A: There are several effective methods for killing fleas, although removing them afterwards can be a bit of work. Probably the most effective way to kill the nasty critters is to get a big pot of boiling water on the stove and then toss the pup right in. Make sure that it is completely covered by the boiling water for at least 10 minutes and that should kill all the fleas on that particular animal. For a larger dog you may have to “adjust its dimensions” to get it to fit in the pot. After the 10 minutes comes the work part of this. You need to get a fine toothed comb (like the one they provide in head lice kits) and slowly comb through the dog’s hair to remove the flea carcasses. The second method takes a lot more time, but avoids that wet dog smell. You simply cover your animal in flea powder and then pop it into a plastic garbage bag. Seal the bag with a twist tie, or some other method that will keep an air-tight seal. It would be a good idea to knock your dog out, or have it de-clawed before popping it into the bag to avoid tears in the plastic material. 48 hours later you should have a bunch of dead fleas, and it’s time to start combing.
Now, it occurs to me, even though you didn’t actually say this, that you may want the canine to stay alive while killing the fleas. If that’s the case, I suppose you could give the pooch a really close shave, or maybe slather it in flea shampoo a couple of times. Your veterinarian would probably be more capable of answering the question in that situation.
