I found this article on the site of MalteseOnly.com and wanted to share her comments.

“Unequivocally NO!  Although many products say they are safe after a few hours, if you have a Maltese that sometimes grazes on the grass, it can cause severe problems and even death.  This we personally learned the hard way.  Luckily our boy did not die”.

Back to my comments:

On the exit appointments of families picking up their puppies, we go over all the needed information and do’s and don’ts with their puppy and I say that I like to treat my yard and not my pet.   I use a product I found on Amazon called  Wondercide for fleas, ticks and mosquitoes and I put this out in a sprayer, in the evening after all my pets are put up.  This way it gives over 8 hours before my pets are back in the area in which I sprayed.  I have never noticed a reaction from my pets after spraying with this product.

I prefer to treat my yard than to put this that and the other preventives in my pets body.  My pets stay in the same area everyday so I feel I can control their environment.  If they spent a lot of time outdoors in other areas unknown then there would be more of a need for preventives but if I can control it then I choose to NOT treat my pet.

I am sure everyone has an opinion on this subject and we are all entitled to our own opinion. If you asked your vet, more than likely they would say you shouldn’t take the risk and should treat your pet regardless.   But personally after breeding for over 25 years and hearing feedback from many Maltese owners about what happened to their pet whether they died or had terrible reactions, I found that preventive medications for Flea, Ticks and Heartworms seemed to be the common answer.  And while I can’t prove it causes these issues I have studied and heard enough to be suspicious enough that I have chosen to back off from all preventives.  Lawn care products can be very dangerous and can cause cancer and other issues so its best to know what is in your yard. Which is why I choose to treat my lawn and not my pet.

Be careful about what products you use around your pets and do your research.  Allow plenty of time for products to dry if they were sprayed and don’t allow you pet to sit and eat at the grass especially if you put out fertilizer granules or ant bait etc.

I had one family call me in a frantic because they were having a picnic and she found her Maltese eating a piece of meat that had dropped unfortunately on an ant bed and when she ate the meat she also ate ants.  After many visits to the vet her little girl was able to return to normal but it was very touch and go there for awhile.