Home & Garden...

After a recent move to the South, we learned--and the poor dog learned-- that some strains of superfleas are becoming resistant to typical preventative chemical measures such as Frontline and Advantage.

Our Lab was tormented by an early-summer flea infestation for more than a month, as we tried Frontline, then Advantage (neither made a lick of difference), a flea collar, a natural spray, and baths with flea shampoo.

Reluctant to venture further into the chemical "solutions" if these already-strong chemical ones were proving useless (and most of which had an active ingredient classified by the EPA as a carcinogen!), I put in a few hours of research on the internet, and tried different combinations of the many herbal and natural solutions that animal lovers have been using since before there was such as thing as a flea bomb.

What I learned was that putting eucalyptus branches around the yard and home didn't seem to make the slightest difference (though it did make me feel like a witch). And misting the poor guy with diffused peppermint oil only made him smell minty fresh (this might be effective to deter the odd flea on a trip to the park, that's about it).

Here are the two most effective natural measures, in my observation:

1. Food-Grade Diatomaceous earth: I used Diatom Dust, both on the dog and his bedding areas. This powder, made from decomposed algae, dries out the fleas, killing them dead.

2. Nematodes: This solution, which entails releasing millions of parasites to your yard to feed on the flea larvae, sounded potentially quite  grody. But really it was the simplest thing. The nematodes arrive embedded in a sponge, which you immerse in water, then simply sprinkle the water over your yard with a watering can. They'll crawl about til they find the baddies themselves and have a feast.

And the fleas are now gone. So long, suckers!