How to Get Rid of Fleas on a Dog in Cambridgeshire

We are pest controllers, not vets, so this guide does not tell you which product to put on your dog. What it does cover is how to be sure it is fleas, what the treatment on the dog can and cannot do, and the parts of the problem that sit around the dog rather than on it.

How to Check Your Dog for Fleas

A dog with fleas usually scratches, nibbles or licks more than normal, often around the base of the tail, the lower back, the belly and the back of the legs. Some dogs react strongly to bites and some barely seem to notice, so scratching alone is not proof either way.

• Part the fur along the back and near the tail and look at the skin. Adult fleas are small, dark and fast, and they move away through the coat rather than sitting still.
• Use a fine-toothed flea comb over a sheet of white paper or a pale towel, working from the neck towards the tail.
• Look for flea dirt. These are tiny black specks, like ground pepper, that fall out of the coat.
• Do the damp paper test. Put the specks on wet kitchen roll. Flea dirt is digested blood and smudges reddish-brown; ordinary dirt stays black.

If you find nothing but the dog is still uncomfortable, it may be something else entirely, such as an allergy or a skin condition, and the vet is the right person to look.

Treating the Dog Itself

The vet will recommend a product based on the dog's size, age, health and lifestyle. Follow the dose and the interval exactly, and treat every dog and cat in the household at the same time, not just the one that is scratching.

Baths, shampoos and combing can remove fleas from the coat on the day, and combing is a good way to check progress. None of them keeps new fleas off for long, which is why the vet's ongoing product does the real work.

The Fleas You Cannot See on the Dog

This is the part most owners miss. The adult fleas on the dog are only a small share of what is there. The eggs they lay fall off as the dog moves around, and the larvae and pupae develop in its bed, the carpet, the sofa and the car.

• The dog's bed and blankets: wash hot, or replace if they are old and hard to clean.
• The crate and the car: vacuum the boot, the seats and any mat or cover the dog lies on, then wash what can be washed.
• The house: vacuum thoroughly where the dog sleeps and lies, along the edges of rooms and under furniture, and empty the vacuum outside.
• The garden: shaded spots the dog likes to lie in can hold developing fleas in warm weather, but the house is where most of the problem is.

Treat the dog and you deal with today's fleas. Treat where it sleeps and you deal with next month's.

When the House Needs Professional Treatment

If the dog has been treated properly and you are still seeing fleas in the house after a couple of weeks, or people are being bitten around the ankles, the infestation is established in the property. At that point the pet treatment is still needed, but it will not fix the house on its own.

Our flea control service treats the property, concentrating on the floor coverings, the edges and the places the dog habitually rests. It is £220 for the first room, plus £60 for each additional room, with no call-out fee, and the total is confirmed before anything is booked. The flea treatment price guide explains how the rooms are counted.

We tell you before the visit what will be used, where, and when the rooms can be used again, and how to handle the dog on the day. Follow those instructions, and speak to your vet about anything to do with the dog's health. There is more on this in our article on pets and family around a treatment.

Every treatment is guaranteed: if the problem comes back within 14 days of treatment, we return and re-treat free of charge. For how long the whole process takes, see how long flea treatment takes.