The natural tablet that got Hastings through an entire flea season 🐾

Dear Current (and would be 😊) Puppy Parents,

Everyone knows I'm totally against the use of toxic flea and tick products; whatever your opinion is, adding more natural options to your pest-repelling toolkit is always a good idea.

Last spring, I started giving Hastings, a small, chewable garlic-and-brewer's yeast tablet, once a day. I just tossed it on top of his breakfast. He didn't even notice it was there.

One of the best all natural flea and tick “repellents” on the market.

By the end of flea-and-tick season? I was genuinely impressed. I didn't use any other products and had absolutely no fleas; he did pick up a tick a couple of times, I believe that was early on in my trial, and the bottle states that it takes about 30 days to see full benefits. Not 100%, but neither are most products that carry much higher risk to pets and people.

The idea is simple: the combination works from the inside out, making dogs less attractive to fleas, ticks, and — I suspect — mosquitoes too. Pests find the scent off-putting and move on.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking: garlic? Isn't that toxic to dogs? (It amazes me that Google shares so much nonsense about garlic but happily supports the use of so many truly toxic flea and tick products 😡).

Yes, there's a lot of cautionary content online. But the research tells a more nuanced story. Garlic in small doses (like what's in this tablet) is considered safe and even beneficial for dogs. The concern is with large amounts, which these absolutely are not. That said, as always, check with your vet if you have any specific concerns about your dog.

And, lastly, I’m sorry to fuss about the products that oh so many of you have been using for years. A visit to your veterinarian with questions about how to protect your pet will often result in the overwhelmed pet owner carrying home an arsenal of nuclear weapons, simply because they don’t know what other options are available. If you have a small housedog who is unlikely to be exposed to fleas and ticks, I highly recommend starting with a safer option and avoiding pesticide exposure for both you and your pet.

Granted, some of you might need to resort to the heavy hitters, hopefully, not forever. For example, your neighbor has 20 cats and loves to share his resident flea population, meaning your poor dog is inundated by creepy crawlies, so you’ll have to decide what route to take.

My thought is that if you incorporate a more natural option to support your pet, you could potentially reduce the frequency of applications, if not eventually eliminate the need for scary options altogether.