It is always important to ensure your dog is not infected with parasitic worms and fleas. With the warmer weather just around the corner, your children are more likely to be outside playing with their pets. So get ready to help them all by eliminating such pests.
Home remedies should always be tried first in my opinion, since chemical based products can have adverse side effects for your dogs, cost you a bundle, and also pose a health risk to children if not stored correctly in the home or garden shed.
Since most of these parasites can be transferred to humans, it is most important to never, ever allow your dog to lick your face. While most people see this as a sign of love and while it surely is just like a kiss, it is also very possible that you will become dangerously ill from ingesting worms or their eggs as a result of being licked. Teach your children this is not acceptable, and how important it is to thoroughly wash their hands with warm soapy water and to use disinfecting wipes after playing with their dogs. Changing into fresh clean clothes after doing so is also advisable. These worms can cause immune dysfunction, blindness or worse. Don’t ever think you dog has no parasites since no symptoms are present. Always assume that they have, treat them as though they have, and be protected. Dogs often show no symptoms at all, or have been infected for a long time, even years before symptoms even begin to present. Always keep in mind that these worms can, and do kill dogs. Be mindful that you are saving your dog from a miserable and painful life, and death, as well as protecting your own family.
Roundworms, hookworms, whip worms, heart worms and tapeworms are just a handful of many types of worms your dog may have ‘residing’ inside them. Ridding your pet of all types of these worms is possible, but ridding them of fleas is the most important element.
Tapeworm:
Go to your pool care center and ask for diatomaceous earth, or using borax powder, sprinkle across your carpet and leave for a couple of days before vacuuming it. This will kill fleas in your home,and since fleas can assist in tapeworm infestation in your dog it is critical that the flea population is kept under strict control. If you have small children who are crawling, it may be necessary to time this application with a weekend away.
Living on a farm, I had access to many ‘scrub’ remedies for flea and worm control. One such remedy for killing fleas was cedar wood shavings or chips. This can be purchased in bags from your local garden supply center or large supermarket gardening section. Distribute it generously in your dog’s kennel or other sleeping areas, fleas hate this stuff and will be repelled almost instantaneously. On the other hand, your dogs will love it. They love to scratch around and make a ‘nest’ to sleep in so you will notice a mess around the kennel from such happy pets. Simply rake it around the exercises pen. Each time you spread the excess around the pen, add a few handfuls more to the bedding area to keep the scent strong and fresh.
Roundworm:
Make your dog’s living quarters where there is plenty of sunshine. The eggs from hookworms are sensitive to the light and so their cycle is disrupted if the dog pen is open and airy in a sunny position rather than protected and in a dark area.
Hookworm:
Hookworm produce larvae which can penetrate the skin and lodge inside your pets(and you) causing severe infection. Again, keeping an open airy pen and cleaning dog stools from their yard is an easy remedy for keeping this type of parasite under strict control.
Whip worm:
As with hookworm and roundworm, whip worm are also very sensitive to light and a dry environment. They can live for up to one year just around the pen where your dog lives without actually being on, or in it. You may need to check your dog’s feces for evidence of whip worm for up to three months before there is any sign of their presence.
The Importance Of Eliminating Fleas:
In all cases, please note that flea prevention is first and foremost an important factor in controlling worms in your dogs. Dogs may catch and eat an occasional rodent, or otherwise pick up fleas, and then worms without you realizing it has happened.
For an additional ongoing home remedy to help prevent fleas taking up residence on your dogs, I have long used and highly recommend the following safe food additive.
For a Labrador sized dog:
To a typical bowl of food, add-
Add 1 tsp of brewer’s yeast
1/2 teaspoon of garlic (fresh crushed or powder, not salt)
Decrease or increase mixture according to the size of your pet. They may not like the taste initially, however, if you decrease the amounts until your dog accepts the food, then slowly build up to a more concentrated amount they will no longer notice and eat the food readily. A slight distaste for this is normal. Most dogs don’t appreciate a change in diet, but I found through trial and error that most dogs will take to this recipe immediately if the food is warmed rather than served cold. You may also bake some dog cookies adding the garlic and yeast. Since dogs always love your approval, offering them a reward for good behavior which contains these ingredients will be received and eaten readily.
