Natural Methods to Control Fleas on Your Dog

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     Having fleas goes hand in hand with having a dog. If you don't stay on top of the situation and do what you can to prevent or control an infestation, your home will become overrun with fleas before you know what happened. Both you and your dog will be miserable. Fortunately, there are some good natural products to help control fleas on your dog.

There are a variety of commercial chemical-containing flea control products on the market today, but these may be too harsh and unsafe for your dog. These chemical products are essentially poisons, and some owners report that their dogs have had their health negatively affected by them. In some cases, fleas have become resistant to these chemical treatments and so will sometimes be ineffective at controlling your pet's fleas. Using natural methods to kill fleas is safer for your pet and safer for you as well while still being totally effective.

One natural method of controlling fleas is pyrethrin, a substance extracted from chrysanthemums. Chrysanthemums have been used for pest control for centuries; the pyrethrin is a natural insecticide. It acts as a powerful neurotoxin against fleas, and kills them on contact without harming your pet if used as directed. After being used to kill fleas, pyrethrin oxidizes into harmless compounds, meaning that you don't have to worry about it building up to unsafe levels and causing side effects. Humans and pets only experience negative effects from pyrethrin at extreme levels ?much higher than would be needed to control a flea problem. Another natural way to kill fleas is d-limonene, which is extracted from orange peels. Natural flea sprays and flea baths are available in pet stores containing both of these compounds.

Diatomaceous earth can be used in your home and on your dog's coat to control a flea infestation. It's a silky sedimentary rock made of the calcium of crushed diatoms, which are algae with bony shells. If you purchase food-grade diatomaceous earth, which is available at feed stores and some pet stores, it carries no risks to humans or pets other than drying out the skin. Diatomaceous earth slices into the carapaces of fleas and causes them to bleed moisture, eventually killing them. Rubbing diatomaceous earth onto your dog's coat will cause the fleas to be cut as they move around on it; after, you can give your dog a bath to wash off the diatomaceous earth and the dead fleas.

Garlic and brewer's yeast can be added to a dog's diet to keep your dog flea-free. Adding these to your dog's food will ?after a period of a month or so ?cause your dog's skin to have a taste and odor that repels fleas. Garlic and brewer's yeast are a great way of preventing a flea infestation from starting in the first place ?if the fleas can't feed on your dog, they won't want to infest your home and reproduce. Keep in mind that feeding your dog garlic can make his breath rather pungent, but it's worth it to keep your pet free of fleas.