If dogs had a pet of their own, it would undoubtedly be fleas and ticks. The only difference is that these are unwanted pests more than welcome friends!
Fleas and ticks might be common among dogs, but their dangers shouldn’t be downplayed. They are irritating pests at best. At their worst, however, they can pose serious health risks to you and your dog via viruses and infections.
Unfortunately, getting rid of them isn’t a trivial matter. There are lots of options out there, yes, but not all of them are safe for your dog.
How do you know which one to pick?
We were faced with that same dilemma! So, to help both ourselves and you, we decided to create one of the most comprehensive dog flea collar reviews on the web!
For the best dog flea collars, we choose the Bayer Seresto Flea Collar. It’s capable of both treatment and prevention, plus it’s safe for your dog to use.
Here are some other great options:
The Bayer Seresto Flea and Tick Collar for Dogs is a leading treatment and repelling collar that's veterinarian approved. This is a perfect flea collar pet owners to get their dogs. This Bayer Seresto Flea and Tick Collar are a nongreasy and odorless which will protect the dog.
Key Features
What We Like
Bayer’s Seresto flea collar is one of the most effective treatments collars we tried. Our Golden Retriever, which had a nasty flea infestation for months, was immediately cured within days of using this collar. Five months later, he is still flea control.
The slow-release action of the Seresto collar is just enough to kill off fleas ticks, without wasting any dosage. This ensures it will last longer and continue to protect your pet. As pet owners you need to do that. Despite being a treatment collar, the chemicals released by the collar is entirely odor-free and won't irritate you or your dog. There are no toxic chemicals to harm the dogs so no worries.
What We Didn’t Like
Being a combination treatment and repelling collar, it is on the expensive side.
Pros
Cons
The Bayer Seresto is capable enough to be used in just about any level of flea control treatment and prevention, making it the best dog flea collars, in our opinion.
The Arava Flea and Tick Prevention Collar is an all-natural repelling collar that's safe enough to use with delicate puppies. This is a really good flea collar for dogs.
Key Features
What We Like
Compared to other flea collars that also use natural ingredients, Arava’s flea collar uses a more potent formula. It contains a powerhouse of ingredients from lemongrass to citronella and even rosemary.
The great news is that it’s still all-natural and safe. In fact, it smells lovely, like what you would smell in aromatherapy candles. It also works as advertised. Our friend’s dog currently has zero fleas thanks to this collar, plus he says the dog also loves the smell—so win-win!
What We Didn’t Like
The natural ingredients in this collar might not be as potent or effective as an all-chemical prevention collar. For areas with low flea infestations, it’s a good trade-off.
Pros
Cons
The Arava Collar is the best dog flea collars if you're looking for something natural and non-toxic. You just need to know its limitations and expect accordingly.
The Only Natural Pet Easy Defense is a premium, all-natural repelling collar that uses no chemicals whatsoever. This flea collar for dogs produces a natural frequency that would annoy the fleas and ticks.
Key Features
What We Like
The Only Natural Pet Easy Defense is unlike anything you’ll ever see in this whole article. That’s because it works in a completely unique way.
First, it uses no chemicals or substance whatsoever. Instead, it makes use of refined frequencies that, combined with your dog’s own energy, radiates a barrier that naturally repels fleas and ticks.
The upside to this is that this product introduces zero risk, irritations, or toxicity. It won't ever harm your pet's health. This collar provides months of protection.
Despite being skeptical at first, it actually works surprisingly well, in our experience. It might take a bit more time to work (three weeks according to the instructions), but it nevertheless does.
What We Didn’t Like
First, this works way slower than a chemical or even natural oil collar. It's way more expensive than a repelling collar, too. Many people also don’t believe in this kind of "holistic treatment" and think of it as just some fake mumbo jumbo.
Pros
Cons
The Only Natural Pet Easy Defense tag can be an effective and 100% safe flea prevention solution for your dog, despite it being a bit controversial.
The Hartz Ultra Guard Reflective Flea and Tick Collar is a comprehensive treatment collar that kills fleas at all stages of their life cycle.
The Hartz Ultra Guard, just as the name suggests, works exceptionally well at guarding your dog against fleas and ticks. However, it goes beyond protecting and actually kills them off.
This collar’s effectiveness lies in its X-Shield technology, which kills not just adult fleas, but prevents their eggs from hatching as well. Most other collars aren't as effective as killing eggs and larvae, which doesn't stem the infestation entirely.
The reflective strip also doubles as a night-safe collar, making it safer to walk your dog in low light conditions. It's water-resistant, too.
The manufacturer claims it will work for seven months, but we found small signs of fleas coming back at the six-month mark. It might be best to replace it at that time.
The Hartz UltraGuard is a collar that’s effective at completely eradicating fleas right down to the source.
The Adams Flea and Tick Collar is a treatment and repelling collar at a budget-friendly price. Adams is a very popular brand on flea collar for dogs.
The biggest draw of the Adams Flea and Tick Collar is the price. This is a very cheap collar at below $5, considering it’s aimed at both prevention and treatment of fleas.
Treatment wise, it's quite useful, too. It killed most of the fleas and ticks of my friend's dog for the first three days of use, with the rest being killed off in the next few days.
The waterproof design is also a big plus, as you don’t need to be extra careful with it when your pet runs around with it outdoors.
The odor is, unfortunately, highly detectable and unpleasant. The collar itself also feels fragile compared to other more durable collars, that are just a couple dollars pricier.
Despite its flaws, the Adams Flea and Tick Collar is still a winner because it's cheap, and it works.
Why Fleas are Dangerous to your Dog’s Health
Fleas are one of the most common infestations your dog can catch. Despite their prevalence, however, they can be a source of a lot of health risks to your dog.
The flea is a tiny, wingless insect that relies on hopping through fur and hair. It’s a parasite that lives off the blood of larger mammals, notably dogs. They have evolved a flat body that enables them to weave through hair and fur with ease.
Their most dangerous feature, however, is their mouthparts, which can easily pierce the skin and drain the blood of its victims. If a flea moves from host to host, it has the potential of spreading infection and viruses. Nasty examples include tick paralysis, typhus, Lyme disease, and others.
Now, if your dog is infected and he accidentally bites you, what happens? Then you run the risk of getting infected, too! So, fleas, indirectly, also concern your health.
Even if fleas don’t bite your dog, it can still cause a host of other problems, including:
Irritation
The mere presence of fleas on your dog can irritate their skin. This will cause your dog to scratch excessively, or worse, attempt to remove them with their teeth. It will lead to their hair getting pull off or worse, breaking their skin. The wound itself will make your pet further prone to infection from other sources.
Anemia
Since fleas suck blood, your dogs might be at risk of anemia or severe blood loss. Now, this might not be a problem for bigger dogs (much like how a mosquito will unlikely drain enough blood from a human to cause anemia) but consider puppies or smaller dogs. Left untreated, anemia can cause them to contract further complications
Tapeworm Infection
This type of infection comes if your dog accidentally eats some of the fleas whenever he is trying to get rid of them. Sometimes, flea larvae feed on the eggs of the tapeworm, making them carriers once they reach adulthood.
Types of Flea Collars and How They Work
There are several flea collars available on the market, and they vary significantly in how they work. Most of these are dependent if you're looking only to prevent fleas infestation or treat an already existing one.
Some flea collars are also capable of getting rid of a host of other pests, not just fleas. You can also consider these when choosing a flea collar, depending on your pet’s environment or situation
Preventive or Repelling Flea Collars for Dogs
As with any infestation, prevention is definitely way better and easier than a cure. This is the principle that's used with repelling flea collars, which is used way before a flea infestation exists or becomes a serious problem.
These flea collars for dogs work by releasing gas or other substance that fleas find repulsive. The idea is that fleas will try their hardest to avoid getting near your dog and therefore prevent an infestation.
In practice, however, this only works on a limited scale. Various flea collars for dogs have varying degrees of effectiveness, and some brands are better at it than others. A common problem is that the fleas will only avoid the area near the dog’s collar, but not the other parts of this body.
These flea collars for dogs are also pretty useless if there’s already an infestation going on, as it’s generally too weak to kill existing fleas.
The good news is that most repelling collars use natural or non-toxic gases that are safe for your dog. The most common one used is citronella, an oil sourced from a plant that’s often used in natural bug repellants.
You’ll usually know a repelling collar when words like “repel” or “prevent” are used when advertising it.
Treatment or Chemical Flea Collars
Stronger than the repellant collar, treatment flea collars are designed to eradicate all fleas on your dog, from adult to eggs. Because of this, treatment collars are also capable of working as a repellant since fleas will, of course, avoid getting killed by it.
They do this by placing medication or chemicals straight into your dog’s fur, killing any flea it comes into contact with. These chemicals are absorbed by the skin and spread throughout your dog’s body via the natural oils.
While they are effective at solving the problem, they achieve it by being aggressive. For some dogs, this can lead to several side effects. Some owners are also wary of using strong chemicals on their dogs. These flea collars should, therefore, be reserved only for the most severe of infestations.
You will know a treatment collar if the product description for it uses words like "kill" or "eradicate."
The best of both worlds, these types of flea collars combine the repelling and treating collars into one package. They are the most versatile and flexible, able to handle any flea-related problem.
The biggest drawback with these types of collars is the price, as they tend to be more expensive than either treatment or repelling collars alone.
How to Buy Flea Collars
There are many types of flea collars out there, and many will depend on your dog’s unique situation. Here are the key considerations you need to make:
How severe is their flea infestation?
This is probably the most critical factor to consider, as it will determine what type of flea collar you need to buy. If you're just looking to protect your dog from fleas, find a repellant flea collar. If there's a substantial infestation, grab a treatment collar.
However, for the most severe infestation, even the most robust flea collar might not be enough. If you can visibly see hundreds of fleas, then you might need to complement a collar with another solution, like anti-flea shampoo.
How long is it useful for?
Most flea collars are effective from anywhere from a month to around nine months. Of course, the longer the time, the more convenient and economical it is for you since you don't need to replace it as often.
However, keep in mind that flea collars lose effectiveness the longer they are in use. If you notice an increasing number of fleas even before the flea collar’s suggested working period is over, consider replacing it prematurely.
Is it water-resistant?
The best flea collars should be water-resistant, including the chemicals that they use. Even if your dog is indoors most of the time, you never know when they will get wet or run around in the rain (dogs are unpredictable, after all). If you have a non-water-resistant collar, you run the risk of it not working, exposing your pet to fleas.
Final Thoughts
We've gone through quite a few options in one of the more comprehensive dog collar reviews on the web. The fact is that preventing or killing fleas in your dog is a very crucial process and choosing only the safest and most effective collar to do the job is vital. A good flea collar for dogs is a must. When deciding a collar make sure you choose a collar that provides months of protection.
But for the best dog flea collar that gets the job done, our money is on the Bayer Seresto Dog and Flea Collar. It’s an all-around product that both repels and kills off fleas and ticks. And despite it being a chemical collar, it’s still proven to be relatively safe for your dog.
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