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Apple Cider Vinegar Flea Treatment for Dogs

| Modified on Jun 16, 2019
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Regular apple cider vinegar treatments can be the safe and effective way for you to get natural flea control for your dog and for the health of your family. Fleas can be a real pest, causing your pet to itch woefully and carrying infections into the animal's blood. So everyone is looking for an effective flea treatment for dogs. Unfortunately, most of the standard measures are toxic for our pets and family. This includes your standard flea collars, flea and tick treatment pills, and topical treatments as well. No such health warnings come on a bottle of apple cider vinegar (ACV), and this health supplement has been used for people and animals throughout the centuries!

Natural Flea Control with Apple Cider Vinegar

Applying diluted apple cider vinegar to your pet's skin can make your dog seem unsavory to fleas and ticks. You can rub a bit of it into your dog's fur or dilute ACV with water in a sprayer and spray your pet whenever he or she is going outside (cover their eyes!). Alternately or in addition, adding a splash of unpasteurized apple cider vinegar to your dog's water bowl can act as a flea repellant as well while also improving your pet's overall health. The amount of apple cider vinegar you'll want to use against fleas will depend on your dog's weight and breed. Check out the tips from our readers below for guidelines, but start small and work your way up to an effective dose.

Learn the Gentle and Effective Way to Apply Apple Cider Vinegar for Fleas

Watch Earth Clinic's video demonstrating two effective methods to apply apple cider vinegar topically. Your pet will love you for it! We will also show you how to make an apple cider vinegar solution to use for fleas.

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
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Posted by Brandy T. (Abilene,Tx) on 06/16/2019
 ★★★★☆

I found that just ACV alone dousnt work all that well to fight fleas so when I mix up a bottle i add a few drops of dawn dish soap. So that there is a better chance of ant fleas that do get in will die before they can lay any eggs.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Martie (Carmel) on 08/30/2017
 ★★★★★

Apple cider vinegar solution on bottom of spine and scruff of neck has been a life saver! We have such an issue with fleas because it is dog heaven in Carmel! I use Advantage on my dogs but still fleas jump on them on every walk and one of my dogs goes crazy chewing his tail raw from the fleas... within minutes he causes the area to bleed and then starts whimpering because the wound on his tail hurts so much. Poor baby! I apply a hot spot tea tree oil spray but sometimes it makes him run around because the spray burned him. I feel so bad!!

Any way, yesterday I found the Apple Cider Vinegar method for fleas and applied it by dripping 1/2 organic apple cider vinegar and half water from a cotton ball onto the scruff of his neck and then as close to his tail as I could without touching the wounds he had caused (the whole area around his bum and up and down his tail has scabs on it.

There was NO CHEWING or SCRATCHING last night. No new wounds this morning. Thank God. I am going to keep applying the Apple Cider Vinegar to both areas morning and night even though my dogs for sure don't like it!

To anyone trying this... please be very careful not to let the ACV solution touch a raw or red area on your furry friend. But it is very effective. I am guess fleas just don't like the smell of it and stay off them, right? Is that why it helps?

Replied by Lynsey
(Georgia)
12/31/2018

I used this Apple cider vinegar on my cats and dog for fleas, but I was wondering how often I should apply it? Thank you!

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Charlotte (Fairfield, CT) on 08/08/2017
 ★★★★★

We have a lot of fleas this summer. I have been squeezing a cotton ball that has been soaked in ACV (50/50 ACV and Water) to the back of my dogs' necks and at the base of the spine every morning while they eat. They don't notice it this way and shake it off immediately! So it gives the ACV an extra minute to soak in.

I did not give them their monthly flea medication liquid on the back of their necks because I wanted to see if this natural method would work okay. They are biting and scratching much less since I started the ACV treatment two weeks ago.

It's easy to forget to apply the ACV in the morning, so I keep my cotton balls out on the kitchen counter so I don't forget.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Tamee (In) on 11/27/2016
 ★★★★☆

I've been using ACV mixed with water & my babies are still itching & I have seen less fleas since I've started this home remedy but Only less for a few hours. So now!! I've started to add & I've used a tad bit of peroxide, a tad bit of dawn dish soap to my ACV & water Spray. Idk if I'm doing something wrong, I still have to constantly give my pet kids a Vinegar Spray Down & they do seem to enjoy hearing me tell them its time for their Vinegar Spray Down.

With all this being said, & I've done, & tried. I'm going back to ONLY APPLE CIDER VINEGAR & HALF WATER. Thanks so much for this website. Best of Luck to All of You with your pet children(s), & God Bless All

Replied by Theresa
(Mpls., Mn)
11/29/2016

Hey Tamee,

You might have a flea infestation in your house. You might try a lamp flea trap - inexpensive, easy to use and very effective. Set the trap out at night and take a peek in the morning for fleas - keep trapping until you no longer see them. For best results use a trap for each room.

Replied by Melissa
(St. Paul)
08/08/2017

My dog is about to have her puppies between sunday and wed. I have used dawn dish washing soap and flea comb. She is a min pin. Nothing came out. They are underneath her on her belly and by her opening. Can I use apple cider vinegar?

Replied by Theresa
(Mpls., Mn)
08/09/2017

Hey Melissa,

You have a min-pin - try filling your bath tub with warm water and then BEFORE you put your dog in the bath, get a soapy wash cloth to work the shampoo/dish soap into her coat/skin by first starting at her nose and working over her muzzle, face and around the ears. Once you have her entire head and neck below the ears lathered up down to the skin, THEN put her in the tub and wash her entire body and let her soak if you can for 10 minutes. Rinse well taking care around her eyes - you can use a wet wash cloth with clear water to 'rinse' her face in the same way you worked the soap in. Once all the soap is rinsed off, use a solution of vinegar and water - 1 part of vinegar [white is OK to use] to 10 parts of water. Drain the tub, use your hands to work any excess water off of her, and then rinse her in the vinegar solution - use a wash cloth to work it around her face and ears. The vinegar will help restore the PH of her skin, as the dish soap is super harsh. This should get rid of the fleas on Momma. Your next step is to get rid of the fleas in the environment, so before putting Momma back in her nesting area, make sure you have laundered all the bedding and thoroughly vacuumed the area to remove any fleas hiding in the environment. I would also recommend you deploy several lamp flea traps to further eliminate fleas in the environment.



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