Help! How do I get rid of these horrible biting flies that bother my dogs?
By meeoww
@meeoww (1174)
United States
November 13, 2006 4:49pm CST
They're absolutely terrible..and stubborn! They'll sit on our dogs, especially the ears, and bite them so much that they're bleeding. The poor dogs sometimes just give up and let them bite. Unfortunately I can't stand out there all day shooshing them away. Does citronella work on these? Any suggestions? Thanks! Aloha!
8 responses
@meeoww (1174)
• United States
14 Nov 06
The only reason we haven't done that is that there's a good chance that the doc will require bringing the dog in for an exam before prescribing any medicine, and we just can't afford it. We were hoping that the winter time cold would chase them away, but we haven't had much cold weather coming in yet. Should be colder than this by now I think. They go away in the rain, but no rain yet. If I don't get something that works from you folks on myLot, I may wind up going to the vet anyways. Thanks!
@jennp204 (231)
• Canada
14 Nov 06
My mom has the same problem with her rottweiler, the flies attack his nose and ears and make them bleed, every summer. We first put on petroleum jelly because it is relatively non toxic, but he would go around scraping his head against the sidewalk to get it off. So then I got her some avon skin-so-soft bath oil it is the green bottle. It works great as a mosquito repellant and keeps the flies away so we tried it on him. It worked better than nothing. I would suggest using an antibiotci ointment before rubbing the oil on incase of any broken skin it might sting.
It is so expensive to go to the vet so that is what we did. I don't think they manufacture the green skin-so-soft anymore, but you can still find it on ebay, that is where i got our supply from.
I hope this is of some help to you
@meeoww (1174)
• United States
14 Nov 06
Goodness gracious, gal! I didn't even think of that. I didn't want to go to chemicals, so that's why I haven't tried standard bug repellants, but SSS should be harmless to the dogs! Guess what...I used to sell Avon!! Hee! I guess we'll have to try that fresh after a bath so that it soaks in before their natural body oils spread, huh? Now that's creative! Thanks a bunch!
@LovingIt (5396)
• United States
14 Nov 06
Have you tried something like Frontline or Revolution? I'm thinking maybe if it works for fleas it will work for flies? There are products that farmers put on cows and horses to keep flies off, but these might be too strong for a dog. Have you tried asking your vet?
@meeoww (1174)
• United States
14 Nov 06
Actually, the flies will bite the hair off, too, giving the dogs coat a really weird looking texture. Almost like she's got dents all over her! But that's why they particularly like the ears & nose because the hair is not thick in those areas and it's easier to bite through the skin. If we shaved the dogs, it would just make it easier for the flies to bite anywhere they land on the dog. Thanks for trying!
@newmomlove (422)
• United States
14 Nov 06
My mom is a dog groomer and she bought skin so soft spray for her puppies because they are too little for other types of medicine. You can give that a try. If you do let me know how it works. YOu can get it at www.youravon.com/ahudson
@meeoww (1174)
• United States
14 Nov 06
Thanks, babe! jennp204 above you just said that too. Great idea. I used to sell/recruit avon, so I still go through one of my gals for my goodies. Thanks for your help, though! Anybody else with this problem...Order yours through newmomlove's link right in this post! Aloha!
@meeoww (1174)
• United States
14 Nov 06
Hmm...not sure. Never thought of trying that. The only effective thing we've found so far, is mentholatum rub (like petroleum jelly). It's easy enough to at least put the rub onto their ears, which get attacked the most, but obviously we can't slather it all over the whole dogs! And one of the dogs still rubs that off.
@moneybags (220)
• United States
13 Nov 06
a bit gross. i will leave this one up for tohers to help ya out.
