where are fleas coming from

I use the liquid flea control treatments on my dog, yet I have found fleas in her fur. Just one or two at a time — and i THOROUGHLY check.  I have given her a flea bath, cleaned everything in the house and have used the powder treatment on carpets, floors and furniture, given her another bath using the shampoo, AND I STILL FIND one or two fleas on her.  I tried to give her a treatment, keep her outside while I cleaned the house, and then shampooed her with the flea shampoo before letting her back in, and this morning — another flea on her. I’m not getting bitten and I haven’t seen any in the house, but I just don’t know what to do!!  is she just getting them outside and they are biting her and dying b/c of the flea treatment (not reproducing?).  I’m at a loss here.

If you read through our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn the three areas where fleas like to reproduce are on pets, in the house and in the yard. The most common is on the pet but it sounds like you’re handling your dog just fine. But what about the inside of the home? This is the second most likely place where they’re inclined to develop. And as our article explains, pets are where fleas want to be so since you’re seeing just 1-2 on your dog at a time, I’m pretty sure it’s the home that’s causing the problem.

Now if the pet had hundreds of fleas in her fur, you’d no doubt be seeing some too. But just 1-2? That’s a sure sign flea eggs must have landed in the home some time in the past year and now you’ve got some pupae laying around waiting for a meal (pet).

The least I’d recommend is to get some FLEA TRAPS and then install them around the house. At least 2; 4 would be ideal. This will enable you to monitor the problem. But even if it turned out you don’t have many if any fleas in the home, I’d still say to go ahead and get the carpet treated with the ONCE A YEAR GRANULES that work so well at controlling most anything that wants to live in the carpet.

Lastly, the outside could be involved. But in most cases (95%+), it’s either the pet or the home that’s the cause. Once you get these areas treated if you still see fleas you can consider treating the outside with one of the products we have listed but for now, I’d focus in on the home.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article:  www.flea.net/flea-control

Flea Traps:  www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

Once A Year Granules:  www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/first-defense-2-lb