Diatomaceous Earth?

No experience but here's a link to a site with info on where to get it and a youtube video explaining it.

http://www.earthworkshealth.com/

 We don't use it on our animals or in the house, but we have placed it around the foundation and in the crawlspace each spring to cut down on various creepy crawlies.  It seems to help with ants and roaches specifically - when we'd had a lot of rains it got washed away and we saw more bugs until we reapplied it.

Some pet supply stores carry it -- you want FOOD GRADE DE.  If it's food grade you can sprinkle it on their coat and work it in.  Up where you are you oughta be able to get away with that as pretty much full flea control - that would be the hope anyway.

If you find it somewhere let me know where.  I cannot find it in RI. 

If you are up this way in your travels, Essex County Cooperative Farming Assn., U.S. Route 1, Topsfield, MA has it - you have to ask for the food grade, or they will send you to the garden aisle - it's in the bucket room, where they keep all the feed tubs.  I think you may be able to get it at other feed & grain suppliers.  Maybe Agway?

I tried it when we had a huge flea problem and all the commercial flea treatments had stopped working. The DE didn't work, either. It did basically nothing. I dusted it on the dog. It actually had some pyrethrum in is as well (I was seriously desperate) and still did nothing.

But you could try lemon-scented tea tree oil. That was the only thing I tried that seemed to have any effect. It's also called Lemon Myrtle sometimes, I think. It's an Australian plant, so it might be hard to get over there. I put some on a tissue and wrapped it around my dog's collar. I wanted to make little bands for her feet as well, but she kept pulling them off. She hated the smell of it, sadly, but it did result in fewer fleas on her, poor thing. Supposedly a rinse after a bath with lemon-scented tea tree oil in the water is a pretty decent flea repellant. I think I'll try it this season now that we have finally got the fleas under control here (thanks Comfortis!). 

Just a p.s. -- I can't see how it would work internally?? Essentially it's a dessicant -- it simply sucks the moisture out of fleas (and other bugs) until it kills them.   I'd probably be really reticent to use it internally unless a vet explained to me *why* it would work that way. 

 But Stardog is right -- if it rains you have to reapply.  But it works well right in the yard.

And Lori -- you can get it online along with the dry spray applicator.

One of my best friends uses it and has no problems. She had a fly problem, because she owns horses so now she will sprinkle that over the manure and there have not been as many flys. She also uses it ON her dogs, ( a Pittie, a Black Lab, some sort of Terrier mix, a Black Lab mix, and a Rat Terrier mix) but she doesnt use it internally. You can also put it around the house to get rid of ants and such. It doesnt harm earthworms so you could even use it by the garden.

The pup doesn't have fleas, it's for a hookworm infestation.  And, I have heard that you can use it internally, but she already dosed the dog with pyrantel from her vet, just wants the DE to clean up the environment. 

Wow - I just found this page - very interesting  http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/diatomaceous_earth.html

Not sure I like the theory that *we* have worms 

Tell them they won't EVER be fully clear of hookworms -- they are *forever* in your yard.  They can survive freezes, heat, rain and drought -- nasty things.  They will go "dormant" in the yard for YEARS.  Tell her to just get used to worming the dog for hooks at least twice a year.

Interceptor is excellent for this -- if it's a non-herder you can use ivermectin and it's cheap, cheap -- but tell her NOT to ever assume she's gotten rid of them.  She has NOT -- not EVER.

 Im going to get a bag of it and try it out. If its non chemical flea control then its worth a shot, cause I dont what to put pesticides on Bailey. He has not had an issue with fleas so far this year, only a few that Ive pulled off him. My dads dog however, is now infested with fleas (just found this out today when I was brushing him). We were using frontline, but I didnt use it regularly, my dad put it on Jack every month. He kept complaining about the price of it... So what does he do? He bought some Biospot. When I found out (today) I asked him why he would buy that crap, and he said "Becuase I saw it at wally world and it was way cheaper than the other stuff." I dont want to even let Bailey anywhere near Jack now, cause they mouth eachother a lot when they play and I dont him to get any in his mouth. Another bad thing about it is that he bought Biospot for his cat (Star) and today she was acting really lethargic (I gave her a bath and used Dawn dish soap to get the chemical off, she seems better now) Jack and Star always sleep next to eachother and in the same areas... I really hope she didnt touch/lick any of the dog biospot from Jack.
Im going to put some of the DE on Jack too and around his bed, too see if it helps.

How often does it need to be reapplyed (if the dog doesnt get wet) ?

calliecritturs

Just a p.s. -- I can't see how it would work internally?? Essentially it's a dessicant -- it simply sucks the moisture out of fleas (and other bugs) until it kills them.   I'd probably be really reticent to use it internally unless a vet explained to me *why* it would work that way. 

Hmmm, the people I know that add it to their dogs food said they've seen noticable differences from using it.

This is what it says on the earthworks website (reffering to HUMAN use)-

As you can see from the picture of Diatomaceous Earth - (magnified 7000 times) - it looks like a cylinder full of holes--kind of like Rice Chex Cereal. This cylinder has a very strong negative charge. As these millions of cylinders move through the stomach and digestive tract, they attract and absorb bacteria, fungi, protozoa, viruses, endotoxins, pesticide and drug residues, E-Coli, and heavy metals. These are trapped inside the cylinder and passed out of the body. In addition, any larger parasites that happen to be in the stomach of digestive tract are "cut up" and killed by the sharp edges of the Diatomaceous Earth. All of these activities result in a much healthier body with less sickness. We often hear the phrase "I just feel better" with our Diatomaceous Earth users. This better feeling comes from all the "junk" being removed from the body and by giving our immune system the "jump start" it needs.

Diatomaceous Earth is very hard. On the harness scale where diamonds are a 9, Diatomaceous Earth is a 7. This is very important, because as those millions of tiny hard and sharp Diatomaceous Earth cylinders pass through the small and large intestines, they "scrub" the walls. After only a few months of taking Diatomaceous Earth, the intestine wall is no longer coated with mucus and molds but CLEAN!! The advantages of this are several:

1. Regular bowel movements (This is the #1 comment everyone makes about DE)
2. Healthier Colon. This is especially important as we get older. A clean healthy colon keeps away polyps, cancers, and ulcers. Today, many are spending thousands of dollars to get colonics to do the same thing as Diatomaceous Earth does.
3. Many users report increased energy and needing less sleep. This is a result of all the food and nutrients that are taken in being better absorbed into the blood stream. With a coated colon--many nutrients never get absorbed.

A small amount of Diatomaceous Earth gets absorbed into the blood stream as silica.   One of the benefits of Silica is that it helps to destroy bad fats. Everyone that we know that is taking Diatomaceous Earth has lowered their cholesterol by 40-50 points. Everyone is also amazed at how their high blood pressure goes down. Go to the page on "Human Use" and review all of the benefits of silica to the body.

1. Sore joints and ligaments feel better
2. Skin clears up (acne-age spots-psoriasis)
3. Hair and nails are stronger and grow faster
4. Stronger teeth and gums
5. Healthier respiratory tract--less coughing
6. Menopause has less symptoms
7. Healthier urinary tract