Seresto 8-Month Flea & Tick Collar for Large Dogs Over 18 lbs., 1ct

Why it's worth it

The Seresto collar releases imidacloprid and flumethrin slowly across your dog's coat for up to eight months from a single purchase. It needs no prescription, and it solves the one problem that defeats every other product on this list: remembering to dose on schedule.

Compliance is the real reason to buy this. Every monthly product on this list assumes you'll remember, twelve times a year, forever. Most of us don't. The collar removes the question entirely — you put it on, and it works for the better part of a year. That's roughly one action instead of twelve, and it's why this is the right pick for busy households and for anyone who's found an unopened box of chews from last spring.

There's no peak-and-trough cycle either. Monthly chews are strongest right after dosing and weakest right before the next one. The collar's slow-release matrix keeps concentrations steady around the clock, so day 27 looks like day 3. Fleas and ticks are killed and repelled through contact, which means they don't have to bite your dog first.

From our review of 6 flea and tick prevention for dogs, by James Bennett, Associate Editor

What we like

• +Compliance is the real reason to buy this
• +There's no peak-and-trough cycle either
• +It also handles the dog that refuses everything
• +It's not a prescription product, which matters more than it sounds

What to know

• –The collar has to stay on
• –This one deserves a straight answer: the collar has drawn EPA scrutiny after a large volume of adverse event reports, and a…
• –It doesn't cover heartworm, ear mites or intestinal parasites