Practice pre-walk grooming. Brushing your dog before you go outside for a walk or job gets rid of excess hair and mats, so you can find ticks more easily when you return.

Stay away from the danger zones. Keep your dog’s play area free of high grass, where the teeny bloodsuckers are just waiting to latch on. Ticks also thrive in shady areas and in woodpiles, so it’s best to keep your dog out of these parts of your yard. Also, keep the lawn mowed low in spots where your dogs most like to hang out, to deter a tick invasion.

Go herbal. If you like, you can sprinkle a canine herbal repellent onto your dog’s coat and massage it in. Just wash your hands afterwards, and read the label beforehand to make sure none of the ingredients will harm any cats you have in the house. It’s also important to note that not everything labeled “natural” is always safe.

Products containing linalool or d-limonene can cause serious side effects in some pets. (As a general rule of thumb, never use any dog flea or tick products on cats, or vice versa.) And never use human products containing DEET on your animals–it’s toxic to them.

Before going into the house, perform a thorough examination. Use a flea and tick comb to scan your dog’s body for ticks, but pay particular attention to ticks’ favorite hideout spots–around your dog’s ears, armpits, and paws, suggests Arden Moore, pet expert and author.

Don’t panic if you find a tick. Put on a pair of gloves to protect yourself from harmful bacteria the tick could harbor, and grab a pair of tweezers (ideally, a pair you’ve designated for pet use only). Grasp the tick’s body near the head, and pull straight up and out, slowly, and without twisting, to remove the bloodsucker. Kill the tick by dropping it in a jar of rubbing alcohol, and dab the affected area on your dog’s skin with (different) rubbing alcohol.

Take care inside. Your tick prevention doesn’t stop outdoors. In the house, vacuum frequently and wash pet bedding once a week, preferably using plant-based detergents that are less harsh on the environment.

Evict mice. Make your property inhospitable to mice, who, along with deer, carry ticks. Make sure outdoor garbage cans are always covered, and store pet food inside sealed containers. Depending on where you live, you might try inviting kestrels, small (and beautiful!), mice-devouring hawks, to your area with a kestrel box.

Build your dog’s immunity. While the jury’s still out on this one, some pet owners who make their own, natural dog food for their pups say they pull fewer–or no–ticks from their animals after switching to a homemade diet. If you decide to make your own dog food, just be sure to know what you’re doing, and talk to your vet or consult a holistic pet expert first–some ingredients can be lethal to your pet, and you have to make sure they’re getting the proper ingredients to stay healthy. To help you get started for once-a-week home-cooked meals and treats, check out Real Food for Dogs: 50 Vet-Approved Recipes to Please the Canine Gastronome (Storey Publishing, 2001).

Dogs that suffer from flea allergies will often bite at their tail and scratch frequently. Hair loss (alopecia) is often seen around and on top of the tail due to the intense itchiness (pruritis) caused by an allergic reaction to the fleas saliva. By spreading the hair or using a flea comb, you may see the fleas or black specks that look like dirt. By picking up some of the black appearing dirt with a moistened cotton ball you will notice a red color. Flea dirt is actually digested blood. In flea allergic dogs it is important to treat the dog for fleas and treat the home for fleas in order to relieve an itchy dog. There are several good products on the market that kill fleas and ticks. It is important to choose a product that kills fleas before they have a chance to bite as it is the saliva that causes the allergic reaction and an itchy dog. I have always had good luck with Frontline top-spot and Frontline spray.

Regardless of the cause of the allergic reaction there are over the counter treatments that you can try. Antihistamines such as Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) can be given at a dose of 0.5 – 1 mg / lb of body weight every 8 hours as needed. Drowsiness is the most common side effect. If the area is localized a topical product such as hydrocortisone cream can be applied. If the insect bite area appears infected than triple antibiotic ointment may help. If you do not see improvement within a few hours after the Benadryl or if the allergic reaction is severe or continues to get worse, seek professional veterinary care as soon as possible. Dogs who have noticeable facial swelling, difficulty breathing, pain or intense itching should be seen immediately.

I was worried the flea product was no longer working or the fleas were getting resistant. He reassured me I was doing everything right and that there is no evidence of resistance to the products prescribed by veterinarians to prevent and kill fleas.

The problem this year is that there are so many fleas, the products are being overwhelmed. These compounds are neurotoxins that are safe for pets but target insects. It takes time for the fleas to die and the higher the concentration of product the faster the products work. So early in the month, fleas will die quickly, but as the month, progresses it will take longer.

“Sometimes we will prescribe these twice a month,” Thomas said, “but you should check with your veterinarian before doing this.”

The egg, larvae and pupae stages of the flea life cycle make up 95 percent of the flea population. So the 5 percent of adults we see living on our pets are only a small fraction of the actual infestation. Thomas reminded me that to totally get a handle on the problem, I should not only treat my pets but also the environment that they live in — my house and yard. “Many wild animals can carry the cat flea and continuously keep bringing them back into your yard,” he explained.

Inside treatment
For my home, he recommended a self-directed spray such as Knock Out Area Treatment. Self-directed means the product can be sprayed in areas that need to be treated. He likes these better than foggers that put insecticide on the tops of furniture (where fleas do not live) and not underneath furniture (where they do). Most smooth surfaces, like tile or linoleum, do not need treatment either.

Fleas like areas where organic matter collects such as carpets, rugs, furniture and the cracks between boards in your hardwood floor. Vacuuming these areas before treatment may help for several reasons. It removes fleas, eggs, pupae and larvae. It may dislodge pupae from their cocoon, making them sensitive to the insecticide, and it gets the carpet fibers standing up so the spray can penetrate deeper.

Just remember to throw away the vacuum bag or empty and thoroughly wash the canister after you’ve finished. If you don’t, you’ve just given the fleas a new home and they might start coming out of the vacuum.

Washing pet bedding and human bedding (especially if your pets sleep with you) in hot water and detergent should kill all stages. In severe infestations, bedding should be replaced.

Outside treatment
Since I live on rural Johns Island with lots of wildlife, Thomas stressed that I must treat my yard to fully get this under control. Fleas like shaded areas the most — under trees, stairs and decks as well as in mulch. These are the areas to concentrate on.

He recommended raking up mulch and removing/restricting pet and wild life access to the areas under stairs and decks. He also recommended the use of a broadcast sprayer such as Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer, which contains the same ingredient as the Advantage I was applying to my pets.