very partial to Micky Ds french fries.
We never let him go out alone because we have one or two resident hawks that are very large and have seen them take many a squirrel and bird right before our eyes. And I'm positive that rabbits are on their menu even though I have not seen them take one. Last year one took our pet pigeon right out of our large bird feeder in the back yard while he was eating. I was standing at our dining room bay window and watched this nightmare unfold before my eyes. It happened so fast, all that was left of our pet was a pile of feathers. I could not stop crying, it was brutal! The funny thing is, it would not have bothered me in the least if it had not been a pet. Of all the flipp'n birds flitting around, why our pigeon?
We normally treat the yard 3 times a year, but last year, I made hubby treat our next door neighbor's yard and asked him to ask our neighbor to treat his yard dog also. I was just getting really frustrated in trying to combat the never ending fleas! I have come to realize that it is not just the common dog flea that drives many pet owners insane every year. It is sand fleas. They live in the warm sand in your yard, along the edges of your street where sand accumulates and mutliply quite rapidly, jumping on animals and humans alike to use as a host. The trick is to treat your yard, BEFORE it starts turning warm and flea eggs start hatching and continue that treatment up until cooler Autumn months arrive. And religiously keep up with your pets flea treatments. And don't let your pet go outside on your lawn where youve treated until 24 hours to be safe. I still deal with some fleas doing this, but not near as bad as we did in the past.
Does anyone else do anything else special that they have found to be helpful against the war on fleas and ticks? It would be very welcome advice!
Now if I could just combat the war on knats and our state bird.... the mosquito.
