From Dale (kahluadanes) our experienced Vet Tech and dog owner:


Most definitely stay far away from OTC flea products..Hartz, Zodiac, Defend, Sargents,Bio-Spot and even OTC frontline & Advantage. These products are dangerous. They cause skin irritations, skin burns, neurological problems, kidney problems, Seizures and even death. Frontline & Advantage should be bought from a vet since the companies taht make them only sell to vets & will not guarantee any product not bought from a vet.

I also don't recommend bombs unless you are going ot take out everything from the room you are bombing, otherwise they simply go in the air and down on surfaces where fleas aren't. You need to concentrate on couch & chair cushions, under furniture, around baseboards, cracks in floors, etc. a direct spray such as Knockout ES is best. Vaccumn daily, throw away the bag every time in an outdoor trash container, if bagless empty contents into a plastic bag and throw in an outside trash container. Vaccumn your vehicles as well and treat. Fleas love to hitchhike and will..on shoes, clothing, purses, backpacks, etc and will be taken from place to place. Fleas can be brought to your home by guests, kids from school, daycare,the work place, etc.
The best time to stop fleas is to start treatment before there are fleas. Unfortunately most people wait until they see fleas before starting a flea prevention program, once you see fleas it means that there are now eggs & larve in your home and it means it will take longer to get rid of them regardless of what flea product you use. If you have a flea infestation it can take 3 -6 months to break the cycle and get rid of the flea population.
As long as there are fleas in the environment there will be fleas on your dog.Frontline will kill the fleas & new eggs they lay, but you will see fleas on your dog until all fleas and eggs that are already in your home & vehicle have been eradicated.
I hesitate to recommend any flea preventative that is taken internally such as Capstar or Program...I have a big problem with having my pets ingest a pesticide. I much prefer a product such as Frontline which doesn't go systemic.

Another reminder all pets in the household must be treated for fleas regardless if you see fleas on them or not or if they go out or not. If all aren't treated they will continue to pass fleas back and forth.
Dale