How to see if your dog has fleas and how to get rid of them if they do have fleas

[Grooming Tips]

If you suspect your dog may have fleas but you do not want to put flea medican on it unless you are sure about it there is an easy way to see if it has fleas while you are bathing it. Fleas become paralized when they incounter Dawn dishwashing soap. So before you bathe your dog with its normal shampoo bathe it in Dawn. If your dog has fleas you will see them fall off of your dog so look carfully in the water and on the sides of the tub for any black dotts. If you do see them then your dog does have fleas and you need to eaither use a flea shampoo on the dog to kill all of the fleas or use flead medican. The Dawn does dry out the skin some so if your dog has dry skin use the oatmeal shampoo after the Dawn. If your dog doesnt have dry skin problems then you can just use its normal shampoo after you have rinsed the Dawn off of it. Many groomers also use Dawn to remove grease and dirt from the dogs fur before using the nice smelling dog shampoo. 

[Jerry Schappert]

Good advice- one note on further treatment for fleas though. Most of the flea medicines like Advantage etc. work 'with' the pets natural oils. If you put it on immediately after a bath you're treatment will not be very effective at all. Give the animals oils a few days to build back up and then apply your flea medicine and you'll get the maximum effect.  

[Regina D.-PBP Event Admin]

All the suggestion sound great. Thanks for sharing.