Taz and I have encountered a few problems..<-Help needed!!
 

Taz and I have been great! We just moved into a new home and things are lovely but................................I have a few problems:
1. FLEAS: I don't know when the fleas started but I know they are here and I need recommendations on home remedies as well as shampoo and other things. Frontline isn't helping or I have the wrong kind.
2. SNACKS: I use to feed him cheerios and bullysticks, but I he's over them. (He's a picky brat at times :) ) Again, any suggestions.
3. DOGGY DAY CARE: I have been interested in putting him into a doggy day care a few days of the week. I found a few in my area and I wanted to know others opinions on the daycare thingy..
Last but not least..Lol
4. GOOSE SNEEZING..OR REVERSE SNEEZING: Okay, the vet has prescribed him with 2 medicines and neither seem to work. They make him nausea, he throws up, and loses appetite. Is there any home remedies, or medicines that have worked for your pups?
Again, any help would be appreciated! Thanks!!

1 - when did you apply the Frontline? If there's a bad flea problem, it can take up to 3 months of treatments before you see tham completely gone. Clean everything! Get just a plain old flea collar from a pet store and put it into your vaccum bag or canister and vaccum every day. If it's really bad, you can look into an exterminator, but the Frontline will break and kill the complete life cycle with 3 months of usage (ie. if there's eggs in the carpet, they will end up on the dog as adults and then die. It will kill all life stages of fleas on the dog, but if they're in the house too, you'll still see them until they've all landed on the dog and died). Home remedies aren't very effective and I personaly don't even bother with any of them. You can bathe him with a natural dog flea shampoo, but I prefer to just use Dawn dish soap, it's gentle for the dog yet kills the fleas. You must wait until the dog is COMPLETELY dry after the bath to apply the frontline.

2 snacks, I tend to stick with mainly single ingredient natural dog treats, they're usually just freeze dried meat (chicken, lamb etc. ) or dehyrated fruit treats. For chewing, Nylabones are great, but some dogs won't bother with them, Himalayan chews are good. Mine also liek any treats made by Zukes brand.

3 doggy daycare works great for some people. I have no personal experience there, but I'd ask for a tour of the facility and ask tons of questions as far as what dogs are put together (like are large and small seperated), what's their vaccine policy etc. Basically just make sure you find a good, reputable one.

4 Reverse sneezing does not require or go away with any sort of medication. If your vet prescribed meds, they either think it's something else (such as kennel cough) or they're giving them as a precausion. If your SURE it's reverse sneezing, no medications are needed or should be given, it's harmless and sometimes kind of pinching their nose shut for just a second or two gets the pallat to come back down in their throat and will stop it. I'd talk to your vet right away about stopping the meds if you truely think it's just reverse sneezin, especially if you're seeing adverse side effects, it's useless and just cause harm. What medications is it? Did your vet explain why he prescribed the meds? (as a precausion or otherwise?)

It seems like everyone is having a flea problem right now!! I just bathed Bodie and got a ton off of him. I use a flea comb to get as many bugs and eggs off of him. I put a tiny bit of Dawn in a bowl of hot water, and dip the comb in it to get the bugs and debris off. I wash their bedding in hot water with plenty of soap. Frontline has never worked for me here in Texas. I use Comfortis (or Capstar) pill for fleas. The flea collar in the vacuum is a great idea, too! Also, if you have a yard - treat it. If you don't want to use a lot of harsh chemicals, you can use corn meal. When I worked in a feed store, people would buy 50 lb bags of corn meal and spread it in their yard. Fleas eat it, and it expands and kills them. If you want to use a chemical product, go for something with Insect Growth Regulator (IGR) in it. It breaks the life cycle and kills adults, larvae, and eggs.

For treats, go for something without a lot of corn and by-products. Blue buffalo makes biscuits, meaty treats, and jerky chews. They're made with oatmeal, meat, and fruits. My dogs LOVE them, and they are super picky as well.

Flea advice:
When Duncan had fleas I tried 2 dish soap baths (any soap kills adults flees), which is good for killing the current adults but doesn't effect the eggs or larva so they kept coming back fast. We treated him with Revolution and within 24 hours all of the adult flees where gone and I have not seen one on him since.

During all this I changed his crate bedding, a towel, every night. I shook it out into the tub and lots of dead adult fleas dropped off. Then I used the "sanitize" setting on my washer to clean the towels.

Also, watch out for signs of tapeworm... if your yorkie eats a flea that is carrying tapeworms eggs ( like mine did! ) it's no fun. A few signs of tapeworm can be scooting/dragging their behind around because of extreme itchiness, hard yellow-white pellets/sort of rice sized in bedding or in fur, and at night the worm segments can be seen visibly moving around on the surface of the stool.

That's really interesting about the corn meal in the yard, I never heard that before. Hmm, we don't have fleas, but I'll definatly remember that for future reference (only problem is my dogs would probably eat it out of the grass:rolleyes:

I have heard of the cedar chip thing, but never would have thought to make the dogs beds stuffed with it, that's great idea:)

It is dangerous to have cedar bedding in a hamster cage so I wouldnt trust it for dogs. I dont remember why just remember reading it

Cedar bedding can cause repiratory infections in small mammals like hamsters (I used to have a guinea pig, so that's why I know;)). Not sure if that applies to dogs or not but I doubt it.

Thank you for the tips!! You have helped tremendously. One of the medications I threw out and the other one he prescribed him was Chlorpheniramine 4mg. I have stopped giving him them as well.