# Natural flea/tick preventative in the SE



## annap24 (Jul 22, 2014)

As a Georgia resident, we have a great deal of ticks and fleas, especially in the summer. I've been researching different preventatives and their effects. My dogs have been on Advantage and Trifexis (at different times) and I have still found fleas on them. Since apparently nothing has 100% prevention, I have been looking into more natural alternatives such as garlic. Does anyone in the Southeast US have experience with natural flea/tick prevention compared to traditional chemical methods? I'm trying to be as informed as possible. I have read one recent thread about one person in SC's experience, but I was wanting to see if anyone else had tried. Thanks!


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I'm an "all of the above" consumer in the SE with regard to parasites! It doesn't have to be either/or -- use the natural stuff that's proven to work for you, and fill in with synthetics when you need something more.

I douse the yard regularly in Wondercide (cedar oil), and has it kept it flea and tick-free (in Louisiana, that's saying something). However, we go to lots of dog parks and other outdoor recreational areas that are loaded with fleas...and Advantage Multi has worked great for us (it's also our HW preventative, since it has an extra ingredient for that).

I've heard good things about Vectra 3D from friends. The new Bayer Saresto collars are also supposed to be working pretty well down here.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I am sold on the garlic for ticks and fleas in general though I have had to fight one flea issue with topicals


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

jocoyn said:


> I am sold on the garlic for ticks and fleas in general though I have had to fight one flea issue with topicals


I keep trying to get in touch with them at Springtime but they aren't around for the holidays. On the web it has where you click buy 2 of the garlic(powder) are two of them 48 or each one 48? I'm thinking 48 for two and then another one is free?

When I order 1 set of 2 it tells me I'm like $31 away from free product, then I update that to 2 and it gives me an option to pick free item but the granules are not one of them?


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I would just wait until you call them.


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

We are in NE Georgia and had great luck with BOG. We had two dogs that tended to pick up ticks even with the minimum dosage so I switched those to the moderate dosage and that did the trick. We didn't have any flea problems with that and we swim them very often in the summer as well and the BOG was effective. Several of our club members also use the DE and say how great that is. We have 5-6 dogs most of the time so BOG was very affordable for us but I also like the Preventic collars (although unsightly to me, and more expensive).

ETA: I use to use Advantix but had a VERY bad experience where all four of my dogs had a reaction and I came home from work/school with diarrhea and vomiting from every single one for about a week. They also lost a huge amount of hair. I avoid topicals if even remotely possible now.


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## annap24 (Jul 22, 2014)

FG167 said:


> We are in NE Georgia and had great luck with BOG. We had two dogs that tended to pick up ticks even with the minimum dosage so I switched those to the moderate dosage and that did the trick. We didn't have any flea problems with that and we swim them very often in the summer as well and the BOG was effective. Several of our club members also use the DE and say how great that is. We have 5-6 dogs most of the time so BOG was very affordable for us but I also like the Preventic collars (although unsightly to me, and more expensive).
> 
> ETA: I use to use Advantix but had a VERY bad experience where all four of my dogs had a reaction and I came home from work/school with diarrhea and vomiting from every single one for about a week. They also lost a huge amount of hair. I avoid topicals if even remotely possible now.



I am in NE Georgia too! I really don't like the topicals either. I'm thinking about trying BOG. Do you use it year round?


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## annap24 (Jul 22, 2014)

Magwart said:


> I'm an "all of the above" consumer in the SE with regard to parasites! It doesn't have to be either/or -- use the natural stuff that's proven to work for you, and fill in with synthetics when you need something more.
> 
> I douse the yard regularly in Wondercide (cedar oil), and has it kept it flea and tick-free (in Louisiana, that's saying something). However, we go to lots of dog parks and other outdoor recreational areas that are loaded with fleas...and Advantage Multi has worked great for us (it's also our HW preventative, since it has an extra ingredient for that).
> 
> I've heard good things about Vectra 3D from friends. The new Bayer Saresto collars are also supposed to be working pretty well down here.



I've been looking into the Seresto collar because it is a good price and it releases the chemicals slowly over time without using a topical. That is impressive about the Wondercide! How much do you use?


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

annap24 said:


> I've been looking into the Seresto collar because it is a good price and it releases the chemicals slowly over time without using a topical. That is impressive about the Wondercide! How much do you use?


I use Scalibor Collars and they work well(they are water resistant) and I have swimmers. The Seresto Collar is reduced from 8 months to 5 months if dogs swim more then 1x a month.


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## annap24 (Jul 22, 2014)

llombardo said:


> I use Scalibor Collars and they work well(they are water resistant) and I have swimmers. The Seresto Collar is reduced from 8 months to 5 months if dogs swim more then 1x a month.



Good to know! My Lab is a swimmer for sure, and Reagan likes to swim occasionally. I'll look into the Scalibor collar!


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

I feed garlic regularly and make homemade natural spray (ie. citronella, lemongrass, cedar wood). The only two things with the spray is 1) you've to make sure it covers the dog in its entirety or the ticks would latch onto wherever it's not sprayed, 2) it needs re-application often especially if the dog swims, otherwise it'll last a couple days.

These two things have worked great for my dog. The fleas hate citronella and it doesn't take much. One time I had a flea crawling in my hair that I couldn't locate and with just one drop of citronella the flea fell out of my hair dead soon after. 

I bought the Springtime granules deal that llombardo mentioned and it lasted well over a year. I've 3 dogs who get the maximum dosage twice a day plus fosters time to time. I'm out now so I'm crushing fresh garlic for them. 

Garlic is also great for cleaning out internal parasites/worms. I had a foster that pooped worm-like things for a few days after I fed it garlic. Then he was clean after that.


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

annap24 said:


> I am in NE Georgia too! I really don't like the topicals either. I'm thinking about trying BOG. Do you use it year round?


We just used it for summer. We do hike and take our dogs lots of places and haven't had problems with ticks or fleas yet but if we did, it's so inexpensive to do year around.


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## annap24 (Jul 22, 2014)

FG167 said:


> We just used it for summer. We do hike and take our dogs lots of places and haven't had problems with ticks or fleas yet but if we did, it's so inexpensive to do year around.



Great! I'll probably go ahead and start it soon. It's good to know that it works well for someone in the same area as me. Do you mind sharing where you go hiking/take your dogs? I just moved up this way from Athens so I'm looking for places to take the dogs to explore!


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## annap24 (Jul 22, 2014)

Bear L said:


> I feed garlic regularly and make homemade natural spray (ie. citronella, lemongrass, cedar wood). The only two things with the spray is 1) you've to make sure it covers the dog in its entirety or the ticks would latch onto wherever it's not sprayed, 2) it needs re-application often especially if the dog swims, otherwise it'll last a couple days.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Wow I'm impressed that it lasts so long! I have 45, 55, and 65 pound dogs. I'll probably do the max dose since I live in the south.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Bear L said:


> I feed garlic regularly and make homemade natural spray (ie. citronella, lemongrass, cedar wood). The only two things with the spray is 1) you've to make sure it covers the dog in its entirety or the ticks would latch onto wherever it's not sprayed, 2) it needs re-application often especially if the dog swims, otherwise it'll last a couple days.
> 
> These two things have worked great for my dog. The fleas hate citronella and it doesn't take much. One time I had a flea crawling in my hair that I couldn't locate and with just one drop of citronella the flea fell out of my hair dead soon after.
> 
> ...


I ended up ordering like 10 pounds of garlic. That should be good for awhile?


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I also ordered this http://www.wondercide.com/natural-soap-bar-with-citronella-geranium-repel/ for the dogs and for myself


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

annap24 said:


> Wow I'm impressed that it lasts so long! I have 45, 55, and 65 pound dogs. I'll probably do the max dose since I live in the south.


One of my dogs is only 9 lbs and never hikes so he gets very little, sometimes none. The other two are 62lbs and 55lbs. The fosters don't get it regularly nor the maximum dosage as I never have them long enough to acclimate them to the max dosage. 

The taste takes some dogs a while of getting used to.


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## annap24 (Jul 22, 2014)

llombardo said:


> I ended up ordering like 10 pounds of garlic. That should be good for awhile?



If I did my math right, 7.5 pounds of it has about 1200 scoops. You can figure out based on scoops per day for your dogs how long it should last!


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

annap24 said:


> If I did my math right, 7.5 pounds of it has about 1200 scoops. You can figure out based on scoops per day for your dogs how long it should last!


After I redid the math, it's actually 15 pounds. With your math that comes to 2400 scoops. That is lots of garlic. It will last almost 5 months at med-high dosage.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

About 13 or 14 years ago Whole Dog Journal had a series of articles that concluded with natural flea/tick repellants. The pound puppy (about 8 yo) was loaded with fleas. I used this on him before bringing him home and he never had another flea. (I do not remember what the recommended mixture was but it sure did the trick.) My other dogs (the late Barker Sisters) and their heirs did not get fleas in Arkansas. I guess the weather was too miserable for fleas... Ticks were another matter and what I did was pick ticks. Always and often.


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

llombardo said:


> I also ordered this Natural Shampoo Soap Bar with Citronella & Geranium for the dogs and for myself


Hey llombardo!
Thanks for this!
We will be vacationing soon in Florida and a bar of herbal soap will be very convenient to carry (instead of my homemade liquid Doggie Shampoo) to do a quick wash of dogs everyday after playing in the ocean! This should keep the "no-see-um's" away! 

Moms


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Momto2GSDs said:


> Hey llombardo!
> Thanks for this!
> We will be vacationing soon in Florida and a bar of herbal soap will be very convenient to carry (instead of my homemade liquid Doggie Shampoo) to do a quick wash of dogs everyday after playing in the ocean!


Just wanted to add that I've been using the Wonderside bar soap on the dogs for several months and LOVE it as an alternative to liquid shampoo. 

I put the bar in a mesh bag from the dollar store (an old lingerie laundry bag would work; so would the little mesh bags that bulbs of garlic come in). The bag is important as it makes it "grippy" when you use it, so it won't fly out of your hand when wet. It also allows you to hang it to dry. 

It's a thousand times easier to wash a dog with this kind of bar than with liquid soap--you'll be amazed how much faster the bath goes. The bar seems like it will last a very long time. The dogs smell really good after the bath too


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Magwart said:


> Just wanted to add that I've been using the Wonderside bar soap on the dogs for several months and LOVE it as an alternative to liquid shampoo.
> 
> I put the bar in a mesh bag from the dollar store (an old lingerie laundry bag would work; so would the little mesh bags that bulbs of garlic come in). The bag is important as it makes it "grippy" when you use it, so it won't fly out of your hand when wet. It also allows you to hang it to dry.
> 
> It's a thousand times easier to wash a dog with this kind of bar than with liquid soap--you'll be amazed how much faster the bath goes. The bar seems like it will last a very long time. The dogs smell really good after the bath too


I'm going to use the sacks from the pet store that filter media for fish tanks is put in. Hopefully that works.


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## Traveler's Mom (Sep 24, 2012)

llombardo,

I don't think the filter bags will work. We have tanks and I have found that roughing them up a little to clean and reuse leaves them worse for wear. I usually get some thin spots or even holes.

I don't know enough to say don't try it but you may end up with white fuzzy material tangled up in the dog fur.

Lynn & Traveler


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