I've never had great luck with collars. We used Advantix and that worked well but it does get expensive. I bought it on Amazon and price was a bit less.

A quick note. Here in mid Illinois we are having a terrible tick year. My vet told me the Trifexis does not work on ticks and that there has been NO compound yet made available to cure everything in one. It does all except ticks...Great we are using the Advantage and Trifexis on a 85 lbe German Shepard. So far, so good.

Flea collars (and sprays and baths) stopped working in our climate decades ago and would be a total waste of money, but I still see these products in some stores. Fleas developed resistance. Systemic spot treatments from the vet work okay. We use Advantage Multi, which is effective against a range of parasites, including heart worm, which is a huge problem in many parts of the country. It costs us around $12.50/month per pet, in addition to the vet's fee for annual testing because the dog has to be free of heart worms before the preventive is started. The one that includes the heartworm preventive is more expensive than the one without, except that we used to have to buy Heartguard or Interceptor in addition to the flea killer.

Once the fleas start to appear in your home, you can spend a ridiculous amount of money getting rid of them, so prevention is the only option. If your dog goes where other animals have been (including wild animals) he will inevitably bring home fleas.

We used to use Adam's Flea Off Mist years ago, and it's probably effective for a little while, in the same way that Off works for humans, but you'd have to keep using it frequently, and that's a lot of trouble and expense in the long run. The dog can't be sprayed on his face or below his tail, and you may see fleas congregating there.

It's best to ask your vet what would work where you are.

We've used Revolution for years. It is a heartworm medicine that also prevents fleas, ticks, mites, etc. It's about $12 per month from the vet. I hate spending the money on it, but if you've ever had to deal with fleas, you will know it's well worth the money.....not to mention protecting my dog from heartworm issues.

If you want to stay away from chemicals try rubbing eucalyptus oil on your animal or sprinkle on dogs bedding. Its' a natural way to get rid of them, also I just read that coffee grounds are good, just be sure to brush them out after rubbing into dogs fur

I made both dogs ill with flea collars - never again. The only use for them is in the vacuum bag, IMO. I use Armor Guard Plus (generic Frontline Plus) for my big dog and Vectra D for for my smaller one. he smaller one needs the more expensive one for some reason - and she's allergic to flea saliva, so I am vigilant with that one.

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I have used these for 13 years, no fleas. They beg for their 2 tabs daily.
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Advantage and frontline are better and way less toxic than flea collars

Tothill---We used Revolution last year for our dog, took her in In Aug for her vaccines, they did her routine Heart worm check and she tested VERY Positive for Lyme disease, she had to take an antibiotic 2x/day for 30 days. She was very lucky she did not get sicker than she was( I did notice for 2-3 days her eyes were tearing and she seemed a little lethargic, nothing hugely alarming..
From what I understand from the vet Revolution is proving not to be effective against ticks, we were promptly switched to Frontline Plus, Which can be purchased at Sam's Club and Menard's for considerably cheaper than my vet anyway.
i think I would check with my vet before I would attempt washing my animals with dawn for a flea control measure. I would worry I could be asking for other health issues.
From what I also understand a flea will only spend 20% of it's the time on the animal, 80% off the animal(AKA house, carpet, yard,)
Fleas also carry diseases, cause anemia, and worms(tape worm). Why fool around?

We use the Preventick collars for 3 months but I see where TShooters mentions Adams. Will have to see about those since we live in south Texas. We almost lost a dog to anemia shortly after we got her because of the flea and tick. We also use Trifexis and Heartgard.