puppy with fleas?

[marlo]

i have a 4 month old dalmation springer spaniel mix puppy, she weighs 20 lbs. what can i use for fleas?

[Ritz459]

The best bet is to talk to your vet. I don't know if a four month old puppy can be placed on flea and tick pervenative, so I'd ask your vet about that.

I do know you can give him a flea bath to help kill the fleas, but this will only work if you get rid of all of the fleas in your house and yard or else your pup will just be reinfested. If you can't find a flea shampoo, you can take him to a groomer's and have them give your pup a flea bath.
When you give a fleabath, lather the soap up around the pup's face and rear to stop fleas from fleeing into the mouth/ears/nose/anus. Wash the dog EVERYWHERE: between the toes, the armpits, the tail, and then let them sit for about 5-10 minutes (or following the instructions of the shampoo. Each one is different). After that rinse extreamly well.
I know that with the flea shampoo that we use where I work at, you need to wear gloves while handling it as it can irritate human skin, so make sure you read any warnings that are on the bottle.

There is also a pill (I think it is called Capstar? Could be wrong) that your vet can give you that kills the fleas on your dog. As with the flea bath, this will only work as long as the dog isn't reintroduced to the fleas.

If your dog doesn't have fleas and you are just looking for a prevenative, I'm sure there are some holistic recipes for flea and tick control that would work fine on a younger dog. I don't know any, but other members are here do.

[calgal]

Get an all natural herbal flea powder at one of the pet stores. It's safe for new puppies. You can also make your own flea repellent shampoo by adding 20 drops of either rosemary, peppermint, eucalyptus or pennyroyal oil to 16 oz. of shampoo.