Safe, Natural Home Remedies to Eliminate Fleas on Dogs

Things You'll Need

• Garlic

• Salt

• Diatomaceous earth

• Cedar chips

• Dish Soap

• Apple cider vinegar

• Steam cleaner

Warning

Do not use any hazardous chemicals around your dogs. Many commercial flea treatments contain chemicals that are harmful to your pets, so use caution.

Tip

Treat your house and pets frequently to avoid flea infestations. There is almost no way to totally prevent fleas, but regular treatments will keep problems to a minimum.

A few home remedies, carefully applied, can keep fleas off your dogs.

For nearly all of recorded history, dogs have aided man in hunting, gathering livestock and protecting the family. In modern times, dogs have become known less as working guardians and more as family companions. Owning dogs, however, isn't always an easy task. Dogs get fleas on a regular basis. Fleas are bloodsucking parasites that feed off of warm-blooded creatures, making dogs an ideal host. Ridding your dog, and your home, of fleas can be a challenge, but with a few ingredients and a little time, it can be done.

Step 1

Check your home for fleas. Adult fleas will appear as small black dots about the size of a pinhead. Set a bowl of soapy water under a night light overnight. In the morning, you will notice a number of little black spots in the bowl if you have fleas.

Step 2

Feed your dog a couple of cloves of garlic daily. Garlic is known to repel adult fleas and keep them from infesting your dog. Take care not to let any cats eat garlic because it is toxic to cats.

Step 3

Place cedar chips in and around your dog's bed. If your dog's bed has a zipper on it, place a few handfuls of cedar chips inside the bedding to repel fleas. You can also mix apple cider vinegar in with your dog's drinking water. The vinegar also serves as a flea repellent.

Step 4

Bathe your dog in a mixture of dish soap and water. Allow the soap to penetrate your dog's coat for 10 minutes, then rinse to remove all traces of soap. This will kill all the fleas on your dog.

Step 5

Sprinkle a generous amount of salt over your carpet and vacuum thoroughly. The salt helps to disturb the life cycle of the flea and will kill the adults. Empty your vacuum when you are finished.

Step 6

Steam clean all of the fabric surfaces in your house. The steam will kill the pupae stage of the fleas and will prevent any further adult fleas from being produced.

Step 7

Cover your yard with a thin sprinkling of diatomaceous earth. The diatomaceous earth contains very small sharp edges that will poke through the hard exoskeleton of the adult fleas and kill them, preventing the life cycle from repeating.

Always check with your veterinarian before changing your pet’s diet, medication, or physical activity routines. This information is not a substitute for a vet’s opinion.