Little puppies and tick/flea prevention...

[SincereArtisan]

Ok, so some of you may have seen the post about the wee aussie/BC pups my boyfriend's family need to find homes for. They're about 2.5 weeks old, now, and when we were up there visiting the other day I pulled a tick off one. I was wondering if there was any kind of flea/tick prevention to use on both mom and babies at this stage???

 

They're outside dogs, so moving them inside and giving them all baths might not work out so hot. I'm just trying to see what I can do, as this was an unplanned litter, and as good as my bf's parents are trying to be by taking in a stray and letting her have her pups before fixing her, they simply can't do everything...but they're giving it their best! And for that I admire them.

[HCBell]

Awww, poor babies. I am not sure about prevention. maybe someone else will have advice there. But I would love to see pictures. Maybe I can start to work on hubby, our Roxie is a BC Aussie mix.

[MaggieDog]

I dunno if it's safe for sure, but I've used a rosemary/lemon "tea" for bug prevention and it worked great to repel ticks and mosquitos in heavy woods.

 

You basically take fresh or dried rosemary (about 1 tsp I think) and one medium lemon, sliced w/ the peel on, and steep in hot water over night. Strain and use.

[laurie etc]

Also - you can try dusting the pups while covering their eyes, nose and mouth with food grade Diatomaceous Earth (rubbing it down to the skin). You can use it in the surrounding area, as well as bedding, etc. May not do much to repel ticks, but I've had luck using it to kill fleas. It won't hurt their mom if she licks it off, either. There was just a thread about it recently - I've gotten it at health food stores and at garden supply places.