flea

Question
i have 2 great dogs but both are FLEA BAGS. i give then frontline plus, sprayed where they sleep, flea shampoos and spray the yard. which is the best product out there. i use frontline plus. but others are on the market.

also a friend suggests brewers yeast with garlic tabs chewables and apparently the garlic rejects the fleas and they love the treat..

HELP. thanks  

Answer
I have heard the garlic suggestion before, and it may work for people, but it won't work on dogs. The idea is that the fleas won't like the smell of the garlic, which is excreted via the sweat glands.  The reason it won't work on dogs is that they only have sweat glands on the bottom of their feet, where fleas normally don't hang out.  Frontline plus is a great product, but I have had complaints from other clients who use Frontline religiously and then start to develop a flea problem.  It seems that some fleas can build up some resistance to it if its used all the time, so switching to a product like Advantage or Advantix may help.  If the fleas are really bad you can even apply it every 2 weeks instead of monthly.  The key to getting rid of fleas is the environment.  Most of the flea's life cycle actually takes place off your dogs.  The will lay their eggs in the bedding, carpet, even cracks in hard wood floors.  There is a great product on the market called FleaMaxx.  It's boric acid, which is safe for you and your pets, but dries out the flea's egg casing so they don't hatch.  Something else you can try is Sentinel.  It is made by Novartis, the same company that makes Interceptor, and is a monthly heartworm prevention and flea sterilizer.  It won't kill the fleas, but it will keep them from breeding.

Amanda