Flea protocol for foster dogs

Fostering regularly puts you in a tricky spot with fleas — you're essentially running a revolving door where new dogs can bring them in at any point, so your protocol needs to be robust enough to handle that continuously, not just as a one-off treatment. The key thing to understand is that 95% of fleas live in the home — in bedding, carpets, and soft furnishings — not on the dogs themselves. A single product won't cover both. To point you toward the right setup, can you tell me: what size is your Pointer, roughly how bad is the current situation, and have you treated your home environment at all yet?

That's really useful context. The challenge with fostering is that even a well-protected resident dog can become a temporary host when a new dog arrives carrying fleas — and the environment picks up the slack immediately. So your protocol needs two layers: a long-acting on-dog treatment for your Pointer that stays effective regardless of what comes through the door, and a home treatment that you can maintain and top up between fosters. What flea prevention have you been using on your Pointer so far, and do any of the foster dogs tend to arrive already on a flea treatment, or do you start them from scratch?

Right — supermarket spot-ons are generally the weakest option, and with foster traffic they're simply not going to cut it. Here's what I'd suggest for a proper protocol. For your Pointer, switch to Bravecto Chew for Dogs — the 1000mg dose covers 25–40kg dogs exactly. It's a single chew that provides 12 weeks of flea and tick protection, which is genuinely convenient when you've got a lot on your plate. Because it's a chew rather than a spot-on, there's no issue with foster dogs coming into contact with your Pointer immediately after treatment, which matters when dogs are sharing space. For the home, use Indorex Defence Household Flea Spray — it kills adult fleas and contains an IGR (insect growth regulator) that stops eggs and larvae developing for up to 12 months. Treat every room, focus on skirting boards, under furniture, and all bedding. For the foster dogs themselves, a vet-prescribed spot-on like Advantage or a short-acting NexGard tablet on arrival is sensible while they're in your care, since you can't give every foster a Bravecto for a short stay. That covers the full cycle.

Bravecto is an oral chew, so once she's eaten it the active ingredient is systemic — it's in her bloodstream, not on her coat. There's no transfer risk to other dogs through contact, play, or shared bowls, which is exactly why I chose it over a spot-on for your situation. As for Indorex — one treatment lasts up to 12 months for larvae and eggs, so you don't need to reapply frequently. However, if a foster arrives clearly carrying a heavy infestation, it's worth a targeted re-spray of the main areas they're using: their bed, the sofa if they're allowed on it, and the hallway. Keep a can in stock so you can do that quickly rather than ordering in a panic. The combination of a long-acting chew on your Pointer and a treated environment means you've got a genuine background level of protection that doesn't depend on timing everything perfectly.

Good — that's exactly what you need when you're fostering. One thing worth adding: keep a note of when you gave your Pointer her Bravecto chew so you can dose at exactly 12 weeks and never have a gap. With fostering, there's no quiet period where you can let it lapse. Once the Indorex is down and she's on Bravecto, you'll have a solid baseline that handles most of what comes through the door.