How to get rid of dog fleas naturally

Pet owners everywhere are at one time or another faced with the issue of DOG FLEAS! Our local pet supply store sells an assortment of flea collars, flea shampoo, and flea powders. It’s impossible to know which to use and almost impossible to know all of the active ingredients of these dog flea products. You always want to check the hazardous side-effects of those trusted, but potentially highly harmful (to dog and person) dog flea products. Chemicals used in many of the household name products and major popular brands on the market may be poisoning our pets, and marginalizing our own health at the same time.

More and more people are seeking natural or homeopathic alternatives to the issue of dog fleas. Some of the most commonly used natural dog flea remedies are listed below:

1. For the adult dog fleas, you could try an olive oil bath. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the fleas just drown in the olive oil and fall out of your pets coat. Start from the head and work your way back so the fleas don't move to the face where it's really hard to pluck them off. Then you just shampoo the oil out and the dog fleas wash down the drain.

2. Other solutions suggest garlic IS the way to go in the war against dog fleas! Use fresh garlic diced in a food processor. You can put a dab of oil into it in order to chop it to smaller pieces plus the oil will make for a nice shiny coat. Some users of this solution suggest using a garlic supplement while others use a fresh garlic clove and mix it into the food.

3. Another solution is the use of household salt. Sprinkle it all over the house and let it sit for a week or more. Apparently fleas don’t seem to like salt. Your dog will lay on the carpet and in the process salt will get on his coat. This seems to drive the fleas away, because shortly thereafter the fleas are gone.

4. Talcum powder has long been known as a natural remedy to treat dog fleas. Just cover your dog or cat with baby powder and this will smother the fleas. This remedy is often recommended for puppies or kittens who are too young to be treated with any flea chemical. Another similar remedy is to use baking soda.

Something else to consider is simply to try and reduce your dog’s exposure to fleas. You may want to begin by getting rid of dog fleas outside your home or your pets will continue to get infested. One way to get rid of them outside is to install a Purple Martin bird house. Purple Martins will eat dog and cat fleas, thus keeping the outdoors flea free.

So there are many natural alternatives to treating dog fleas that you can try. However, with all matters pertaining to the health of our dogs and cats, please check with your doctor about potential side effects. Please feel free to add any "all natural-home remedies" that you feel successfully treat dog fleas.

Please check back regularly as we try to continually update our pet health information. We welcome your comments.