crate question and flea treatment

linsjean · 11-03-2009, 09:10 PM

Hi,

My housemate is wondering how long do we need to crate our pup at night (he does very well in there). I guess he thinks it's cruel, but the main question is when can we trust him unsupervised to roam the house free? It's almost 100 percent potty trained. He will sleep and hold it until about 7 am in the crate.

I'm guessing one good trial might be to let the housemate and me go into our rooms during the day time and see how long he scratches on our doors. Otherwise at night, we both won't get any sleep, and I start a new job tomorrow.

Also, Buddy has been itching for a long time now and housemate flea treated him AGAIN with Advantage after two weeks from the last time. I thought you needed to wait at least a month because they can build up an immunity to the flea treatment. What's your take on this?

thanks!
Linda

SandyPuppy · 11-03-2009, 10:28 PM

Its generally advised to crate the puppy at night until he is one year old. If he is fully potty trained and you feel you can trust him all night, every night, until you let him out in the morning, then use your own judgement.

In my area, the fleas have become immune to advantage and frontline so you may need to just use something else. It is fine to reapply it after two weeks though. But not more often than that!

linsjean · 11-03-2009, 10:56 PM

Thank you!

meandean · 11-03-2009, 11:31 PM

are you actually seeing fleas?? some dogs are just itchy. such is our dog. we give him a bath with oatmeal shampoo which seems to relieve it a bit. took him to the vet over the weekend and sounds like he may have allergies.

linsjean · 11-04-2009, 09:06 AM

We had Buddy get an oatmeal shampoo too, but it was of no help. No can't see fleas, but someone told me fleas can jump on a dog, bit them and then jump off. However, we are not seeing any black specs on his favorite white blanket.

Vet seems to think that Buddy just has sensitive skin, or could be chicken in his dog food. We have switched to three different dog foods, so I don't know what's up. thanks.

linsjean · 11-04-2009, 04:05 PM

Thanks for that crate answer. It seems large enough or him to grow into also. It's also good for us to have a break sometimes! Especially when he wants a nap. I make I praise him real well when he goes in. I don't hear any whining right yet!

Yeah, tried Advantage and next was Hartz (sp?).

Did someone here mention it might be dry skin and to try a little cooking oil in his food?

Willowy · 11-04-2009, 04:12 PM

What are you feeding him? While some dogs are allergic to chicken, corn is a more common allergen. And he is a bit young for food allergies to show up. If you want to add oil to his diet, fish oil has more bio-available omega-3 fatty acids than any vegetable oil.

Hartz brand flea treatment is very toxic, be careful. A vet brand like Advantage or Frontline would be better. Ask your vet about Comfortis. So far fleas haven't become immune to that yet.

linsjean · 11-04-2009, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willowy

What are you feeding him? While some dogs are allergic to chicken, corn is a more common allergen. And he is a bit young for food allergies to show up. If you want to add oil to his diet, fish oil has more bio-available omega-3 fatty acids than any vegetable oil.

Hartz brand flea treatment is very toxic, be careful. A vet brand like Advantage or Frontline would be better. Ask your vet about Comfortis. So far fleas haven't become immune to that yet.

What? In what way toxic? Could this be why our Buddy has lost his appetite? I will check into Comfortis. Thanks.

Willowy · 11-04-2009, 05:29 PM

All flea treatments are made with pesticides, it can't be helped. But the cheaper brands are made with more toxic pesticides, as the safer ones are more expensive to produce. Advantage and Frontline are made with some of the safer pesticides.

Hartz, especially, has been linked to many health problems, mostly in cats, but also in dogs. If you do a Google search, you should be able to find some interesting reading.

I don't know if this is why Buddy has lost his appetite. That could be due to many things. I think a vet visit would be in order if his appetite doesn't perk up soon.

bfoster · 11-09-2009, 01:39 PM

If you have fleas you need to treat the house also not just the dog. You will never get rid of them if you don't.

linsjean · 11-10-2009, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfoster

If you have fleas you need to treat the house also not just the dog. You will never get rid of them if you don't.

How many hours do we (and pup) need to be away from the house if we fog the house?

SandyPuppy · 11-10-2009, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linsjean

How many hours do we (and pup) need to be away from the house if we fog the house?

There will be instructions on the fogger.

Terrie · 11-10-2009, 03:14 PM

Is he itching a lot? Or in specific areas? My pup had(still has a bit) fungi on her skin and we didn't know about it when we got her. She would scratch obsessively on her elbows and belly. We thought it was fleas and even thought it might have been scabies and finally our vet did a culture and we found out it was fungi. It was also revealed under a UV light. Our vet gave us a sulfur spray(twice a week full body spray) and she has improved miraculously over the past 2 months.

Good luck. Hopefully it is just fleas.

meandean · 11-10-2009, 03:16 PM

ugh, flea foggers. we had a real bad problem when i was a child in our house with fleas in the house. i think its about 4-6 hours out of the house, again the actual fogger should have directions. just good luck killing all the fleas in the yard! lol. we must have fogged our house multiple times when i was young.

linsjean · 11-10-2009, 09:05 PM

Thank you all for your replies. Our "Buddy" is itching not in just one area. Sometimes I see him chewing on his belly. Other times using his hind feet to scratch his sides. He just might have a condition other than fleas, since he has been treated. Hmm, might be a call to the vet for this one.