I seldom have fleas on my dog, but when I do I give him a flea bath. That kills the adult and eggs, then 7 days later, you must bath him again. The middle stage of the flea is not killed by the first bath. In 7 days the middle stage is now an adult and will be killed. You need to do the spraying or fogging in the same manner. At least this was what I was told by a vet years ago and has worked for me. I do not like to use the products like advatage, it is bad enough I have to give him the heartworm meds. I do treat my yard with a granular (not a dust) that kill the ants and fleas, mole crickets ect. Making sure it is watered in good after it is applied and I wash his feet after being out side for several days after we put it down.
The granular seems to go right to the ground and doesn't hurt my butterflies.
Hope this helps.

I don't like to use chems but malathion works great. Must apply 2 or three times, a week apart, to get the newly hatched ones. Also it will break down in to much less harmful stuff over time.

For inside (or outside), non chem control, borax sprinkled in your carpet and left down will kill them in about 2 to 3 weeks. It knocks them down very fast, though. This desiccates the eggs and larva. Borax WAS the bug treatment of choice before advertisements of chems convinced us other wise.

Also, diatomaceous earth works great for many things. I used it once on a swarming fire ant bed and it knocked them down and killed them right now! You can kill intestinal worms by using food grade and mixing some in your animal's wet food. This stuff dry will harm eyes if it gets in them so be careful and also do not breath in! You will have the mother of all coughing fits.

Both of these need to be reapplied if it rains.

You can get Frontline for the dog.

Fleas are some nasty critters. I've been battling them here for several months. Had the yard treated, had the house treated and tried both Frontline and Advantage on the dogs. We tried flea baths. None of that worked. There are so many animals around here and I think they drop all the fleas they carry with them in my yard. No matter what I did, there were still fleas on the dogs.

I went back to the vet countless times. Finally they gave me capstar (a pill that kills the adult fleas on dogs and cats) and told me to give it to the dogs every few days until the problem resolved. It works fast, but there is no lasting effect so you have to repeat it as the fleas hatch out on the animal. But after several doses, the fleas were finally gone. I think the fact that we had a hard freeze here helped too.

I really don't like fleas. I really really don't.

Maureen

Thank you all for the advice......my baby got sick from the *#@$% hartz drops.....she wasnt eating and was very lethargic....hubby had to take her to the vet as I am trapped in school all day today.....NEVER EVER use hartz products is all I have to say.....she had to have an antibiotic because the drops were apparently causing her to have cramps....anyway thank you all for all the advice....hopefully the cold weather tonight will help us get rid of the fleas.....DH had already brought the Sevin he showed it to the vet who said it was okay to use.....I too don't like to use chemicals in my yard but I had to get rid of the fleas.....I won't use them to save a plant but to save my dog I'll use every chemical if I have to....Sevin is suppossed to break down harmlessly too.....there have been many studies done on it and apparently as long as we are not near water for it to run off into we are okay.....it can kill crabs and other shellfish......hubby put in on the ground and the vet said that as soon as it is dry it is safe for my baby to go out ....I probably still won't let her play outside for a few more days though.....if that doesnt work I have hear of borax before.....don't you have to leave it though....I remember seeing white lines in my grandmothers house growing up....

Yes you do have to leave borax down. It looks better on light carpet.

Isn't that better then fleas? Once they are gone, you can vacuum it up and then wait until you need it again.

PLEASE, check out the life cycle of the flea. Maybe I didn't explain it very well.

Where does one buy diotomaceous earth & food-grade as well? Can't picture seeing that where I buy potting soil. Should it be found in gardening depts or somewhere else?

Also, thonotorose referenced putting food grade in food to kill worms. I have a feral we keep on porch who we can't catch to give a pill and an desparate to get that tapeworm out of her.