If your dog ever has had fleas, you know it is a battle. There is a ‘folk rumour’ that may be true: fleas would survive a nuclear catastrophe. If you have gone to battle with fleas, then you would tend to believe in the truth of that belief. There is a holistic approach to ridding your dog of fleas but it does take some work.

Fleas are not only on the dog. They are lurking in other places too, such as the carpeting, the dog bedding and perhaps even your clothes. You must treat the environment, as well as the dog. If you just focus on treating the dog, it will become an endless battle. The fleas will return to the dog if they are not eliminated from the dog’s environment.

Salt will help eliminate the fleas. The salt will be a dehydrating agent. Salt can be used alone or with equal parts baking soda. If you are using this mixture on the carpet, leave this on the carpet overnight. And then vacuum this up. Repeat this for four more days. - Yes, it is loads of work. (And please test this on a small part of your carpet to make sure that the material will not be damaged.)

The dog is treated with the same mixture of salt and baking soda. It is so much easier to do this outdoors. Make sure you have enough supplies on hand. Your dog will shake some of this off and, of course, be prepared to have this all over your clothes. Try to leave this on the dog for three hours at least. Then, comb out the dog. Be sure to comb out the dog before giving it a bath. If your dog will allow you, it would be a good idea to run the vacuum over the dog. Then bath the dog. And yes, repeat this for four more days. Doing this once will not eliminate the problem. Eliminating fleas just seems endless - but this method does work.

Catherine Forsythe

Tags: fleas, dogs, treatment, salt, baking soda