Can Poodles Get Fleas? How To Keep Your Dog Safe From These Bloodthirsty Pests
Fleas are a pesky pest and cause irritation to a poodle’s skin as well as infest your home if you’re not careful!
Some owners think that because poodles have different fur or hair types to other dogs that they can’t get fleas, this is not true though.
Poodles can get fleas, like all other dog breeds. In fact, their tightly curled hair may make it more difficult to notice they have a flea problem, but toy poodles, miniature poodles and standard poodles are just as vulnerable to fleas as other dog breeds so as a responsible owner it’s up to you to ensure that you take the right steps to prevent your poodle from getting fleas and if they do get them, make sure they are removed from your poodle’s hair and skin as soon as possible.
One of the worst things as a poodle owner is seeing your dog struggle with constantly scratching his or herself. When you go to figure out why your dog is scratching, you realize your dog has fleas and this can be very worrying. Your poodle may have fleas if they are scratching a lot, have raised red bumps on their skin, have dermatitis, or if you see tiny adult fleas or their eggs or tiny brown specks in their fur. Fleas are a common parasite and if left untreateed can cause a lot of damage to your poodle’s sensitive skin.
The truth is, any dog breed can get fleas. In fact, due to the curly and furry nature of a poodle’s fur coat, it can prove to be even more difficult to get rid of fleas that have nestled on a poodle. Because of this, you want to be aware of your surroundings and try to stay focused on your pet when you are either taking him/her for a walk or watching them when they are playing in the back garden. Prevention is the best method for stopping fleas from becoming a problem and avoiding the pain of trying to remove them from your poodle and home.
One of the most uncomfortable problems fleas can cause is ‘bite dermatitis.’ This is an allergic reaction caused due to flea saliva. This reaction can lead to very intense sensations of itching which can cause your poodle to scratch his or herself a lot. When your dog is consistently itching his or herself, it can cause the skin to break which can cause even more trouble. This can really happen just about anywhere on the dog’s skin, but it is usually found more frequently at either the base of the tail or even on the dog’s back. This is where fleas tend to nest the most. This issue can be effectively treated by a veterinarian and it will require that the fleas be removed and killed off. Likewise, to treat the condition itself, it will require the use of medication to deal with both the allergic reaction and the infection.
Not only is your dog at risk for suffering various skin problems as a result of a flea infestation, but they are also at risk for suffering some diseases too.
Flas will jump onto your poodle, then lay eggs. These eggs then spread around your home whenever your dog rubs against something or scratches themself. The eggs hatch into larvae, tiny little maggot like bugs that like areas like carpets, mattresses and sofas before turning into adult fleas. Before you know it, your cute poodle has infested your entire home with these nasty critters! Fleas will bite most animals including humans, so don’t think that it will only effect your poodle if they pick some up.
Now that you can see why fleas are so bad for poodles, you will want to learn about the ways to effectively prevent and get rid of them. Below are some of the ways you can prevent your poodle from dealing with a flea problem.
How to Prevent Flea Infestations in Poodles
- Regularly give your Poodle a Flea Treatment
Most vets advise regularly giving your poodle a flea treatment. This is normally some drops that you put on your poodle’s fur regularly that discourage fleas and kill them before they have the chance to bite and infect your poodle and home.
You can check out my list of recommended flea treatments for poodles here.
2. Avoid contact with other animals
While toy poodles, miniature poodles and standard poodles are naturally sociable dogs, the most common way that dogs get fleas is thought close contact with other dogs and animals who have fleas. The fleas can jump quite far from animal to animal. While there is no way of knowing for sure which other animals have fleas, the best thing is to only allow your poodle to play and socialize with other dogs who you are confident have also been given a good quality flea prevention treatment by their owner. This means not allowing your poodle to play with stray dogs or dogs who do not look well cared for. While this can seem harsh, a flea infestation is the last thing you need and it is better to be safe than sorry.
3. Avoid Allowing Your Poodle To Play In Areas Where Fleas are Commonly Found
You should be diligent about where you allow your poodle to play. This is very important no matter if your poodle currently has fleas or not. Keep them away from any environment where fleas are likely to be present. This means avoiding any dirty areas. Parasites like fleas love environments that are conducive to them thriving. This is usually areas with tall grass, ferns and that is damp or moist. You will find a lot of ticks, worms, and fleas in these areas, so if you are going to let your dog play in these areas, make sure you have a good anti-flea treatment on your poodle. Ticks also like to bury into a poodle’s skin so you will need to check their skin for small bumps after walking in areas with lots of long grass and vegetation.
How to Get Rid of Fleas in a Poodle
- Give You Poodle Frequent Baths
Your poodle should already be being bathed and taken to the groomers regularly, but if you suspect your poodle has a flea infestation, you are going to want to be sure to give your dog a thorough cleaning. If your dog has a serious problem with lots of fleas or skin problems you think is caused by fleas, you will want to go straight to the vet to get proper medical advice. However, if your dog doesn’t have a huge infestation, a simple bath using an anti-flea shampoo with help. You can read more about my recommended shampoo and flea treatments here.
When giving a bath, you will need to bath them with the right anti-parasite shampoo. You want to use a specialty shampoo designed to kill off fleas. By using an anti-flea shampoo, you can get rid of a lot of the fleas. The normal shampoo is not going to work because it is not designed to kill-off fleas. You want to use a highly rated anti-flea shampoo on your poodle, but if your poodle has irritated skin like flea allergy dermatitis you should be very careful about using these products on your poodle as it could further irritate sore and sensitive skin.
2. Comb your poodle using a fine tooth comb
Using a fine-tooth comb, comb through your poodle’s fur thoroughly to remove fleas and eggs. This is going to be tricky with a poodle so be careful that they do not have any dermatitis or red irritated skin before you do this. It is also probably worthwhile brushing your poodle’s hair normally with your usual brush first to get rid of any tangles. Then use a fine-tooth comb, paying special attention to the base of the tail and neck, as this is a flea’s favorite place to bite dogs.
3. Thoroughly Clean Your Entire House
As soon as you have gone through the steps to bath your poodle, you will want to get rid of any fleas currently in your house. After all, if your dog has fleas, you may have fleas laying dormant in various areas of your home. If you don’t take care of a flea infestation quickly, you will find them spreading everywhere- which is not a good thing! Soon enough, you might begin spotting them on your bed and throughout every nook and cranny of your entire home- also bear in mind that fleas can bite humans too and cause some nasty skin issues.
So, you will want to give your entire home a thorough cleaning. You want to begin cleaning your home like you normally would but it must be thorough. If you don’t clean your home as well as possible, you will find yourself dealing with fleas for a long time. While cleaning, you should be spraying anti-flea chemicals everywhere to ensure you are killing all of the fleas in your home.
As a minimum, you should wash all bedding, vacuum the whole house’s floor and throw away the vacuum bag. If you have a more serious infestation you should call your local pest control who may need to use chemicals to clean your house of fleas. After making sure your house and garden no longer have a problem, go back to step one and apply a preventative flea treatment to your poodle, as this will kill fleas before you dog is able to bring them into your home in the first place.
4. Ensure your yard or garden is flea-free
Fleas always come from somewhere and it may be that there are fleas in your yard or garden. If your home has a garden and your dog has or has had fleas recently it is very possible that there will be fleas there as well as in the home. If there are fleas outside, it is very likely that your poodle is going to get them again if you don’t actively take steps to stop fleas in their tracks.
The best thing you can do is to focus on eliminating the problem in your yard. As soon as you have given your dog a bath and thoroughly cleaned your entire home, you will want to treat the yard. The best way to do so is by using a powder for killing off fleas, you can get this online or in a pet shop.
While any dog can get fleas, it doesn’t mean you have to let it happen. There are so many products and information readily available that should make it easy to prevent fleas. By regularly applying a flea treatment to your prized poodle, maintaining a clean home and a clean dog, you should be able to manage any flea problems.