Recommendation on flea control for pup's under 8 weeks

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Postby RastaPitLover » September 5th, 2009, 8:24 pm

My lil' man (almost 4 weeks) has a slight case of fleas. I wanna nip them in the bud before it gets outta hand. I've read to just wash him off in regular dish soap and comb them out. Somewhere else said to use conditioner. I bought some Sentry Pro flea shampoo (rec. by the lady at the local pet store) and dilute it with dish soap.

Any suggestions? I wanna get a 2nd opinion before i start.

Thank you :)
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Postby katiek0417 » September 5th, 2009, 9:03 pm

On puppies of that age you have to be very careful....

Here's the problem: most fleas like to hang out around the neck area...that's very close to the eyes, and regular shampoos/soap will hurt their eyes if it gets in...

What I would do is use 1 tbsp of Joy (lemon) dish soap, and dilute it with 1/2 cup of water....use that as a shampoo....be very careful around the face/neck area.

Make sure you rinse VERY well.

From the pet store get a shampoo recommended for puppies. Use that as a second shampoo, then rinse again. You want to use both b/c the Joy will be very hard on a puppy's sensitive skin...the puppy shampoo should help to put the moisture back...

Also, if you don't have one, get a heating pad. After the bath, dry the puppies as much as possible with a towel, them place them in a towel lined box (I like baby pools for puppies) with the heating pad under the towels. You have to be careful that the puppies don't catch a chill (which is rather easy at that age) so the heating pad will help with that...

Finally, if you've had the puppies in your house, then it's likely that some fleas have already jumped off and are laying eggs...you will probably have to bomb the house to get rid of them...
"Rumor has it, compulsion is evil."

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Postby plebayo » September 5th, 2009, 10:45 pm

What I would do is use 1 tbsp of Joy (lemon) dish soap, and dilute it with 1/2 cup of water....use that as a shampoo....be very careful around the face/neck area.


I totally agree with this ^^

Flea shampoo can kill or make your puppy sick, I would never use a flea shampoo.

As soon as the pup is 6 weeks you can apply Advantage/Frontline/Revolution which should take care of the flea problem.

For fleas around your house you can put a flea collar in the bag/chamber of your vacuum and vacuum your house a few times a week to help get rid of the fleas faster.
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Postby kera09 » September 6th, 2009, 12:28 am

garlic (small doses) and apple cider vinegar also work very well.if you can help it, try NOT to use the flea meds.
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Postby RastaPitLover » September 6th, 2009, 12:53 am

Thank you for the advice.

I have them confined to my home office in a collapsible crate & try not to tote them around the house. I figure this will confine them (fleas) to 1 room. (easier to treat)

My brother was telling me about the Garlic & the Vinegar. Me being an island boy, i'm all for natural remedies.

As of now my plan is to....
*Wash them (twice if needed) with Ivory dish soap (diluted)
*Mix a tiny bit (Can anyone give a rec. amount) of Garlic powder in their formula)
*Add cider chips to the crate

Am i good so far?
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Postby RastaPitLover » September 6th, 2009, 2:12 am

Almost forgot. Can anybody recommend on what should i use for getting rid of them in the room? I'm not sure if i can use an OTC spray or somthing :|
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Postby Malli » September 6th, 2009, 2:48 am

Unfortunately, if you have fleas in one room, you have them in your entire house. Possibly your yard as well.

While the natural remedies mentioned may help deter fleas, I highly doubt they will rid your home and your dogs of an infestation. It is VERY important to get rid of fleas on puppies, they can cause Anemia in short order and make a puppy VERY sick!!

If you are going to try Cedar chips, make sure that the puppy(ies) can't eat them or what you put them in! ;)

Do you have a litter or just one puppy?
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Postby katiek0417 » September 6th, 2009, 9:20 am

RastaPitLover wrote:Thank you for the advice.

I have them confined to my home office in a collapsible crate & try not to tote them around the house. I figure this will confine them (fleas) to 1 room. (easier to treat)

My brother was telling me about the Garlic & the Vinegar. Me being an island boy, i'm all for natural remedies.

As of now my plan is to....
*Wash them (twice if needed) with Ivory dish soap (diluted)
*Mix a tiny bit (Can anyone give a rec. amount) of Garlic powder in their formula)
*Add cider chips to the crate

Am i good so far?


Don't use Ivory....it actually needs to be a Joy or Palmolive citrus dish soap...

I wouldn't use cedar chips until the pups are 5-6 weeks old (preferably 6), at this age the dust can still hurt their lungs and they can ingest small pieces (their tongues/mouths don't work as well as a 6 week old's so they have trouble getting the cedar out of their mouths if it gets in). Trust me, with every litter, I'm usually dying to use cedar (just for the smell) by the time the pups are 4 weeks old, and every time I have to tell myself I can't!

Finally, be VERY careful with garlic. Garlic, in high doses, can be toxic to a dog. That being said, in a young puppy whose organs are still developing even small doses can be highly toxic!
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Postby RastaPitLover » September 7th, 2009, 6:07 pm

Thank you for all the advice. :wave2:

Would it be safe for him if i put the cedar chips in a pillow case next to his bed or does he need to be close or in contact with it?

Would say a 1/4 tsp for 5 ounces of formula?

My worry right now is drying him off without him getting sick. I think i might tire him out right before i wash. This way i can dry him off as much as i can and stick him in the bed. It sits on top of a heating pad.
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Postby katiek0417 » September 7th, 2009, 7:57 pm

RastaPitLover wrote:Thank you for all the advice. :wave2:

Would it be safe for him if i put the cedar chips in a pillow case next to his bed or does he need to be close or in contact with it?

Would say a 1/4 tsp for 5 ounces of formula?

My worry right now is drying him off without him getting sick. I think i might tire him out right before i wash. This way i can dry him off as much as i can and stick him in the bed. It sits on top of a heating pad.


I think cedar in pillow cases would be fine...

Can you get Neem oil somewhere?
"Rumor has it, compulsion is evil."

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Postby RastaPitLover » September 7th, 2009, 10:04 pm

I think i might have some Neem. If not, there's a heath store not far from me. Should i rub it on him after the bath?

He's looking at me right now with those puppy blue eye's saying "Get these lil' schit's off me please" :D
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Postby katiek0417 » September 7th, 2009, 10:36 pm

You'll want to dilute it in water, then use it as a rinse...then dry him off well...
"Rumor has it, compulsion is evil."

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Postby Malli » September 8th, 2009, 2:59 am

why do you have a 4 week old puppy?
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Postby katiek0417 » September 8th, 2009, 4:44 am

Malli wrote:why do you have a 4 week old puppy?


viewtopic.php?f=2&p=351601#p351601

:wink:
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Postby Malli » September 8th, 2009, 1:25 pm

oh, gotcha Katie!

I want to emphasize again that if there are fleas on one animal, they all have them, so they all have to be treated.
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Postby RastaPitLover » September 8th, 2009, 8:50 pm

I only have my boy now. She came a got the other 2.
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Postby Malli » September 9th, 2009, 3:17 am

Do you not have other dogs in your home? :?
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Postby katiek0417 » September 9th, 2009, 4:47 am

RastaPitLover wrote:I only have my boy now. She came a got the other 2.


If you don't mind me asking...why?
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Postby RastaPitLover » September 9th, 2009, 3:04 pm

katiek0417 wrote:
RastaPitLover wrote:I only have my boy now. She came a got the other 2.


If you don't mind me asking...why?


Why did she come & get them or why do i have a 4 week old pup? I'll answer both...


The reason why i i took him early was the mother (Sandy) wasn't feeling well at the time & we didn't want the pup's to feed from her until we found out what the problem was. Between her and her husband and me & my wife, we took the roll of mother to a few of them...including my boy (Dub). Sandy has since gotten a clean bill of health. She was exhausted. 10 healthy &hungry pup's will do that.
She came & got the other so she can start them on their flea treatment. (Update in last paragraph)

We later found out that the boxer she was dog sitting (her brother-in-laws) had fleas. Her brother-in-law assured at the time his dog was flea free. Well he was wrong cause Sandy, the pup's & her female boxer (The both boxers are sibblings) got them.

My wife's friend got something from the vet to take care of the fleas, both on the pup and for the house, that is safe for him. The vet said it should clear up within a week for her, much sooner for me. This is because she's treating 11. They have to be flea free before they get their first rounds of shots. Vet also gave her some worming meds.
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Postby katiek0417 » September 9th, 2009, 5:16 pm

RastaPitLover wrote:
Why did she come & get them or why do i have a 4 week old pup? I'll answer both...


The reason why i i took him early was the mother (Sandy) wasn't feeling well at the time & we didn't want the pup's to feed from her until we found out what the problem was. Between her and her husband and me & my wife, we took the roll of mother to a few of them...including my boy (Dub). Sandy has since gotten a clean bill of health. She was exhausted. 10 healthy &hungry pup's will do that.
She came & got the other so she can start them on their flea treatment. (Update in last paragraph)

We later found out that the boxer she was dog sitting (her brother-in-laws) had fleas. Her brother-in-law assured at the time his dog was flea free. Well he was wrong cause Sandy, the pup's & her female boxer (The both boxers are sibblings) got them.

My wife's friend got something from the vet to take care of the fleas, both on the pup and for the house, that is safe for him. The vet said it should clear up within a week for her, much sooner for me. This is because she's treating 11. They have to be flea free before they get their first rounds of shots. Vet also gave her some worming meds.


Okay, I'm not being judgmental...however, I just finished handraising a litter (not by choice) from day 1...and I was reluctant to do so.

Behavior can be affected enough when a group of puppies are handraised. You tend to find these pups to be more dominant with humans, and they just have more behavior problems than puppies that live with mom until they are 8 weeks old. That being said one puppy being handraised BY ITSELF can be downright heartbreaking.

I won't go into all the gory details....but I handraised a single pup before (prior to this litter). I love him with all of my heart. I put him down when he was a year and a half old. He was food aggressive and dog aggressive by the time he was 6 weeks old. When we tried to correct that behavior, he became fear aggressive. Extremely. This dog wouldn't hesitate to bite either myself or my fiance when he was scared.

You can read this thread for more info.

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=25528

And here's the kicker - even though he was handraised - he had interactions with his mom, and other dogs in our house...yet he still turned out to have these aggression issues.

Your pup's mother is healthy enough to interact and care for these pups, and that is the best place for him. You can not possibly give him the interaction and lessons in doggie manners that he can learn from being with his littermates and his mom. Not to say that you don't have good intentions, but no matter how well-meaning, human beings are NOT dogs.

We corrected Rocky the way we thought his mother would. I pet him and held him when he was eating. I did everything that you would think would work to make this puppy normal. The problems still developed - and the more research I did (sadly it was too late) I found that the issues I was facing were all too common in a pup that is handraised by itself.

Again, not being judgmental...but I really want people to be spared of the heartbreak that I experienced with Rocky....and, in this case, I really think you can be...
"Rumor has it, compulsion is evil."

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