I have heard that giving your dogs garlic can help prevent fleas, does anyone use this and if so how much do you give and how often.
I cant bear the smell of garlic will it make their breaths smell.
I have 5 dogs so was planning on crushing two cloves each day and sharing it out amongst them, will this be enough.
Sandie.

I give each dog a crushed clove of garlic daily; it does not make their breath smell :D

I hav just started giving one clove per meduim size dog and it doesn't smell to bad. It does seem to be working.

would odourless garlic capsules do the same job?

I give garlic capsules one per day and have never had a flea problem yet!!!

The garlic capsules sound like a good option.
Can you tell me what strengh I should get, I looked on H&B website and there are quite a few.
Thanks Sandie.

I normally get 500mg but I have used 1000mg at times. I also think garlic is good for the general immune system too.

My dogs have been on a garlic clove each per day for a week now and it is working. They have completely stopped scratching. Where can I get the garlic tablets from? Its just I am going away soon and i would rather give them tablets.

http://www.dorwest.com/vet_meds.htm

you will find garlic and garlic and fenugreek tablets here

Garlic capsules are really not very good at all.  Almost all of them actually contain another type of very cheap oil which is flavoured garlic - they are not pure garlic which is why they are so cheap.  Also the gelatine around garlic makes it even more ineffective.  Tablets are the best idea because they contain very concentrated garlic so you get the equivalent of feeding a lot fresh garlic, although fresh is good idea if you don't want tablets.

So which is better for flea prevention, Garlic or Garlic and Fenugreek? What are the added benefits of Fenugreek?

Curious liberty :)

I tried cloves of garlic but none of my dogs would touch their food so this is not going to work.
Any suggestions
Sandie.

Do you feed them dried food?

Yes ColeenI I do.
Sandie.

Ah that explains why they wont eat it. I mix my garlic with a bit of olive oil, butter or a liitle bit of soft cheese or gravy at mealtimes and it seams to do the trick. My older boy is very fussy but he is now eating the garlic and has stopped scratching. I can only assume it is working. As for the garlic tablets I am sure they have the same effect.

I am a bit of a penny pincher and I find that 1 bulb of galic lasts my dogs a week so it works out very cheap compared to other methods.

I'm a penny pincher too so I decided to plant some of mine. It was really easy to grow, I just bunged it in and watered it a bit when it was dry. It did very well and it was virtually free. :D

Kath.

How do you grow garlic?
What do you need to plant. A bulb or a whole clove?

Buy a bulb, split it into cloves and plant each individually, just below the soil surface. It's best done in October so it can overwinter if you want the largest bulbs, but it'll get going now. You can also grow it in a pot of course.
:)

I planted mine in early spring and for that it needs a cold period to develop properly then a warm summer for fast growth. Mine did ok but as Jg says it's best planted in Autumn and harvested the summer after (traditionally it's planted on the shortest day and harvested on the longest day) You harvest it when the leaves have turned yellow.

You could try a few cloves now for this summer then plant more in autumn for next year. :)

http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_april_3_garlic.asp

Kath.

Thanks for that I am not much of a gardener but I will give it a go. How long does the garlic keep for?
I am jsut clueless when it comes to plants?

It should keep through the winter if stored well, it needs good air circulation, I hung mine from my clothes airer in the kitchen (which maybe a bit too warm for it)  but it starts to sprout in spring so should be used before then.

Although I do a lot of gardening I didn't have a clue about growing garlic till I decided to shove some in to see what would happen! I think it's the most satisfying crop I've ever grown. Maybe I was lucky but it was dead easy and I got good results. :)

Kath. 

Fenugreek has powerful disinfectant & emollient lubricant properties, excellent to go with garlic, enhancing all the latent & remarkable powers of that supreme herb, especially increasing it`s disinfectant qualities.  ;) :D :D

Christine, Spain.

When you say a clove do you mean one small segment per dog, how do you give it, crushed or do you put it through a garlic press.
I have also bought some 500mg capsules from H & B, I tried removing the powder from the capsule and sprinkling it on their food, so far so good.
Will the capsules work the same as real garlic cloves.
Sandie.

A head of garlic is made up of many cloves and I feed one clove per dog per day and I crush it via a garlic press.

IMHO the capsules/tablets do not have the same benefits as fresh; fresh anything is best IME.  However I do use Dorwest garlic and fenugreek when I am travelling/competing etc.

HTH

A clove is one of the segments :) I either put one per dog in the processor with the veggies or crush them with the garlic press. Also prefer to use fresh :)

Christine, Spain.