Garlic and fleas

I like to offer my dogs a wide variety of protein sources,so yesterday when I bought the regular standby of ground beef I bought ground turkey as well. Cooking it up this morning I added some garlic; as you know I have said many times before that Luke loves people food, lasagna, sausages, steak and shortbread. So I thought by adding some garlic it might be more to his liking.

I only use small amounts of garlic; there is a big controversy over the good and bad of garlic for dogs. I do think that you can give your dog too much of a good thing but a shake or two of garlic powder while preparing their food adds flavor and they say keeps fleas away. I have no evidence of it working on fleas; I don't battle them often but if I do I use a weekly bath to kill them.

Fleas drown very easily so giving a bath with any type of shampoo once a week when there are fleas present really helps. Make sure to make a nice soap ring around the neck and tail/private area so that the fleas cannot flee and hide in there. Leave the sudsy shampoo on for at least 5 minutes. If there are fleas you will see them coming to the surface to try to escape; don't let them. Plop a big pile of suds on top of them and then wash them down the drain.

I never use toxic flea treatment anymore; best to use management and safe, healthy alternatives.