I moved into a house several years ago that had a major flea infestation. I live out in the country but my yard is fenced. I have four dogs that stay covered in fleas. Frontline doesn’t touch this problem. I buy permethrin at Tractor Supply to dip them in. I spray the yard with any and everything. Its better but still really bad. I need Industrial strength bad stuff to kill these things. I don’t care if it kills the grass just not all the trees. Its heavily shaded which makes it worse. Sulphur helps but I would really like a remedy. Any suggestions?
First, there is no need to “kill the grass” or put you or your pets in any danger by over exposing them to something too strong. A proper flea control program can handle any problem and not pose a threat to people, pets or the environment. As our FLEA ARTICLE explains, the secret is dealing the problem directly. And though treating the pets can help, rarely will this alone solve the infestation so in the end what we find is that most people fail to handle all the problem areas that will need attention which is why the fleas persist.
Second, you don’t cite the size of the yard but I’m assuming the area the pets stay is in the fenced area. Treat this with BIFEN GRANULES first. Next, spray over the top with ESFENVALERATE and NYLAR. This combo will get immediate results and if you treat every 30-45 days, nothing will be able to live or develop in the treated area.
Lastly, if the pets come inside you’ll need to treat with one of the options we have listed in our article. Over the years we have found that people will many times treat the pet and the home but neglect the yard. In other cases we’ve seen where they’ll treat the yard and the home but neglect the pet. In all these cases, the fleas have remained and that’s because these people weren’t treating all the potential problems. So if the pets come inside, you’ll need to treat in there as well.
In summary, if you stay the course with the products we have listed in our article (which are all professional grade pest control products), I’m sure you’ll get the desired results. The key is treating all areas and treating on that 30-45 day schedule. In all cases of ongoing problems we find that people aren’t treating all the areas, they’re not treating frequently enough or they’re not mixing the products at the right rate. In this case I’m leaning toward not enough and not all the areas as the main cause. So if you keep up the Frontline for the pets but step up the effort in the yard and home, I’m sure you’ll knock the fleas out sometime in 2012 for sure.
Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:
Bifen Granules: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/granule/bifenthrin-g-25-lb
Conquer: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/conquer-esfenvalerate
Nylar: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/igr/igr-nylar
Flea Article: www.flea.net/flea-control
COMMENTS