Fleas

Several years ago I stayed with a Gordon Setter breeder during the lengthy January circuit in Florida. When my handler (showing my Bedlingtons) and I (showing Westies) arrived at our friend's house we were disappointed to find her yards where the dogs would be able to run consisted entirely of sand.

All I could think of was sand fleas on all of these terriers whose coats would definitely suffer through a flea outbreak. The first night I asked our host how she managed to keep the fleas off of her gloriously coated Gordons. She replied that she had not seen a flea in years and didn't expect to. I asked her if she was using a lot of chemicals on her yard and she just laughed and said that she was spraying her yard with Ivory Liquid. She swore that she had used it for years and had not seen a flea and that she used it as a flea shampoo because it was mild and killed any fleas that her dogs had picked up at dog shows instantly.

It was true that I never saw a flea after staying 9 days in Florida. When I returned home, I checked out the Ivory theory with the insect experts at the biology lab at the Savannah River Site. When I asked if they were aware of this use of Ivory, they replied that not only were they aware of it but that all of the nurseries on site used it in their greenhouses. They explained to me that Ivory doesn't kill fleas or the many other insects it kills as a poison. Ivory kills insects by suffocating those with a complex trachea such as a flea or a gnat and it kills them on contact. Just after this visit to the biology lab I saw more information about Ivory on a Martha Stewart program and on the home gardening channel where both shows used Ivory to protect show quality roses against insects.

To use Ivory to spray your yard, use one of the garden sprayer attachments such as an Ortho Sprayer. Fill it with Ivory and set the dilution dial to 2 tablespoons (you can't overdose). Saturate the area to be treated and allow the area to dry before you allow the dogs to walk on the treated ground. There is no harmful residue left behind to worry about. I usually treat my yard every 4 to 6 weeks. I can't guarantee the success against ticks other than (knock on wood) I haven't seen any since I started using the Ivory liquid! It also killed my fire ant mounds!!!