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jenn36456 · Sep 28, 2010, 05:26 PM

What can I do for my puppy she is only 3 weeks old and has fleas I have spray and flea bath but I need to know if she is too young

Cat1864 · Sep 28, 2010, 05:41 PM

She is way too young for flea sprays and such.

Is she being hand raised for some reason or are there more animals needing treatment?

You will need to keep her from getting chilled, but you can use warm water and Dawn, Octagon, or Ivory dish soap to wash her. Make sure you keep her warm until she dries.

You will also need to treat the environment and any other animals. It is the major part of keeping fleas from getting back on her.

De Maria · Sep 29, 2010, 09:00 PM

You can also try vacuuming the pup.

You'll need a flea comb, a bowl of soapy water, a soft paper towel and the smallest hand held vacuum you can find. Make sure it doesn't have any moving parts, like the full sized vacuums. All you need is the suction.

1. Find a place outside where you can plug in your vacuum where the fleas won't be spread in your home.
2. Run the flea comb through your pups fur throughout the body, face and ears. Dip the comb in the soapy water to clean off the fur, dander and fleas. Repeat until you have combed the entire dog.
3. Afterwards, dry the pup with the paper towel.
4. Take the vacuum and turn it on but don't use it yet. Let the pup get used to the sound.
5 When your pup is calm, begin to gently run the vacuum up and down his body. (I don't use the vacuum on my dog's face and ears because the vacuum isn't small enough.) That should catch all the fleas and eggs that escaped the comb.
6. Discard the paper towell.
7. Empty out your vacuum and discard the contents.

My dog loves it. It's like a massage to him. And you can take advantage of that fact to practice the alpha roll. Most people think the alpha roll is about forcing a dog to submit. But it isn't. At your pups age, it probably rolls over on its side voluntarily. And if you don't know dog psychology, you don't realize this is a ritual by which he is letting you know that you are his boss.

Now, since your pup will probably be lying down at your side, take two fingers, your thumb and forefinger and beginning at his neck, make a nibbling motion with your fingers mimicking his mother's mouth. Go from the side of his neck up to the shoulders, then go down the spine all the way to the tail. Guess what, you just told you're his boss and you'll be taking care of him. Do it often so he won't forget.

If you want to learn more about Dog Psychology, Google Cesar Millan.

I hope that helps.

Sincerely,

De Maria

Cat1864 · Sep 29, 2010, 10:03 PM

Without knowing what breed or size the pup is and what vacuums are available, I cannot in good conscience recommend using a vacuum on the pup.

Flea eggs are not sticky and do not stay in the animals fur. Instead they fall off into the environment the animal is kept in. That is why treating the environment is an extremely important part of flea control.

From the Pest Control board's sticky on Fleas (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/pest-c...pt-386490.html) :

Flea Biology 101 - Fleas pupate inside a cocoon just like a moth or butterfly. They do not leave that protected cocoon until it's time to get the blood meal they need to breed and lay eggs. Bombs, sprays, powders, etc. cannot penetrate those cocoons. You need to get the flea to hatch itself out so it can be affected by the pesticide.

Research has shown that there are three main factors in getting the adult flea to hatch out: temperature, humidity, and the vibration or pressure from a potential blood source passing by. As far as temperature and humidity go, guess who likes the same things we do? Yep.

Setting up vibrations in your carpets and rugs can best be accomplished by the beater brush on your vacuum cleaner. The vacuum also sucks up eggs, some of the larvae, and the dirt the larvae feed on.

To keep the ones you vacuum up from surviving, the flea powders for carpets help in a couple of ways: killing fleas and showing you spots that need more vaccuming.

Keep in mind that every couple of days more pupae inside their cocoons will reach maturity, so vaccuming once won't do. Fleas spend an average of two weeks in the pupal stage, so vaccuming daily for at least that long is essential.