All-Natural Rosemary Lemon Flea Dip for Dogs
I really dislike fleas, but what I hate even more than fleas is dousing my animals with poisons. I cannot for the life of me understand why the instruction on Advantage and Frontline say ‘Put on the skin of your animal, right on its spine’ and also ‘do not get on skin’. To me, that says this stuff is harmful. So, I don’t use any commercial flea killers or repellents of any kind on my dogs. The downside is that my dogs have fleas.
I have read many things about how to control fleas and it is a constant battle. I vacuum a lot, and flea comb them all every day, but when the fleas are really getting out of control, I bathe the dogs weekly and then pour this wonderful, completely natural flea dip on them and it kills the fleas DEAD, on contact.
It’s super easy to make too. One word of caution: Do NOT treat your cats with this formula. Cats, it turns out, have a completely different neurological system than dogs, and are very sensitive to essential oils. To make this natural flea dip for dogs (not cats) all you really need is some water and a lemon. The active essential oil in lemons, limolene, is highly toxic to fleas, but does nothing to your dog except give it a shiny, soft coat. If you can get your hands on some fresh rosemary, use that too.
Ingredients:
1 fresh lemon, sliced (skin and all)
3-4 twigs fresh rosemary (leaf and stem) (optional)
Instructions:
Add 4 quarts water to a large pot. Add lemon slices and rosemary (if you have it). Bring to a boil, turn down and let simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off heat, cover pot, and let sit for 6-8 hours, or overnight. Strain lemons and rosemary from liquid. When liquid is cool, you can use it on your dog. I like to bathe my dog and rinse them well with fresh water. When they are rinsed and no longer sudsy from the bath, pour the cooled flea dip all over their body, being sure to get it everywhere. Try not to get it in their eyes. Do NOT rinse off. Gently towel dry your dog, or better yet, let them dry in the sun. You should see many dead fleas after this rinse. And let us know how it works for you.
I have 3 dogs and did not kill fleas on contact just made the fleas mad
Hi Richard. I notice that even with the poisonous flea treatments such as Frontline and Advantage the fleas don’t die right away. Instead they seem to bite like crazy for the first day or so, then they subside and start dying.