For those of you who take dogs...

I went to our do-it-yourself pest control store and got something at their suggestion which kills the eggs and adult fleas.  It's a spray.  Worked very well.  Then, you have to keep up the vacuuming, emptying the bag, because it helps to pop any larvae that are hiding. 

HML you have spoken words of wisdom and are worthy to be quoted over and over again:

"High-maintenance people looking for bargains are a recipe for disaster"

We are a dog-friendly and child-friendly inn. By far, the dogs cause fewer problems than the kids. And, although we are very straightforward about our policies (all our rooms are dog-friendly), invariably we get the inquiry from a dog-sensitive person wanting to know if the room has ever had a dog in it. You're tempted to reply, "No, but one time when I was cleaning the bathroom in 14, a coyote snuck in and had puppies on the mattress. Not to worry, though; we got 90 percent of the stains out. You looking to adopt a puppy, by the way?"

Instead, we say, "All our rooms are dog-friendly. We clean them thoroughly after every guest departs, but depending on your sensitivity, this may not be the best place for you."

I had one inquiry who came back with, "But your rates are so *reasonable.* Couldn't you do a special cleaning of the room we want?"

Uh, no. High-maintenance people looking for bargains are a recipe for disaster.

Sensitity to chemicals is one thing..........yes.....there are people that have such things.....it is understandable that catagory of guests would seek out a B&B.

The environmental movement is a realy, realy big thing.........missquided much of it is................not knocking them, just the extremeism.

the example given here regarding a lawn that is half something other than the desireable turf that is wanted.

There is a program called IPM......Integrated Pest Management..........the very idea of it is to scout for the problems........no longer doing pesticide applications just for the sake of doing them........have to have the pest first, then treat with the least toxic first.............along with that is preventative maintenance.....this idea is to prevent what would be a common pest occurance. In doing this is to use the product at the lower rate..........to cure a disease or eradicate a pest would require more applications and or stronger chemicals, which would be considered more toxic.

Where it concerns turf.........yes.......if one desires the show place lawn.....hard work is necessary to achieve those ends.........so will be using pesticides.........Consider this........in the beginning to create the show lawn the requirement for something like weed preventers and killers is high in the beginning.......as the seasons pass the need for such treatments become less..........where you would start with doing broad area applications, this would eventualy lead to just doing spot treatements.........can take a lawn area that required 3 gallons of a broadleaf weed killer application at the beginning........end up with only having to apply a quart, maybe a half gallon of spray mix a couple seasons later

establish and maintain a healthy turf.......the need for chemicals drops

 Cat fur woven...yeah that's about right.  I can be away for days or weeks and find cat hair in or on something, it gets right into the weave of any fabric.

I love animals. I want to see your pets! Gimmee gimmee...bring on Fido and Penelope.

these guests that request info if the property is treated with any chemicals....

First..............do you realize that products you use in "your own home" are more toxic than what is used on the landscape

Organic controls.....there is not enough science to know what the exposure effects are........let alone long term effects..........Pyrethrin based insecticides are orgainc.....they affect the nervous system of the insects......if it kills bugs..........organic or chemical........it is still a poison........and we just don't enough yet about organic controls

(not saying......not to use them........they "may" be less harmfull to humans and pets)

If these guests ever stayed at a hotel or motel.....they don't use pesticides?......higher quality establishments require their grounds be in top shape and look pleasing.........they don't use pesticides?

Restaurants......any establishment that handles food..........they don't use pesticides ?

 "Bugs and taxes" we can't escape either one.

I had a centipede walk across the bathroom floor two days ago.  Bugs just mean your house is healthy, infestations are another story.  If a mouse gets in here it is because we have rural countryside all around, it is not a big deal, BUT...IF A GUEST SEES A MOUSE it is the end of the world as we know it!  Heck, if a guest sees a cat, it can be the end of the world!

Isn't life wonderful...isn't it great to NOT be related to or have to live with THOSE people!  

 I have found that you spend more energy,time, and money if you try to do it yourself, just call your friendly Bug person and have it done. If the fleas are not gone in a month call them again and they re-spray for free. Same goes for the pesky little ants and those foreign lady bugs. The ants were gone in minutes.

There is a product that is not a bomb that is effective - Fleabusters.  We used it in our own quarters after one of our housecats passed on but left all his fleas behind.  It is really best used on carpet or rugs - it is extremely slippery on wood floors.  We treated our area rugs in the bedroom and it worked very well.

 In the news locally a house was on fire due to someone flea bombing.  So please read the directions carefully.

You can read up on how to break the life cycle and potentially kill them with proper application of the right chemicals here:  http://www.creaturecomfortsinc.com/PetPages/fleas.htm

It's been a while since I battled fleas, but I remember declaring nuclear war against them after many failed attempts with bombs.  I started researching what I was doing wrong.  I learned that fleas have a 4-stage life cycle - egg, larvae, pupae, adult.  Eggs and pupae are killed by one chemical that has no effect on the larve and adult.  Then there is another chemical that kills the larve and the adult, butnot the egg and pupae.  So you have to apply each chemical within a certain number of days.  At this point, I don't remember the names of each chemical (I think both of them started with a "P"), nor the interval that you apply each one, but if you do some internet research, I'm sure you can find it.  The interval is going to be the nuber of days the eggs hatch and when the pupae become adults.  Back with I was learning all of this (1989 or 1990, I believe), it was before the age of internet - I did it the old fashioned way by reading, researching, and speaking with pest control experts. 

Once I learned about the life cycle and what kills what, I won the battle against the fleas once and for all.  I've never had to battle fleas again.  Heck, I couldn't even tell you whether the same chemicals are even still available.  The EPA seems to yank all the good stuff off the market (just like our bottom hull paint - gotta go to the Bahamas to get the good stuff!)

Have never used a flea bomb. However, I understand that you can set the place on fire by using too many of them, so please read the directions. If you have any kind of 'food items' like utensils, coffee maker, etc, remove them. I would think you need to air out the cottages before guests check in again.

You will need to vacuum several times (about a week apart) in order to get all of the fleas, nymphs, eggs. Be sure to throw the vacuum bag out each time so you're not incubating them in your vacuum.