A friend has 4 Border Collies/Working sheepdogs. One has lost coat mainly on her flanks and is a bit pink/itchy there, been to the vets who has diagnosed a reaction to frontline flea treatment. vets own dog had same symptoms, and bunch of tests etc with the same thing a while back so likely to be an accurate diagnosis.
Does anyone know of flea treatments which do not contain Fipronil as the active ingredient ?
She needs something to be able to use as she has indoor/outdoor cats and other animals.

i'd be willing to bet that a raw diet would improve the dogs ability to deal with potential allergens.

if the dogs are already eating raw then you could supplement their meals with a clove of garlic and a teaspoon or two of coconut oil. diatomaceous earth seems worth supplementing as well, but more for internal parasites than external ones.

I agree that a change of diet onto raw is probably the best at the moment, before you start spending money on vets fees, blood tests and medications.

Diet these days is responsible for so many health and skin conditions, many people are finding that to change over to our canines most natural food( which is raw meat ) has worked wonders.
I use "Smart Barf" as a suppliment back up and for peace of mind.
I use a huge variety of different meats and bones and as many "whole" rabbits and phesants to put into my mincer that I can aquire too. 

I have fed raw for probably 40 years, sometimes with kibble or mixer but these days totally without. I am also very lucky that my vets all feed raw themselves.

I only treat fleas and ticks if they are seen

I've been using bravecto for over a year now and really like it. It's a tablet that lasts 12 weeks, it protects against fleas and ticks, I've never had a flea problem but used to get lots of ticks even on frontline, haven't had a single one since switching to bravecto.

May consider Bravecto next year. I've used a Seresto collar for the last two years with no problems. It lasts for 8 months and has worked well. We spend about 3 to 4 months of the year at various times, in a very ticky area and often find a tiny crawling tick on the dog, handy having a light coloured dog. Since using the collar she hasn't had one attach itself as far as we are aware and the crawlers are easy to spot and crush. However the collar is expensive, about £60-70 I think. How does that compare with Bravecto?

It depends on the weight of your dog, my 4 are all between 15 and 20kg. I buy the 20 - 40 kg tablets though and half them as that works out much cheaper. Bravecto also do a 'buy 3 get one free' offer. 4 tablets costs me £75 under this offer and last for 2 doses/6 months for 4 dogs - £150 a year divided by 4 = £37.50 per dog per year. Much cheaper than monthly frontline and much more effective.

Bravecto has caused the death of many dogs. It also doesn't prevent tick/flea. bites - they have to bite to ingest the poison and then die.  This also means any diseases they are carrying will be passed to the dog. Have a look at this. https://m.facebook.com/groups/411371212394679?ref=bookmarks

another facebook scare story air causes dog deaths too ... dogs breathe and some dogs die - therefore air is dangerous

Whether you believe the reports of deaths or not you cannot refute the fact that it is a treatment and not a preventative.  This is stated by the manufacturers.  The dog has to have a flea or tick, and then be bitten, for Bravecto to work.http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/MSD_Animal_Health/Bravecto_chewable_tablets_for_dogs/-64007.html

The spot on treatments don't prevent ticks and fleas getting on dogs either, they only work as kill after feeding.
I don't routinely use anything, never had fleas and simply remove ticks with o'tom asdogs get them. My breed is short coated so easy to spit ticks.
Personally don't want to use strong chemicals on / in dogs unless essential

Agree the idea of routinely applying poisons on a monthly basis horrifies me.

If you are using Bravecto you might want to read this.
http://dogthusiast.com/2015/04/30/examining-insecticides-afoxolaner-and-fluralaner-as-used-in-flea-and-tick-preventatives/

the idea of routinely applying poisons on a monthly basis horrifies me

going back to my original post, my friend does not want 'regular flea routine treatment' she is looking for something to use 'as and when' any time a flea is picked up - either from cats or elsewhere which may only be once or twice in a year.

In that case treating the house with a spray that stops the flea from breeding is your best bet, it kills fleas for some time and after that stops hatching etc for 6 months t a year depending on product.  e.g. Acclaim, RIP, and Indorex.

tatty-ead, when I see fleas, I treat with Capstar to kill all adult fleas, and then (monthly for a couple months), Programme.  If I know I have *immediately* treated with Capstar, I tend to forego the Programme and have been fine.  (Ie - if they get a mixy rabbit or sniff a hedgehog, I will treat them as soon as we get home from the walk with Capstar.)

These are both oral meds.  I don't like topical treatments which are pesticides and which expose humans in the house as well.

I have been using Bravecto this year on one of my dogs - the hairiest one, which usually picks up the most ticks - and we haven't had any ticks on her whilst she's been on it.  It is also effective against fleas, but I only use it in the tick season because we don't have a flea problem.  (In the last 10 years, we have had about 3 flea incidents - all dogs treated and that was that.) 

To pass on disease, ticks need to be attached for 12+ hrs, possibly 24hrs - and Bravecto will have killed them long before that.

There have been so many bad reactions to Bravecto a facebook group has been set up.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/411371212394679/

Just as an aside whatever happened to flea Powder. 

We had cats in the family in the 1970's and remember them getting powdered turning them from black and white to grey.

I remember that too!  But the powder did go everywhere and was hard not to breathe it in (I still remember the smell of it!), so maybe it was determined not the best way to administer toxic stuff to kill fleas!?

http://www.pestcontrolsupplies.co.uk/smite-organic-diatomaceous-earth-powder-350g

"Smite Powder is an organic, naturally-mined, mineral product made up of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. Smite Powder contains no pesticides or chemicals and kills insect pests by breaking down the waxy exoskeleton and then absorbing lipids and body fluids, which causes them to dry out and die. It is safe to use in higher risk areas (such as where animals or children are present) and ingestion of the product by animals and birds during natural foraging has digestive benefits. Smite Powder is also safe for earthworms and has no detrimental effect on the natural ecosystem.

Smite Organic is a naturally occurring, odourless, tasteless, fine, organic mineral powder which can be used on the animals, in housing and in foodstuffs."

There are other brands of same

Actually seems flea powders both the organic and the insecticidal (Pymethrin/) ones are still around