# Any cheap solutions to remove fleas from dogs?



## Chris Perez (Jun 16, 2015)

Hi, My name is Chris, I'm new here, I work as a volunteer for an animal rescue charity in Cebu, Philippines. I rescued 2 dogs last 25th of June from a homeowner whose house got burned down in one of the slums here, she called me to collect her dogs but the poor things are riddled with ticks and their fur is all matted. Due to no budget, I'm looking at ways to save money. Does anyone know of any cheap ways to remove fleas without buying materials or chemicals, maybe a home remedy or methods that can be used which are inexpensive, unfortunately 'Brownie and Fluffy' got slightly burnt in the fire also which is another reason I don't want to put any chemicals on them and Fluffy is also pregnant so I need to be extra careful. Any thoughts or ideas please let me know, thanks.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

for bad infestations, Johnsons baby shampoo
seems to kill fleas on contact. leave it on awhile

then spend some money and do it the RIGHT way !


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

remove ticks one by one and take your time to not leave part of it in the dog

zymox for the ears...spend the money

they will be back of course, so money is still the answer to stop the breeding cycle


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

cut the matts out with SHARP scissors, don't torture them more trying to detangle unless your day job is a groomer
- sometimes if you cut off the top of the matt first, it will detangle, but not always

but don't just be lazy and shave down the whole coat !!

do this BEFORE the J/J shampoo of course 

by the way, your rescue group is useless if they couldn't tell you anything about how to clean up a dog ](*,)


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## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

We use Dawn dish soap for the fleas. Give the dog a bath and don't rinse off the soap for a few minutes. Then rinse but this a temporary fix as you will have to do it again when the eggs hatch (if there are any on the dog). Throw away any bedding or toys that came with the dogs. For the ticks, pick off with tweezers.

And please excuse the rudeness of others.....


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Sarah Platts said:


> We use Dawn dish soap for the fleas. Give the dog a bath and don't rinse off the soap for a few minutes. Then rinse but this a temporary fix as you will have to do it again when the eggs hatch (if there are any on the dog). Throw away any bedding or toys that came with the dogs. For the ticks, pick off with tweezers.
> 
> And please excuse the rudeness of others.....


And who might be the "others" 

You can always count on me to agitate.


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## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> And who might be the "others"
> 
> You can always count on me to agitate.


I'm not really sure. The short list keeps rotating around. Occasionally, even you end up on it. (But not so much lately, I admit.)

Still the ability of people to be flexible to have a foot in their mouth along with their head up their bass, all at the same time, never fails to amaze me. 

Now shame on you! You made me go "there". "there" to the place when I forget polite manners and act like a petulant 4-year old. 

Guess this puts you back on my list..... \\/


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## Meg O'Donovan (Aug 20, 2012)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> And who might be the "others"
> 
> You can always count on me to agitate.


Watch that Lee, or you might be taken as "UnAmerican". 
(joke).


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Oh, I though Rick Smith was our only resident swarm of flies Sarah. You mean there's more? And you have a list of them?

Can I be on the list too? Not the one Rick is on, but any kind of naughty list will do just fine. :twisted:

And hello Chris Perez. I wish I could answer your question in a useful fashion. Unless someone brings them up from the states we don't have fleas where I live.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

stay outta this thread Lee unless you got something rude to say !
it's way too serious for you, ya old fart
...and you already know i am the rudest bastard on the WDF.
you can never take that title away from me //rotflmao//
...as far as Sarah goes anyway

to Chris :
- hope you don't think i was being rude. that was not why i posted
- i wanted to help you and i stand by my guidance 
- no matter how big your heart is, it takes money to do it right

i've done my share of rescue work over the years. not all rescue groups are created equal 

- with two groups that were basically animal loving soccer moms with too much time on their hands. they never found homes for dogs and cats, and loved to chit chat at their cookie sales, but they never even brought the foster dogs to them and they folded in a few years. 
- we have one good outfit in town who has good connections with vets and does a great job of marketing their animals when they bring them out. they always email me to bring my dog there when they are having an event to help socialise their dogs/cats since many Japanese people think dogs and cats cannot live together. i also help handle their puppies with the public

P.S.
it was hard to write this choking on my foot, but somehow i managed to get it out


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

hmmmm .... a "resident swarm of flies" 
now that shows some imagination ! 
well done ! 

BZ Nicole (bravo zulu if you aren't Navy savvy)

but since Nicole brought up the lack of fleas in "I'llAskHer", it made me think to remind you about mosquitos and heartworms ....

----- which i KNOW they have in the P.I. 'cause i lived there 
- they are WORSE than flea and tick problems
- what are you doing about that ?
- does your rescue outfit test for filaria ?
- what test do they use ?

the only remedies and preventions that i know of all cost money, and there are more than one way to treat a dog who is positive, so a good vet is important

Lee, whenever you bring up CR, it brings back good memories of the P.I. 
been to many coastal areas that sound just like it if you substitute SanMiguel for the coco locos 
- Palawan was my favorite before it became a tourist trap

***Chris....I hope you are still watching your thread and not run off by all this off topic extraneous nonsense


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

i'm sure you probably already know this but i'll post anyway 

a dog who is positive for filaria can be started on meds and most healthy dogs will be fine for years and never get worse. the worms don't actually kill the dog. the accumulation of the adult worms is what does the damage

a dog who is positive will usually not show any visible symptoms for quite some time ... often when it does, it is too late

that's why testing is important to me
.... IMRO ....
....in my rude opinion //lol//


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

Chris
is Kabang the hero dog from Zamboanga (sp?) still getting media coverage over there ?


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## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

Nicole Stark said:


> Oh, I though Rick Smith was our only resident swarm of flies Sarah. You mean there's more? And you have a list of them?
> 
> Can I be on the list too? Not the one Rick is on, but any kind of naughty list will do just fine.
> 
> And hello Chris Perez. I wish I could answer your question in a useful fashion. Unless someone brings them up from the states we don't have fleas where I live.


Actually, I will put you up with Lee. Both of you can string a coherent thought into a cohesive sentence while applying the lessons of basic grammer and usage. 

And, Nicole, I did say it was a short list but I never actually mentioned how many lists I have. You, Lee, Bob, Howard, Susan, Connie, Matt, etc are on the list of people who's opinions actually matter to me. :mrgreen:


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

rick smith said:


> hmmmm .... a "resident swarm of flies"
> now that shows some imagination !
> well done !
> 
> ...


I stayed far away from living near tourist traps. Our grocery store is located in a prime to tourist area but I didnt live there. It was a couple of hours from where I was living in a tiny mountain hamlet. When I went to the store which is on the coast I could go to the beach and suck on Coco Locos while watching the beach babe's stroll by.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

lee h sternberg said:


> i could go to the beach and suck on coco locos while watching the beach babe's stroll by.


shut up..... Now!!!!!!!!


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Joby Becker said:


> shut up..... Now!!!!!!!!



Learn Spanish and then I can give you a job at the store. 

I promise you too can have Coco Locos and watch beach babe's.☺


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Done. When do I start?


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Nicole Stark said:


> Done. When do I start?


I don't think you are into beach babe's so we will have to sit at different tables.☺

I will send a Coco Loco your way!


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Sorry Joby, Nicole took your job.

You snooze, you lose.☺


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> Sorry Joby, Nicole took your job.
> 
> You snooze, you lose.☺


Hey... wait a minute. I didn't just get suckered into doing a "job" I didn't apply for did I? :???: ha ha.


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Nicole Stark said:


> Done. When do I start?


What do you call this? No work, no Coco Locos.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> What do you call this? No work, no Coco Locos.


C'mon man! You're losing your edge… and you missed my joke. :mrgreen:


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

funny ... hahah

but also downright RUDE to get wrapped up with trivial shit too much and drive off a poster who may have legitimate questions and needs](*,)](*,)

- if i was a mod i'd say to keep your jokes ON TOPIC 
- if was the poster i'd press on with my questions and agree or disagree with the suggestions and comments

since i'm neither i'll leave it at this and ask the poster to use a PM to me if he wants any more help or suggestions and hope he doesn't consider me rude


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Thank you Rick. Now based upon what I did, which prompted you to offer a behavior that I was expecting would you say that it was a result of:

a. bribe
b. lure
c. conditioned response based something more complex 
d. other (use your imagination)

You respond quite well to free shaping but I wanted to give you some other options to choose from  in case you wanted to have some fun with this. And yes, I am well acquainted with BZs, I have received several as the BZ program is one of our corporate based methods for recognition.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

Chris

so
what have you used, how did it work and please tell us how you are going about finding a permanent home for the dogs you have rescued ?

i have done a lot of work in the rescue field and might have some new suggestions that you could try out


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

i will give you one idea now you can think over 

i NEVER give a rescue dog to anyone for FREE, and i always evaluate the owners WITH the dog to see how they will handle it

when i show the dog and discuss with a prospective owner what dog ownership involves, i always tell them it is going to be an added expense on their family budget. of course they say they know this, but i go into details about what it might cost to handle "normal" problems they could expect from any dog they get.

i then explain how the dog has been given basic preventative meds and some of the time i have taken to help the dog become more 'adoptable', etc
i don't try to sell them a training class, but i want them to understand the dog has been WELL taken care of and that it costs a bit to do that and SAVED them the money from having to do the same thing.

i then explain what kind of adoption fee they need to pay to get the dog. always less than what my cost was.
- and then i tell them if they bought a dog from a breeder it would be WAY more expensive, but they would not necessarily get a better dog than this one 
- and i also tell them if they have a problem right after getting it i will help them at no charge

** since i give them specific techniques to do with the dog as soon as they take it home, i rarely have been asked to help with a problem. and i have re-homed quite a few dogs this way

bottom line for me :
1. "free to a good home" is definitely not the way i have advertised rescued dogs
2. every day the foster dog is with me is a another training day for that dog

food water and love fall WAY short of how i rescue a dog !!


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

rick smith said:


> funny ... hahah
> 
> but also downright RUDE to get wrapped up with trivial shit too much and drive off a poster who may have legitimate questions and needs](*,)](*,)
> 
> ...


The topic was already covered with different inexpensiive flea control methods, I thought. 

Oh I forgot....UP YOURS, ☺


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> I don't think you are into beach babe's so we will have to sit at different tables.☺
> 
> I will send a Coco Loco your way!


Nicole can come sit at my table and help keep an eye out for buff young beach boys. 

Another round of Coco Locos...por favor!


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

leslie cassian said:


> Nicole can come sit at my table and help keep an eye out for buff young beach boys.
> 
> Another round of Coco Locos...por favor!


The Costa Rica surfer dudes are all in good shape.


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Lee H Sternberg said:


> The Costa Rica surfer dudes are all in good shape.


And they walk right by my favorite thatched roof beachfront cantina. 

They make a hell of a COCO LOCO!☺


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## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

worked a search in Costa Rica once. Beautiful country but it was sure hot to work in. Got a marriage proposal from one of the cops. Told me he was going to retire soon and wanted me to take the jump with him. I asked him what his retirement plans were...... It seemed to involve a lot of just lying around on the beach and not much else. I turned him down only to have the other cop immediately ask me if I would marry him instead. 
Sadly, I had to turn him down too. He didn't like dogs.


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Sarah Platts said:


> worked a search in Costa Rica once. Beautiful country but it was sure hot to work in. Got a marriage proposal from one of the cops. Told me he was going to retire soon and wanted me to take the jump with him. I asked him what his retirement plans were...... It seemed to involve a lot of just lying around on the beach and not much else. I turned him down only to have the other cop immediately ask me if I would marry him instead.
> Sadly, I had to turn him down too. He didn't like dogs.


Hot is right!

I didn't mind the store at sea level but I lived high up in the mountains.


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## Chris Perez (Jun 16, 2015)

rick smith said:


> for bad infestations, Johnsons baby shampoo
> seems to kill fleas on contact. leave it on awhile
> 
> then spend some money and do it the RIGHT way !


Hi Rick,

Unfortunately johnsons baby shampoo isn't available on sachets...but I will include it in my list of possible solutions. Thanks for the suggestion


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## Chris Perez (Jun 16, 2015)

rick smith said:


> remove ticks one by one and take your time to not leave part of it in the dog
> 
> zymox for the ears...spend the money
> 
> they will be back of course, so money is still the answer to stop the breeding cycle


Unfortunately we don't have the money yet, that's why I was looking for a cheap solution...

The charity org is still new and it's a grass roots charity, it not a professional charity. this is just a very small group of people here in Cebu that just want to help, we don't have the recognition of a big charity and the government is not interested in funding us as their finances are already stretched so its each to their own.


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## Chris Perez (Jun 16, 2015)

Sarah Platts said:


> We use Dawn dish soap for the fleas. Give the dog a bath and don't rinse off the soap for a few minutes. Then rinse but this a temporary fix as you will have to do it again when the eggs hatch (if there are any on the dog). Throw away any bedding or toys that came with the dogs. For the ticks, pick off with tweezers.
> 
> And please excuse the rudeness of others.....


Hi Sarah, thanks for the suggestion, but here in the Philippines we don't have Dawn Dish Soap, There are other dish soap here in liquid/paste form but I'm not sure if it will have the same effect as Dawn Dish Soap...


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## Chris Perez (Jun 16, 2015)

Nicole Stark said:


> Oh, I though Rick Smith was our only resident swarm of flies Sarah. You mean there's more? And you have a list of them?
> 
> Can I be on the list too? Not the one Rick is on, but any kind of naughty list will do just fine. :twisted:
> 
> And hello Chris Perez. I wish I could answer your question in a useful fashion. Unless someone brings them up from the states we don't have fleas where I live.


Hi Nicole, good for you, that there are no fleas on where you live


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## Chris Perez (Jun 16, 2015)

rick smith said:


> stay outta this thread Lee unless you got something rude to say !
> it's way too serious for you, ya old fart
> ...and you already know i am the rudest bastard on the WDF.
> you can never take that title away from me //rotflmao//
> ...


Thanks Rick for your kind effort on helping me out and sharing your experiences with rescue work. Our charity is still very new and I'm also new, I just joined the org last month. Unlike other charity orgs, our cause is so small we cannot afford vets right now, the prices of VETs in Cebu is much cheaper than the USA and we actually asked for some great discounts with some vets here so we can get vets very cheap compared to other countries but still our budget is very limited. The donations we collect are just locally in Cebu and not many people here don't have the money or they simply don't care in the first place which is sad. Anyway we have some great volunteers and we have god on our side to look after us.


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## Chris Perez (Jun 16, 2015)

rick smith said:


> Chris
> is Kabang the hero dog from Zamboanga (sp?) still getting media coverage over there ?


No he no longer gets media coverage, the last news I heard about Kabang was 2013...


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## Chris Perez (Jun 16, 2015)

rick smith said:


> Chris
> 
> so
> what have you used, how did it work and please tell us how you are going about finding a permanent home for the dogs you have rescued ?
> ...


Hi Rick, 

so far I haven't found any cheap solution yet, but a local good samaritan donated a bottle of Madre De Cacao Oil, so far I've seen improvements on their skin... Because I'm still new in the org all my task is to help rescue and take care of the cats or dogs in the shelter. The task of finding a permanent home was given to another volunteer. I'll be glad to hear your suggestions.


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## Chris Perez (Jun 16, 2015)

rick smith said:


> i will give you one idea now you can think over
> 
> i NEVER give a rescue dog to anyone for FREE, and i always evaluate the owners WITH the dog to see how they will handle it
> 
> ...


Thank you for sharing these guidelines. I will take note of these and will suggest it to the org...


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Chris if you know any American military I think you might ask them if the base exchange has any of those suggested products. 

I have a feeling the exchange has them.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

Lee
Clark air base was evacuated right b4 Mt Pinatubo blew oup (91). it never opened after that and was pretty well stripped in a few months

Air Force weather guessers got it right for Clark, but were DEAD WRONG thinking Subic would be spared. It got buried too :-(
- a Sub tender came in and issued shovels to sailors to keep em busy clearing the runway ... what a joke :-(

Subic and Cubi Point stayed open a little longer but i thought it was worldwide news that the US pulled out of the P.I. completely
- i was there when Pinatubo blew and spent 12 hours scraping "volcanic mortar" off my roof and it still caved in and flooded out. Subic look like it had been nuked. nothing but monkeys came out for a few days; trying to steal food off family BBQ's. all the foliage from the jungles was stripped and you didn't even hear insects for a couple days ... very weird
- Family housing in Cubi became condos and (then) Mayor Gordon turned the PX facilities into a Duty Free zone 
- and very few clubs in Olongapo lasted either...the "bar fine" party days are history :-(
- the last i heard, most of the tourists now are from Germany ... 
- the shipyard at SRF tried to hang on awhile but the US shifted its repair work to Singapore out of Quatar.

there's always talk about reopening but i doubt it will happen anytime soon.

we've had a few ships make port calls but the word is "it's dead and NO fun anymore"

So basically, the closest PX would prob be in Korea or here in Japan 

hope that gets you up to speed and prob more than you give a hoot about knowing


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Chris, you probably can find the list of items on line for the products recommended and compare them with products you do have to narrow down something.


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

rick smith said:


> Lee
> Clark air base was evacuated right b4 Mt Pinatubo blew oup (91). it never opened after that and was pretty well stripped in a few months
> 
> Air Force weather guessers got it right for Clark, but were DEAD WRONG thinking Subic would be spared. It got buried too :-(
> ...


Catch up on the news, Rick. Military is back in PI.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

Chris
if you post some decent pics of the dogs that need treatment and send me a mailing address, i will send you all the baby shampoo you need ... on my nickel


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

i'll also throw in the other brand of soap mentioned here and you can run a test and report back to us which worked the best


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

rick smith said:


> Chris
> if you post some decent pics of the dogs that need treatment and send me a mailing address, i will send you all the baby shampoo you need ... on my nickel


Oh my. I replied with something before this, then I realized what I used was in fact a real word… being kind, well just right minded I deleted it. Really, Rick-san that is very nice of you to offer.

Chris, I have a number of employees that work for me from the P.I.. If you want a recommendation of like or similar products I will ask them for input. Surely, they would be able to suggest something comparable and possibly equally as effective.


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