My poor baby has fleas, bad! We live in Texas and there is a HUGE flea problem.

She had a visit with the vet today and he recommended Frontline (which they sold there at the office). I put it on her immediately when we got hime. She still seems to be itching but she has so much hair it's hard to tell if the fleas are still there. Plus, I don't know how long the medicine takes to work seeing as they sold me they medicine without instructions.

Labman, you mentioned Revolution... what kind of treatment is that? Is it like Frontline where you put it on their neck? I need something strong to keep the fleas off her.

Do I also need to treat my yard for the fleas? I live on 4 acres of land (of course she doesn't roam the entire place) she's only allowed in a small fenced in area when we're outside and she has to go potty. Should I treat that area?

I will do ANYTHING to keep her from being miserable this summer. Please help!

(Yes, I left the yard concern off my list of questions for the Vet today! :()

Revolution is one of the things that you apply a little to the dog's neck once a month. I forget exactly why my vet explained it would be best for Aster 3 years ago. It had to do with the flea allergy she developed before the good stuff was in common use. I haven't seen a sign of fleas on either dog in the 3 summers I have used it. Of course before that, when I only had one healthy young dog in the house, I was doing nothing and not seeing many fleas.

As far as I know, Frontline should be fine. If the package doesn't have the directions you need, I would call the vet.

If you have a substantial flea population, you may need to treat the house and yard. You might give the Frontline a chance to work first.

Thanks again! :)

The Frontline WILL kill the fleas on her, but they usually have time to bite before they die. Fleabites can itch for up to a week after the initial bite (think like mosquito bites on you!), so even though the fleas are dying your dog will still itch as long as the bites are there. You should be getting your yard treated if you know that you have a serious flea problem, as not only will your dog be miserable but fleas carry icky diseases and worms. Four acres is a lot to treat, but fleas do roam and can hop quite far in one bound. You may be able to treat an area around her pen along with in it and hope for the best.

I use frontline plus on my dogs.
It's great stuff.
It will take 24 hours for all the fleas that were on her at the time you applied it to be dead.
After the 24 hour period, it will paralyze any additional flea that jumps on her before it has a chance to bite - then it shortly dies after that.
Same goes for ticks.

It kills the fleas/ticks, eggs and the larva

After her current flea bites heal, she won't be itching from fleas anymore. (*edit, unfortunately it does not protect against mosquito bites)

The chemical works by being spread over your dogs body by the oil glands in the skin.
It's waterproof, but it's not soap proof - even though it claims to be, they fail to mention that it HAS TO BE a shampoo that does not strip oils from the skin.
So if she must have a bath for some reason,
It would be best to wash her fur very lightly with a shampoo that does not strip oil from the skin.

Over all, it's a great product that is applied once every 4 weeks.

You may want to treat her area, just so that you don't have fleas breeding there. And your house so that you don't end up getting bit.

Fleas live and breed in carpet. The ones that don't jump on her and die could feed off you and your family and keep their nasty cycle going. (that is of course if you have them in your house)
A real good vacuuming may do the trick though.

She's a real cutie!
Good luck...
Kae