I raise beagles and am in a constant battle with fleas and ticks, my dogs are constantly exposed to them when they hunt. If you only have a couple of dogs, get some Seresto flea and tick collars. They are expensive, but they work as good or better than anything else on the market. I have too many dogs for them to be economical for me, but I know a lot of guys with 1-3 dogs and they all swear by them. Depending how big your dogs are, you might be able to use one collar for two dogs. Get the biggest size they make and cut it in half. You'll have to determine how big the necks are on your dogs. I've tried everything that is on the market and if I only had a couple of dogs, the Seresto collars is what I would be using.
Shop around for the best price. Sometimes they can be had on ebay for a good deal.
https://www.amazon.com/Bayer-Seresto-Collar-Large-Protection/dp/B00B8CG602Couldn't disagree more, especially for smaller dogs for numerous reasons. First of all if you read the negative reviews on the very link you put up, there are numerous accounts posted in just the last week of negative reactions from incessant scratching, to lethargy and seizures. I would not recommend it for small dogs as it has a long 8 month time release and reports of toxicity in smaller dogs is all too common. I knew that about Seresto a long time ago without reading the negative reviews in the link you put up.
For larger dogs like full size hounds I never heard of any issues and it seems to work fine overall, but that brings up the second point you made in your own post. It isn't cheap.
Permethrin works very well and is cheap. I can buy Freedom Spot on 45 packaged for dogs which lasts 1 month per dose, and treat a 33-66 lb dog for $2.30 per month. I buy it packaged for horses (which is the exact same stuff just comes in bigger tubes) I can treat a dog over 66 lbs for $2.60 per month using the dog dosage listed on the dog packs, a dog 33-66 lbs for $1.30 per month, and a dog under 33 lbs for a little over .65 cents per month.
I've been doing this for yrs with dogs of all sizes, and to date I have 1 dog that hovers around the 33 lb mark that will rub like a cat at times for the first couple days after giving it, it must make him somewhat itchy, other than that no side affects I've ever seen with any dogs and any ticks I ever find which are few, are dead. I never see fleas on my dogs.
