I have a 9 year old yellow lab. For 9 years ( and 35 years of having dogs), I have never experienced fleas before until this year. I had no idea she even had fleas- she wasn't itching uncontrollably. I did find a bunch of the black stuff in her fur and was really naive thinking it was just dirt and she was due for a grooming.

Until I overheard someone talking about the same black stuff and how it was flea "poop" (not my words) at which time I rushed to the vet. i feel awful, b/c I did skip one month of the frontline and now we can't get rid of them. I gave her the frontline on Oct. 7th- I know i have to wait at least 28 days/my vet's recommendation. I have sprayed some organic flea killer on her, but I don't want to over do it. Can I give here a flea bath in between the frontline applications? I understand it sometimes takes 3 applications before the fleas are completely rid of as they have to live through their life cycle, but i am going crazy and driving my family crazy (including the dog) in the meantime.. She doesn't seem bothered by it but every time I think we are in the clear I find 3-5 more fleas.. YUCK!!!Please help me

Also, I want to have my rugs steam cleaned but should I wait until after the 2nd or 3rd application? Thanks in advance for your help!

We have two cats and a dog that got a BAD case of fleas a few months ago (maybe 4?) and we were going crazy trying to get rid of them. They were all over the house, bathroom, bedrooms and back yard, and the basement apartment that was currently vacant. We learned the hard way that Frontline is highly toxic to our dog so we had to try less harmful treatments. I did a lot of research on what people did before science started 'helping'. It's kind of a long story but it has worked 100% so far and is harmless to pets, kids, the planet :)
First we put 20 Mule Team Boric Acid all over the house. (MUST be the 20 Mule Team kind- I've heard the others don't work and have different and harmful chemicals) Every floor, chair, couch, under the couch and cushions and fridges, hallway, in the bedrooms etc you get the point -it looked like it snowed in here. I also put it outside on the porches and walkways and used it as detergent to wash all the linens, blankets pillows etc. I sprinkled Diatomaceous Earth on the lawns and the basement.
We put frontline on the two cats (one treatment is all it took) and started giving Dog a quick bath every day using Dr Bronners peppermint soap. It is completely non-toxic (you can wash your dishes, kids, everything with this soap) and fleas HATE the stuff. (The mint is a natural deterrent so if a flea jumps on him and smells it- it'll jump right back off). We used a loofah and let the bathwater raise while he was in there. The soap is minty and feels cool on your skin so Dog ended up liking these baths. Fleas drown in water so they will climb up towards your dogs head so it's helpful to have your flea comb near by.
We put a sprinkle of Brewer's Yeast in their food every day (fleas/tics/mosquitos all hate the way it makes our blood taste) and in our food incase the fleas got desperate and came looking for us. (Brewers Yeast is really healthy for everyone. It's got a lot of vitamins in it. We never camp without it or we'd be eaten alive by mosquitos!) I left the boric acid down for about 10 days, vacuumed and swept it all up then did it again about a week later. I also combed all three of them with a flea comb dipping it in a bucket of warm vinegar water. This I did on a white sheet on the kitchen floor so I could see fleas trying to escape. Strangely, the pets liked the vinegar and were licking off themselves, which when ingested helps deter fleas too! Also the fleas die instantly when they hit the warm vinegar water, If you do this for 5 minutes every day you'll see how quickly the fleas are disappearing and when you can stop.
In under two weeks we were 100% flea free. If any eggs hatched they had nothing to feed on and nowhere to go as the boric acid killed them. Now, nobody is on frontline. Dog still goes to the dog park daily and hasn't brought any home. Depending on what type of flooring you have and how often it is shampooed the boric acid can kill fleas for a long time. Remember, even the organic flea shampoos and collars have pesticides and poisons that can harm or kill your pets. Also, all of the supplies above are significantly cheaper than just one box of Frontline. Ps- I gave my dog a rubdown with a little Flax oil after is Bronners bath and put a teaspoon in his food to make sure his skin didn't lose excess moisture- he's sensitive :) GOOD LUCK and I hope I was able to help- Heather