I`ve got a 9 week old Labrador pup who I brought home 5 days ago. The breeder said he had been checked for fleas,none were found , but he had given him a sponge flea treatment anyway. However,at home he was still scratching and biting himself.This got worse,so 2 days ago I gave him another flea treatment. This had no effect at all. He is more or less constantly biting and scratching his legs,eyes,ears and tail,and doesn`t stop even when he makes himself bleed.He`s due to go to the vet in 5 days for his first vaccination,but can anyone give me any advice in the meantime? Thanks.

If you sit him on a piece of white paper, then brush his fur up and down, you will see if he has fleas, because there will be little black speks of flea muck left on the paper. This sounds highly unlikely that there will be any, after two treatments, sounds like an allergy to the flea treatment to me. I'm sure others will give you some advise.
Regards Jane

The other possibility is mange - which needs treatment from a vet......soon before it gets infected :-(

Or it could be lice - if you have a magnifying glass, have a look at his skin through it - lice look like moving dandruff, and the eggs are "glued " on to the coat of the dog, a bit like head lice in children, often on the front or hind legs. If it is mange it is possible that someone in the family may have itchy places with little raised pimples on the inside of the wrist. I agree, get the dog to the vet today if possible and if it were my dog, and it isn't lice - then I would treat with Stronghold drop-on as soon as possible, and monthly thereafter, as it does treat and cure sarcoptic mange, as well as treat for fleas/roundworms - depending of course what flea treatment he has had. What are you feeding the puppy? Dogs with skin problems often benefit from a lower protein diet until the problem is cleared up. Boiled rice, cooked de-boned chicken with a vit/mineral supplement like SA37 may be better at the moment than a high protein puppy diet. Did you get free insurance with your puppy, from the breeder , I do hope so. Hope your baby gets better soon.

I think a trip to your Vet today would be the best advice. Sponge on treatments are used for mange.

Thanks for all the advice.I called the breeder who told me that there were a lot of foxes in the area where Cooper was born and that it could be possible mange. I took him to the vet who said it was possible and prescribed stronghold,rilexine and prednisolone.He was also given a dexadreson injection. Have to see how this all goes now.If he doesn`t improve,then he has to go back after the weekend. The breeder was quite helpful.He said he`d pay half of the cost as I haven`t got him insured yet.He also said that if there is no improvement,then he will pay for any future treatment needed.
As for me catching it from him.....how would I know? I do have a minor allergy to him anyway,which causes slight itching,but how would I know if its caused by his mange?
The only problem with all this is that he can`t even have his first vaccination till all this is finished,so he`ll be a bit older before socialisation with other dogs can start.Will this be a problem?

has the pup got dandruff, it sounds like it could be cheyalletailla--not spelt right but near enough, ive had one with it years ago and it made my wrists and stomach itch where the pup had been in contact with me, its highly infectious and id imagine the breeder would have other itchy dogs at home too, have a check with him,

no dandruff.I`m just allergic to dogs! Anything ranging from a slight itch after contact (which I have with Cooper),down to an all out asthma attack.

Hi, dog mange mites will not live for long on humans - so dont worry you wont "get" mange, but some people do get bitten, often around the inner wrists where the skin is thinner and blood vessles near to the skin surface- but they will die after a very short time, before they have a chance to breed. PS if you have a cat - I would treat it with Stronghold too. Stronghold is an absolute Godsend, as when I had an outbreak here, it hadn't been marketed yet and not all dogs respond to the washes that were prescribed then. One product that was recommended to me was "Bob Grass's Skin Cure" a pretty foul ointment that you put on the lesions, it would practically make hair grow on wood (!) and is a good antiseptic, as the lesions can get gooey and nasty with secondry infections. I would recommend it unreservedly. It costs about £6 a pot and the phone no. is 01302 344872.

Of course ALL dogs may not respond to Stronghold, but it does seem to be very reliable, so far anyway, as it hasn't been available for that long. Mange from foxes is getting more and more of a problem in the suburbs as well as the countryside. Lets hope that the propsed ban on Foxhunting doesn't increase the population of foxes so much that it becomes even more of a problem, I wonder if all the dog owning "antis" realise this possible potential problem.

I am glad that the breeder is offering to help pay the costs, but they really should have insured the puppy for you, its free for them and you, for a month or more from many insurance companies, and then it wouldn't have cost anybody anything.

Hi I have a nine week old pup also - He had his first set of injections last Monday & the Vet gave him a good check over , He gave me 6 months of worming tablets but didn't mention "fleas" he is going to his First "puppy party" in 2 weeks should I mention Flea treatment or should I just do it/ He not itchy. When Brushed I've never noticed anything - Annie

Hi Annie, many people use a drop on flea treatment, there are quite a few different ones, but whatever you get do buy it from the vet, as I have found the shop bought ones are not so effective. Purely for flea treatment/prevention Frontline is probably the most popular. It seems very safe, I have never heard of a dog having a bad reaction to Frontline and it really will keep fleas away. I aquired a kitten last year who was absolutley crawling with fleas, they were all over him, but after treatment with the cat Frontline he was completely clear of them within 24 hours. It is advisable to use a drop on treatment regularly as fleas are abundant in the doggy population, especially during the warmer months, and even if he has none now, he will almost certainly pick some up from somewhere- very possibly at the "puppy party" if not everyone has flea free dogs. It is worth preventing them as once you have them they are hard to get rid of completely because they lay eggs in the carpets, floor cracks and furniture and the cycle is hard to break then. Stronghold is a little more expensive than Frontline- probably because it also treats/prevents mange and worms for roundworms too. The puppy parties are fun and really good education for your baby, its great that more and more vets are doing these parties.

I agree with Westie Lover,
Go to the vet and get a flea product. I read an article a while back in regards to flea products, it said that over the counter drops leave pesticidal residue on the dog/cats coat, which in turn rubs off on you and all over the house-----YUCK! Frontline works on the fleas nervous system and is not considered a pesticide, will not rub off.
Fleas are nasty and once infested in your house are not easy to get rid of, pervention is best!
Have fun with your puppy!

I use Dinomite, its a citronella and lavender concentrate which you add water to and spray on to prevent fleas, lice and ticks. It also great as a fly repelant and can be used safely on puppies and people. i spray myself before I milk my goats to stop those biting flies. I am using it to try and stop the children catching headlice at school too!
Ted