I rarely need to use a flea treatments on my dogs.  One of my dogs has a flea allergy, so if she comes into contact with fleas I am immediately aware of it and treat all the dogs.  This has, however, only happened twice.   Fleas therefore have never been a problem.  They are all wormed regularly with Milbemax.  
However, my daughter's dog has come to stay.  Several months ago her dog started itching and was treated with Frontline.  They also treated their house with RIP.  She has been treated with Frontline on a monthly basis for three months now and she is still itching like crazy.  Fleas have been seen on her coat and they are mainly dead.  My vet says we have done everything we can and they will eventually disappear.  My problem is that one of my dogs is expecting pups, I don't want to have to treat her for fleas but at the same time I cannot put her and her pups are risk.  I simply MUST stop this poor dog from scratching!
Has anyone experienced anything like this before?  If so, any/all suggestions will be very much appreciated.

some dogs can become immune to a treatment they have on a regular basis.May be worth asking the vet if she can try advantage.
Also you say you treated the home ..did you do the sofas and every room in the home inc hall and stairs kitchen.. fleas live around the edges of the room rather than in the middle.
You can treat a bitch in whelp for fleas ..no problem ..so dont worry.

Front line doesnt mean they wont get fleas just that they cant multiply they suck the blood and eventually die.
I dont actually use any flea treatments other than garlic tabs everyday. If I see a flea (which I havent for years) I kill it with flea spray .

Also never heard of RIP I use acclaim .

Meant to add are you sure its fleas and not an allergy to pollen...I have a bitch who start scratching as soon as the 'snow' has disappeared LOL.. I give her piriton everyday throughout the summer on the recommendation of my vet.

> Meant to add are you sure its fleas and not an allergy to pollen...I have a bitch who start scratching as soon as the 'snow' has disappeared LOL.. I give her piriton everyday throughout the summer on the recommendation of my vet.

I was just about to say the same thing. My dogs have been especially 'itchy' since the birch pollen started. Not a flea insight but I still frontline them all regularly - just incase. If it is a pollen allergy, then all you can try is piriton and regular baths until the pollen goes.

Like you I don't usually need to treat for fleas.  She has been treated for three months, so I don't suppose that is enough to have become immune. 
My daughter's BF treated their home so I can't guarantee it was done effectively.  My daughter has just had a baby, so I can't expect them to treat their house again at the moment.  There are definitely dead fleas on her coat, so there clearly are fleas about and the Frontline is working.  I just can't imagine how many fleas there must be for her to be continually reinfected. 
I know I can use a spray on my girl who is expecting pups, but i don't want to have to!
I have been wondering about the idea of it being some sort of allergy and am thinking of changing her food.  I'll also definitely get her garlic tablets.  Can I ask where you get yours from?  In the past I've given mine raw garlic and also put it in their drinking water and I've never had a flea problem.
Also can I ask how much Piriton you give, and is it just the normal over the counter one?
Thanks for your help!

garlic on its own  or garlic and fenugreek from dorwest. I give 1 tablet of piriton from the chemist ... as for dosage for your own dog I would recommend you ask your vet as it depends on the size of the breed. I am sure he would tell you over the phone if you weight your dog first.

Your daughter could take the baby out for a an hour and her partner re spray the home from top to bottom ... I imagine they havent done the whole house just the rooms they think the dog goes in but as you know fleas jump and can end up in every part of the home which could be why dog keeps becoming re infected.Also do they have a cat as that would be the main culprit!
I realise you said they have a new baby but I would not want a baby in a home that was possibly flea ridden.

good Luck

Right I'm off to find some Piriton and garlic tabs.  Hopefully will get their home re-sprayed but the flat is the size of a small cupboard, so it should be easy enough to spray the whole place.  They don't have a cat but have neighbours with a small zoo of rabbits, chickens, cats, dogs and heaven knows what else and I don't suppose for a minute they receive any health care.
I don't want the baby (or my daughter) living there, but unfortunately that is out of my control!
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions

My vet has found that Frontline seems to have become less effective against fleas recently as they appear to become immune to it. Might be worth trying a different product like Advocate (though care needs to be taken with that one if it's a collie). Advocate kills on contact (so the fleas don't have to bite, which is particularly useful if a dog is allergic to fleas) and also kills fleas where the dog lays.

Snoodle,

Sainsbury's do their own version of Piriton and its so much cheaper and think Asda have just started doing it too, has the same ingredients, so worth heading down that route rather than Piriton brand..

Sainsbury's do their own version of Piriton and its so much cheaper and think Asda have just started doing it too, has the same ingredients, so worth heading down that route rather than Piriton brand..

But please check with your vet first before giving any kind of medication!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.  I've tried her with Piriton for 3 days and it has made no difference whatsoever.  I have found a few dead fleas on her, so presumably the Frontline is working.  I've just read another post on here and am wondering if it could be mange.  She has dry skin coming out of her coat when I brush her.  I'm surprised her skin isn't torn to shreds due to the amount she is scratching but there are no breaks in her skin or sore patches.  It is driving me (and her) crazy! 

Hi, my boy has demodex at the moment. We are coming to the end of his treatment, so hopefully, 2 clear skin scrapes and that's it!

He started by losing fur in small patches on his face and neck. He DIDN'T SCRATCH! demodex itself isn't itchy, but the secondary infection, if present, is! He lost fur in other places too, always small patches and the skin was pinker than usual - one side of his face from mouth to cheek went bald. Demodex mange mite lives in the follicles so the hair does fall out, but like I said, isn't usually itchy. Sarcoptic mange on the other hand, IS! but is easier to treat. It's also known as 'walking dandruff' I think cos of the dry skin flakes or you can see 'bits' moving. The only way of knowing, is a skin scrape at the vet - ours did it for free, as we have more or less lived there for the past year :(

I hope that you get the problem sorted with your daughters dog, whether it is fleas or something else, if you haven't sorted it by the time your bitch is about to whelp, in knowing what it is, I have to be honest I wouldn't have the dog staying with me, in fact she wouldn't be there now if it were me. I wouldn't want my home infected with fleas particularly with a bitch in whelp if she were your dog I guess you would have to put up with it, but as she isn't, I just wouldn't have her there.

If it turns out to be an allergy that's different, but fleas or mange...... sorry she wouldn't be in my home. I don't allow any family dogs around prior to whelping or post, unless I am keeping any pups after 8 weeks and then socialising with other dogs becomes part of their routine.

Hope that the problem is soon sorted whatever it is....... but I'd keep her away from your girl.

I'd say the problem is still in the house and they need to treat the house again.  Acclaim or RIP is supposed to kill any existing fleas, and the Frontline kills any that hop on the dog, but the Household spray  will stop the fleas from reproducing.

As for the baby one of them can treat the house while the other takes the baby out for a few hours.

After al if there are fleas re-infesting the dog then they will also be biting the baby.

The dog is back home with my daughter.  She only came over for the day and didn't end up staying.  I'm lucky to have a good sized home and a garden which is divided into three, so while she was here she didn't come in contact with my dog who may be in pup.
I am quite sensitive to flea bites and I, nor anyone else - including the baby, has had any flea bites.  They have a very small flat and it has been treated with a whole can (suitable for a three bed house) of RIP. 
From what I have researched it seems mange is quite difficult to diagnose.  Does anyone have any experience of this?
The only other thing I can think of is a complete change in diet in case it is an allergy.  If I go down this route does anyone have any suggestions for food?
Determined to get to the bottom of this!

Also worth considering is walking dandruff (Rabbit mite) Frontline is supposed to work on it but it does seem to take a while to finally clear.

There is often a musty mousy smell with Mange.

Hmmm...that sounds like a possibility as there a lot of rabbits in the garden, in spite of keeping the grass short to try and eliminate problems.  Whenever I have spoken to or seen my vet they say I need to give it more time.  Maybe we will wake up one morning and all will be well!  Here's hoping!

TBH, if the home & dog are both treated I would be looking at some kind of food intolerance. I know from experience that some foods make my dog scratch himself a great deal, especially if he has stolen the cat food! He's been perfect on raw food though, no scratching or itching and no thumping on the floor at night.

Edited to add: Rabbit mites (Cheyletiella mites) are often called 'walking dandruff' as they are white, pin-head sized and can be seen with the naked eye. They usually live along the hair shaft and can be seen moving.

Brainless ..I agree you are repeating everything I said earlier... makes sense....snoodle thing is if you are still seeing dead fleas then I would presume it is the fleas...Have you been through the coat to clean away the dead fleas and thier poo ..with a flea comb...yuk then you would be able to tell if they are all dead and whether she is being re infected..to leave them in the coat you dont know one way or the other.
Is she a short coated breed... I have always had long coated breed dogs ..and have had to spend hours grooming in sections through the coat a couple of times a week , which I suppose makes it easier to find any moving unwanted visitors! I presume with a short coat a quick brush gets rid of the hair but doesnt encourage you to look closer.:)