When you understand the facts about fleas, you will have taken your first important step toward claiming the title of first-class flea fighter and defender of the Samoyed.
The battle that awaits you rages on three fronts: the dog, your home (which includes your furniture, your carpet, your bed, your dog’s bed, and everything else within your house walls), and the yard. A variety of products are available for each of these theaters of war, but only those that are compatible with one another should be used, and all should be used only as directed.
Consult your veterinarian before launching this potentially very frustrating mission, and make sure the products you will be using are safe and effective.
The best plan is to begin by bathing and perhaps flea-dipping and/or spraying the dog (all with compatible products). With the dog out of the house, perhaps having been delivered into the hands of a qualified groomer for de-fleaing, you may attack the house and yard with flea bombs, sprays, whatever types of products you have chosen.
Your goal for the Samoyed is to remove the fleas that have taken up residence on its skin and in its coat. If you spot one flea either on the dog or somewhere in your house, you know there are more, not just on the dog, but throughout its environment, and your environment, as well.
As for that environment, your goal is to kill all of the adult and pre-adult (eggs and larvae) fleas hiding there, so choose products that are up to the task but that do not pose a threat to your Samoyed.
When you have finished this particular battle, you may rest briefly on your laurels, but be prepared to take up arms again in a few weeks, especially if you are waging the war during summer, prime flea season. Unfortunately, however, in some areas, prime flea season is every season.
While life in the Arctic was not typically conducive to flea infestations of the resident Samoyeds, these parasites can indeed be a scourge to contemporary Sams, especially those in more temperate climates that foster year-round flea populations.
In most areas, winter’s chill either destroys the summer’s fleas, or at least urges them into hibernation, but in some areas, the battle must be fought all year long. There is hope, however. In the never ending search for the perfect end-all flea eradicator, recent discoveries in the flea-control laboratory have led to the development of several new types of products with that promise.
One is a new oral prescription remedy that prevents pre-adult fleas from maturing, and thus, of course, reproducing. Another, also available by prescription, is applied to a single spot on the dog and kills resident fleas for weeks.
In the meantime, however, it is wise to continue on the three-prong attack method of flea control and to consult with your veterinarian to devise the most effective and safest program for your individual pet.
Fighting Ticks
While dealing with fleas can be frustrating enough, yet another external parasite that is ever hungry for your dog’s blood is the tick, a small round pest that has ample access to a dog as outdoorsy as the Samoyed. The two typically meet in wooded areas where the dog is hiking, backpacking, sledding, or partaking in any such fun activity it enjoys with its owner.
It then returns home with an uninvited guest: a tick that has latched on and grows gradually more obese as it feasts on the dog’s blood.
It is thus to your dog’s benefit to do a thorough examination of the animal as soon as you arrive home, your mission being to seek and destroy any unwanted souvenirs that may have hitched a ride.
This is not an easy job, especially if the dog is in full coat, but ticks can carry such potentially serious illnesses as canine ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Lyme disease, the latter of which is considered the most common tick-borne illness, resulting in arthritis-like joint pain, lameness, weakness, and fever. Ticks should not, therefore, be allowed to feast at will.
If you do find a tick latched onto your Samoyed’s skin, grasp securely as much of its engorged body as you can with a pair of tweezers or between your thumb and forefinger, then slowly and smoothly pull the tick out. Apply antibiotic ointment to the site and watch for the next few weeks for signs of joint stiffness, apathy, weight loss, lethargy, or respiratory congestion that could indicate the onset of a tick borne illness.
While the image of a round tick embedding its head into your Samoyed’s skin is hardly pleasant, the good news is that a sound flea-control program often targets the tick as well.
Choose flea-control products with this dual-purpose action, remain true to that primary battle against the flea, and you may never even have to ponder the idea of waging war against the equally blood thirsty tick.
