? For Owners Of Dog Swimmers

[Maveri9720]

Hi. I just have a quick question for those of you that let your dogs swim in the pool:

We use Frontline for flea and tick defense, but once it gets thoroughly wet, it basically washes off and loses all effectiveness. We apply it once a month and I was about to apply it a couple days ago and thought about the risk of it just washing off once the dogs went for a swim. We just got our AGP a couple weeks ago.

Any suggestions or comments?

Thanks,

Mitch

P.S. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. Please feel free to move if it is.

 

[Casey]

We use FrontLine and the vet said that as long as it's dry before she swims, she should still be protected.

 

[AnnaK]

Hi Mitch,

We use Frontline and K9-Advantix alternately from month to month. We don't allow the dogs to swim for 24 hours after application to give the oil plenty of time to get absorbed. Frontline used to have a notice in their info packet about waiting 24 hours but they've removed that.

From how I understand the action of these topical applications, the compound is absorbed through the skin and is spread via blood circulation. When a tick or flea bites and ingests the dog's blood, it dies. The absorption rate is faster than 24 hours so if you wait that long, it should all be in the dog.

 

[Maveri9720]

Great news. Thank you both for the help.

I think we're going swimming tonight and tomm it's supposed to rain, so I'll apply it tonight afterwards and they should be good to go back in on Friday.

Thanks again.

 

[AnnaK]

I would dry the dog off after his swim before applying the Frontline. Don't know if that's absolutely necessary but it seems a good idea, if only to prevent dilution.

Have fun swimming!

 

[Guest]

I use Frontline plus and Advantage on my 3 dogs ((I alternate them, seems to work better). The trick with Frontline is to not bath the dog (or let it swim) for about two days before AND after application. I learned that from my vet. The Advantage is the same but it can be reapplied as often as weekly if needed (I have never needed to do so).
I stay away from Advantix only because I also have a cat and one of the ingredients in it is extremely toxic to cats.

 

[Casey]

We're gonna need some pics of the swimming poochie to make sure it can doggy paddle!

 

[tschaefges]

We use Advantix and don't let the dogs swim for two days before and after application. Even after an hour in the pool, our Labs are not wet to the skin, so once the stuff soaks in they maintain their protection.