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My 8-week-old puppy has fleas. What's the safest treatment for him?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Shih Tzu | Male | unneutered | 2 months and 10 days old

I have a puppy that me and my fakily adopted a week ago he was 8wks and I notice him scratching and I see a flea so we bathed him this morning with Dawn Soap i after cleaning and blow drying him i saw another flea im really concerned and don’t know what to do.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on August 11th, 2018

Here is a way to get rid of fleas: Unfortunately fleas only hop on the body of your pet when they want to feed, then they hop off again and stay in your pet's environment. So you need to treat all pets in the household as well as the environment (which contains the fleas, their eggs and larvae). Flea treatment:  1) Get some flea medication such as a Flea spray or a spot on from a pet shop or your veterinarian and apply monthly 2) get flea powder, put some in your vacuum cleaner bag and vacuum your house and furniture and also non-carpeted areas frequently to remove flea larvae and eggs which live off house dust., Dispose of the bag in the trash outside. Hot-wash all the pet's bedding, If you do this diligently for a few months you will get rid of the fleas. Flea products: Spot-ons and/or chews Advantage, Advantix Advantage Multi (Advocate in the UK) Frontline (ticks as well) Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats, in tablet form for dogs Simparica, Nexgard Revolution (stronghold in the UK) Tablets: comfortis (will only kill fleas once) Collar: Seresto (ticks as well) MAKE SURE THAT when you get a spot on or other flea medication, that you check on the package that the medication is suitable for a puppy 8 weeks old.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

    Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

    Published on August 24th, 2018

    7 dust is unlikely to control the fleas. Bathing in any shampoo or soap only removes the fleas that are currently on their bodies. But fleas don't live on dogs, they live elsewhere and jump on when they are hungry. They all need to be treated by a flea preventative. You can use Frontline spray sprayed onto a towel and then use the towel to wipe down the puppies. You will need to do this every few days. You can talk to your vet about a good quality monthly flea preventative for Daisy Mae. You will also need to remove fleas from the house. The best way to do this is to vacuum daily. The vibrations will draw out fleas and the suction will remove some of the eggs. Here is more info: https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-tips-to-get-rid-of-fleas/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/fleas-life-cycle-anatomy-disease-transmission/

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