Last Saturday, we spent the day out working on our property. I let the dog out to wander around and get some fresh air, and I took my eyes and mind off of her for a good half-hour. Remembering, I quickly asked the kids if they’d seen her. The worst thing she ever does is find something gross to roll in, and I didn’t want to have to bathe her.
Our younger son said he had let her in the house, and that she didn’t seem to have any visible or stinky evidence on her. Shwoo.
That night at bedtime, I tucked in the boys and went upstairs exhausted from all the physical work I had done that day, excited to wrap up in bed and conk out. Around 11:30, our older son called up to me, telling me he couldn’t sleep; that Roxy was shaking and running around constantly, keeping him up.
I had heard all of the commotion but blown it off as extra energy she’d never gotten to burn off during the day. I took her outside one last time just in case.
About 20 minutes later, my son was asleep and I heard the dog scuffling around the living room again. It wasn’t typical of her. There had to be something going on. Could there be something bugging her?
I walked downstairs, called her under the bright kitchen lights, put on my glasses, and immediately saw dozens of fleas crawling through her fur! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
What happened?????!!!!!!! I thought flea infestations happened on an animal that wasn’t observed closely over a period of time. But Roxy is a part of everything we do. We’re always petting her; attentive to her. And these fleas were all sizes – very small to big plump mommas.
Oh my gosh, all I knew was that I had to get every last one immediately before they started jumping to new places.
I began three solid hours of meticulous work. I picked every flea I could find out of her fur and into a bowl of water.
I turned her over and over, and that patient little doggie seemed to know what I was doing to help her. She barely moved a muscle.
When I could no longer tell if any were left, I got out the clippers and began the slow process of shaving one row of fur at a time, capturing little hiding marauders along the way. It was the longest shaving process I’ve ever done on her, and she laid there patiently the whole time.
Not wanting to miss even one, I took her in the bathroom and got in the shower with her. After running the water over every part of her for a long time as she sweetly endured her endless, middle-of-the-night grooming session, I applied liberal amounts of lavender shampoo all over her coat. I rubbed it in to make a thick, foamy lather, and set her down for a long time to suffocate any fleas that might be left.
I toweled us off, put on my robe, and carried her outside for a final few shakes. Back inside, I checked her again under the bright lights and didn’t find one flea left anywhere. I gave her a chewy of flea medication that I had fortunately stocked up on months before when we had taken her to the vet for shots. The purchase had been a “just in case” kind of thing, and boy, was I thankful I had done it.
Leaving her in the living room, I ran into the boys’ room with a headlamp and my glasses to carefully check over their bedspreads where she had lain. I found one.
Reluctant to stay up longer, I deliberated about what to do next. There was no option but to vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. At 3:00 AM in the morning.
I awakened the boys to let them know why I would be coming in with the loud machine to clean their carpet.
After their room, I vacuumed the living room. Had anyone happened to look in the windows and see me vacuuming at that hour, they would have thought I was crazy.
Satisfied that I had done everything possible, I took one last quick shower to rinse off my sweat and headed to bed. It was close to 4:00 AM.
We’re still baffled by what happened. I didn’t know an animal could pick up a “pod” of 100+ fleas in one fell swoop in the forest, but I’ll tell you what – I’m never letting her free in those woods again. Perhaps she found a dead animal infested with them. Perhaps she walked through a nest of them, if a nest is what you’d call it. I have no idea.
All I know is that we haven’t found one flea in the house or on her since that night.
Oh, what an utter relief.
That happened to us last year with our dog. She rolled where I believe a dear would bed down or on a nasty dead animal. It took a herculean effort to beat them. Many weeks of trying different things. We even took out out carpeting.
This year is tough because of how dry it has been. I think the fleas are anxious for any body to go walking in the grass. It will continue to take vigilance to win this war!
Oh wow, Theresa! I think we’ll stick with very short grass on a leash for a long time!
I hope you caught up on your sleep! Flea infestations are the worst!! You are a great doggie mama and kid mama, too.
Thank you Anne! I think I just caught up finally!
You are amazing. That is true love and devotion. Your dog is very lucky to have you. Sounds like she got into a host animals nest/dead animal as you suspected. I had a similar experience this week, but not at 3 AM in the morning! My dog ran through a field of teeny tiny burrs and he was covered from head to toe in between toes and fox tails to pull out as well. It took me five hours and the end result was a big bag of fur burrs!!. Luckily I had this great tool called a FURminator. It would’ve taken me days to pull out each one.