"This is probably one of the worst summers we've had,” said groomer Gail Jackson.

Jackson says the nasty fleas this season made her dog, Rocket, take off on a biting frenzy.

"Anytime she gets a flea on her, she just goes nuts,” she said.

The pests made the 85-pound pooch miserable. She gnawed away at itchy areas until her back got bare spots.

"It's ongoing. You treat the yard, you treat the house, you treat the dog. And then you do it again a month later,” said Jackson.

Veterinarians say, if pet owners don't keep up on prevention and defense tactics, they'll really end up in the doghouse.

"One is going to turn into hundreds of thousands within a month,” said Dr. Heath Wiseman of Springfield Veterinary Center. "If you try to use a cheap flea collar, I will bet you it's not going to do the job.”

For Steve Todd’s dogs, father and son Walter and Wilson, the fight against the flea invasion lasted about a year.

“We set off bombs, sprayed, sometimes vacuumed twice a day,” said Todd.

He says it cost between $500 and $700, counting all the treatments, to kill the critters on his canines.

If you end up hiring an exterminator, Wiseman recommends finding one with a guarantee so you can get rid of the fleas for good.

While flea collars are cheap, they don't offer complete coverage protection. But here's a trick. Wiseman says, if you throw the collar in your vacuum bag, that will help kill any fleas you collect from carpets.