A Women's RV Forum run by Women RVer's!

I have a Maltipoo female dog.... she weighs about 15 #s maybe. Always had mini-poodles before when kids were still at home & as I was a 'working' Mom, the kids pretty well took care of the dog. Now that I have lost my daughter & her dog, it was so quiet in the house, I decided to get a little poodle.... well, ended up in the parking lot of Petco getting this dog from someone who could no longer care for it. Thought it was a poodle as it was only 2-3 mos. old or so. Had no idea what I was in for as far as the coat these kind of dogs have. Have gotten her shots & updated her Rabies, etc., and had her taken care of so no babies will ever come. She is smart, but absolutely not a watch dog.... jumps straight into the air & constantly wags her tail...still trying to curtail the jumping when she's excited. She loves everybody & with the jumping that's irritating for many. She controls my life as I am with her 24-7 & when I have to go out for any reason, she will not eat or drink. I limit my time away to no more than 3-3 1/2 hrs. This means I cannot volunteer for anything nor can I go back to school, which I'd love to do....anyway, I'm sure you get the picture. I take her to a particular groomer that loves her & Missy loves Eva back. Usually costs me $75.00.... hard on the budget. I do bathe her in the tub in between, but try to get her in at least every 3 months. Yesterday, I brought her in for a much needed full grooming. When I went to pick her up, Eva told me that she found 2 fleas on her & that's what was causing the scratching that Missy seemed to be doing so much. I thought it was dry skin & I do use an oatmeal based shampoo.... anyhow, Eva said I needed to get flea control for her & she advised me to get Frontline Plus ( cost me nearly $70). I bought it, read directions & tried to apply it properly around the shoulder bone area. Don't think I did it right though. Let me explain.... I am not one to take a lot of medication.... I am pretty healthy & just don't feel the need to take a pill for every little thing... so, as the dog is a 'inside' dog, never wanted to give her medication for fleas. My Grandson's lady friend (when I mentioned how hesitant I was about this Frontline Plus thing), told me she uses Trifexis which is for fleas, heartworm & something else. It is in pill form & is given once a month. The Frontline stuff (only for fleas) is good for 3 mos. I am totally ignorant about any of this stuff, especially 'heartworm'.....???? Can someone give me their experience on what medications they use & why. She is my 'forever' dog for sure & even though she is definitely a pain in the backside, she's a keeper & I want to do what's best. All information will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance !

..
I use the Frontline Plus on The Beast. It's for fleas, ticks, and the next generation of the little buggers. I buy the LARGE size and dole out a cat's dose on Abby (I use one of George's old syringes with the needle pulled out). The small Frontline is for dogs up to 22 lbs. and Abby is only 10. I hate giving her more of that stuff than necessary. I store the entire large dose in a very small glass container.

I have heard about the other product you mentioned, but I keep forgetting to ask the vet about it. But if it's for heartworm, I'm now having Abby get an heartworm injection that is good for 6 months ($29).

http://www.budgetpetcare.com is where I get my Frontline Plus for my large dogs. 6 applications for $60

I quit using Frontline because fleas are becoming immune to it (and Peaches can attest to that - her worst outbreak was when still on it). That said, it still works for many.

If you squeezed it out as close to the skin as you could, you did it right! What Peaches is on now isn't good for ticks, but ticks aren't a problem out here. Will have to change if/should I get back east, though.

Heartworm is a big problem in Texas and is transmitted by mosquitoes. Ask your vet if its a problem in your area. So far I don't have any problems with fleas so only give my babies Heartgard once a month and yes, its expensive. My "free" dog, Sophie, that I found and rescued has bad allergies. Her medicine costs me $92 a month but its the only thing that actually works. I would definitely think about Trifexes (SP) since it hits everything.

I used Sentinel for many years on my dogs, they never got fleas. It is also for heartworms, roundworms, whipworms & hookworms. The last 4-5 months, the Vet changed to Trifexis, so we switched to that. This month I saw that they has the Sentinal back, so we went back to that because it has always worked so well. The Trifexis was more expensive.

I like Sentinel, also. And I'd never not give Heartworm meds.

I use a product similar to Trifexis. It was recommended by my vet. Heartworm is a serious issue in FL. Personally I never found that the topical flea applications worked.

I really appreciate all the responses. I'm going to use the other 2 applications for Frontline, then I think I'll go with Trifexis as I presently don't give her anything for heartworm... we'll see... it's expensive. And, I will order on the web as I paid twice as much for Frontline at Petco than I would have paid on Vetdepot.com
Thanks again......

I've given my dogs Sentinel for years and it works very well. It is also cheaper here than Trifexis. If you do start with a heartworm medication your dog will need to have a blood test to be sure she doesn't have heartworm before you can give the drug. Sentinel is a pill and it doesn't kill the flea but it makes the flea unable to reproduce so your house will not get an infestation. You can bathe her in Johnsons Baby Shampoo or Ivory dish soap to kill any fleas you see on her. Triflexis is relatively new and some dogs tolerate it better than others.

Spinner has been (except for a couple of months) and still is on Advantix Plus for the fleas, ticks, & mosquitoes along with Heartgard Plus for Heartworm.....Ernie had heard that "Adams" sold at Walmart was as good as Advantix, but cheaper.. ..but since he tested positive for being exposed to Lime Disease last week, he's back on the Advantix.....yes, they tend to be expensive, but rather have a healthy dog.....We thought about the Triflexis, but have read that some side effects are harmful and can be dangerous....and it is very expensive....so will wait until they have improved on it and come down in the price....

I've heard a lot of bad things with the triflexis too, so I would never use it. Have tried several of the topical flea apps too without much success. Adams flea shampoo and spray is what I used on my cocker, they worked great. The two I have now get garlic brewers yeast added to their food for a natural flea repellent and they have a flea spray too that leaves them smelling like cinnamon. As for mosquitoes, it's heart guard here.

Now for the jumping issue, don't give her any attention when that is going on. Make her sit and then give her loads of attention. Remember, even bad attention is still attention. Ignore her and ask your guest to do the same. Eventually she will figure out the proper way to get what she wants.

With the jumping, sometimes the hardest behavior to halt is that of the people who sweetly say, "Oh, I don't mind." and then give her the attention. You have to train the children and adults that you meet to not respond and interfere with you on going training. We all know that intermittent reinforcement is the strongest and unfortunately jumping on people works for some dogs... Training the alternative acceptable behavior, like a sit, can be helpful....(It also gives the humans an alternative behavior to respond to..... ) In my experience it is the humans that are the hardest to train.....

With Trifexis, I have been told it is important to give it with food and not on an empty stomach. SOme dogs experience digestive upsets.....