Regardless of where you live, if you have a dog, at some point your dog will have fleas. Flea medicines for dogs have provided more comfort for canines, perhaps, than any other drug in the veterinary field. They’re absolutely necessary for anyone who owns a dog, as a scratching dog can be a nuisance and annoyance not just for the dog but also for the owner.

All in all, a dog with fleas means a miserable state of affairs for all parties involved. Fleas crawl on the skin of your dog, taking little bites here and there, and your dog is powerless, without medicine, to do anything about the bites or the tiny insects on her skin. The only thing your dog can do to relieve herself is to scratch what itches, and this often means scratching everywhere that your dog can reach. This means they’ll inclined to rub on your furniture and will often scratch bare sports into their backs. They might also chew their paws until they bleed in hopes of respite.

It’s a sad situation all around, as scratching leads to hair loss and skin infections for your dog. In addition, many dogs are allergic to the saliva of fleas. This is called flea allergy dermatitis. Dogs that have flea allergy dermatitis can develop serious skin problems that can become difficult to treat and are always extremely uncomfortable for them. They’ll chew their skin to get respite just because of a simple itching bite, and can often chew until they create raw patches, which then only create greater problems.

Thankfully, there are many great flea medicines out there that are extremely affective and will prevent your dog from going crazy trying to scratch and bite his way out of his itches. For dogs with flea allergy dermatitis, you’ll find that the best products are flea drops, which you have to place on the skin at the top of the dog’s neck once a month. These are preventative, and help ward off fleas from your dog’s skin so that you don’t have to worry about the problems mentioned above. For larger dogs, you might have to divide the application between the neck and the lower back of your dog at the base of his tail.

Three of the best known products out there, which are often recommended by vets for flea treatment, are Advantage, Frontline Plus and K9 Advantix. All of these brands also make flea medicine for cats, so make sure you get the right kind! These flea solutions kill adult fleas and continue to kill hatching fleas for up to 30 days.

You can also try Revolution, which provides the same type of spot application to the back of the neck and also offers an all-in-one medical solution that prevents heartworm and kills fleas. Spot products are recommended by vets for dogs with flea allergies because they kill adult fleas so quickly. You can also try flea medicine in pill form, but most dogs will be resistant to this type of medicine. Spot treatment is much easier to apply than giving your dog pills.

Pill form medicines include Program and Sentinel – these contain insect growth regulators and parasitic insecticides that kill fleas when they hatch, but don’t kill adult fleas already living on your dog. You can use these treatments in addition to the spot treatments, so that you not only kill adult fleas, but the ones that are hatching as well. These pill treatments are recommended more for the fact that they prevent heartworm and also kill tapeworm, hookworms, round worms and whip worms in your dog.

Topical spot treatment drops are the most popular choice when it comes to flea control for those who own dogs. These sorts of products are available online and in stores, but it’s best to purchase them from your vet so that you can ensure that you’re getting the best kind of flea medicine out there. You don’t want to risk using low cost fake products that might actually hurt instead of help your dog.

Advantage is one of the best products out there and is highly recommended by vets because it’s not just effective, but also reasonably priced. It’s applied once a month. Frontline is a bit more expensive than Advantage, but it also prevents against ticks. Unfortunately, the brand that works for your dog this year might not be the brand that works for you next year.

Fleas multiply very quickly and their bodies are smart enough to adapt to protect themselves against topical flea medicines, so the medicine you’re currently using may not actually protect your dog in a year from now. For this reason, it’s advisable to switch up the products every so often, much like you switch up your shampoo to keep your hair healthy.

Take these tips into consideration and find the flea medication for your special friend now.

Adrian Blue is a freelance writer who writes about pet care and dog medicine.

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