Controlling Fleas & Flea Allergies in the Family Dog

Caring for our family pets becomes increasingly important during the spring and summer months when pesty insects can wreak havoc on the life of your family dog. Fleas, ticks and mosquitoes can be found in abundance, especially in the backyard, and should be controlled with proper lawn care and maintenance.

Of these pests, fleas can severely impact not only the health of your dog but also the entire family. Once a home is infested with fleas, it is extremely difficult to remedy the flea infestation. For this reason, as a dog owner, when the first indication of fleas are seen on your dog, it is important to treat the problem promptly and then work to control and prevent the flea infestation in the future.

Because fleas spend most of their life on the skin of your dog, they create ailments through the creation of skin disorders. In fact, some dogs, when bitten by fleas and injected with the flea saliva, suffer an allergic reaction resulting in severe itching. With this consistent itching, the dog may develop lesions in the skin. Of interesting note is the degree to which a dog scratches the area of a flea bite. For some dogs, the allergic reaction may not be significant. As a result, the dog's skin and hair could be severely infested with fleas and flea eggs and the dog will show very little in terms of distress.

On the other hand, some dogs respond violently with the slightest flea infestation, scratching and scratching until the skin is raw and lesions develop.

In addition to the annoying scratching and lesion development, fleas can also pose a health risk to your dog through the transmission of diseases such as the bubonic plague, typhus and the tapeworm, all of which lead to life threatening complications.