We give Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar a rating of 4.75 out of 5 stars.
What Is the Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar? How Does It Work?
Sobaken is a pet company that specializes in natural flea and tick products for cats and dogs. They also sell pheromone collars, calming collars, and calming treats.
The Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar for dogs utilizes natural ingredients and essential oils to repel fleas and ticks. These collars are also marketed as being effective against mosquitoes, lice, and sarcoptic mange.
Like other flea and tick products, these collars work by transferring oils onto the dog’s skin. Once there, the oils are absorbed and disseminated over the skin through the sebaceous glands. Unlike most other flea collars, the repellent in Sobaken’s formula is 100% natural, which is always a plus!
This formula is marketed as being hypoallergenic and free from nasty side effects. Rather than killing pests using neurotoxins or pesticides, Sobaken collars simply repel them using highly scented essential oils.
Chemical flea and tick products come with a host of downsides. They can cause scary side effects in dogs, including vomiting, seizures, and even death. Worse still, humans, especially children, who pet dogs treated with these products are at risk of neurological damage. Natural products, like those from Sobaken, offer a safer alternative. But are they as effective?
I had the chance to try Sobaken Flea & Tick Collars on Ragz, my Dalmatian mix, and Papyrus, my Chihuahua. Both have been struggling with fleas since we moved to Hawaii, so I was very excited to find a natural product that promises results.
Keep reading to find out if these natural flea collars live up to the hype.
Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar – A Quick Look
- All natural active ingredients
- Hypoallergenic
- Easy to use
- Lasts up to 8 months
- One size fits all
- Some may not like the smell of citronella
- A little stiff
Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar – What’s Included
I received two flea and tick collars, one for my 30-pound Dalmatian mix and one for my 7-pound Chihuahua mix. Because these are one size fits all, I got the same product for each.
- The collar (25” – cut to size)
- A small instruction pamphlet
- A warranty card
Ease of Use
Like most flea collars, the Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar was incredibly easy to use. As the instructions advised, I fitted them on each dog just loose enough to allow my fingers to slip underneath. Then I trimmed the excess, leaving 2 inches of extra length after the buckle.
And that is literally all it took to put these collars to use!
Each collar will last for 8 months under normal circumstances, another characteristic that makes this product super user-friendly. Compared to monthly oral flea and tick medication or monthly topical treatments, this product requires much less work.
Ingredients
- Spearmint oil
- Clove oil
- Citronella essential oil
These all-natural ingredients are safe for use on dogs and puppies over 3 months of age. Unlike chemical flea and tick repellents, these are very unlikely to cause side effects outside of allergic reactions, which are rare. Equally as important, these ingredients won’t cause problems for children and adults who come into contact with them.
The collar itself is made of polyethylene. While no plastic is 100% safe from leaching chemicals, polyethylene is one of the safest options available. And when used topically as it is meant to be, it is unlikely to cause any health problems.
The last ingredient listed is zinc stearate. This is a naturally occurring fatty acid used as a releasing agent. The Environmental Working Group scored this ingredient as low risk in all categories.
Effectiveness
Natural products like this one are often much safer to use on pets. However, they are also often less effective. Luckily, I can say with much confidence that Sobaken’s Flea & Tick Collar works incredibly well.
In fact, of all the natural treatments I’ve tried for fleas, this one is by far the most effective.
You can read more about how this product worked for my dogs in the “Our Experience” section below. For now, just know that I will be leaving these collars on for the full 8 months and ordering more once they stop working.
Side Effects and Downsides
The Sobaken website claims this collar will not cause allergic reactions or hair loss. The thousands of reviews for the product across the web seem to agree. I, personally, saw zero side effects when I used it on my dogs.
Since the collar’s active ingredients emit smells, each scent is detectable. Citronella doesn’t bother me or my dog, so this was not an issue for us but should be considered if you are scent sensitive.
Lastly, it is worth keeping in mind that these collars “repel”, not kill. That means if your dog is infested and you put the collar on, the pests will start jumping ship (potentially into your home) as the product takes effect after about 24 hours. For that reason, I highly recommend bathing your dog to kill any fleas and ticks on them before putting the collar on.
Is Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar a Good Value?
Considering that this collar works for 8 months, I’d say it is very well-priced.
It costs about as much as three treatments of Frontline Topical Flea and Tick Protection but lasts nearly three times as long. It is a tad more expensive than most chemical flea and tick collars, but about half the price as Seresto, the leading flea collar brand.
FAQ
Does it repel mosquitoes?
Sobaken Flea & Tick Collars also repel mosquitoes, lice, and sarcoptic mange. The all-natural active ingredients absorb into the dog’s skin and spread across their bodies, creating a protective odor shield that mosquitoes and other pests don’t like.
How durable is the Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar?
The collar is water-resistant and made of durable polyethylene. That said, it is not meant to be chewed on and could be dangerous if ingested. But, when left on the neck, it should easily last 8 months.
Does this collar stay on?
If you follow the trimming instructions, the Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar should stay on without issue. However, if you trim the excess too short, it is likely to slip through the buckle and come off. Excessive scratching at the neck can also cause the collar to come off.
Our Experience With the Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar
For the last two months, I have been dealing with a constant flea problem. The common space behind our house is filled with fleas and our dogs are frequently picking them up. The Sobaken collar is our most recent attempt to deal with this issue.
Both our dogs have a history of idiopathic seizures, so chemical flea and tick preventative is simply not an option. That’s why I was so excited to find this all-natural product.
I admit that I was a little skeptical, however. I have been using a topical flea spray that utilizes many of the same essential oil ingredients as Sobaken and I have not been happy with the results.
Luckily, I found these collars are much more effective!
Before putting the collars on, I bathed both my dogs to kill the fleas already present. Despite my attempts to mitigate the issue with natural sprays, diatomaceous earth, and frequent bathing, I found seven fleas on Papyrus, my Chihuahua, and three on Ragz, my Dalmatian.
Once my dogs were dry, I put on the flea collars. They were super easy to fit and secure. After some initial scratching, my dogs both got used to them.
The Results
I watched my dogs carefully over the next week and a half. Every other day, I used the flea comb to check for pests and flea dirt. Not only did I not find any, but I never saw any excess itching or discomfort that would signal the presence of fleas.
After 10 days, I bathed both dogs to check for flea activity. I found not a single flea or evidence of flea dirt on Papyrus. I did find one flea on Ragz, but no obvious flea dirt, meaning it had likely not been on her long enough to feed.
These results were amazing considering how many fleas I’d found every time I bathed them previously.
And on top of that, in the middle of the collar test run, I had a flea-ridden foster kitten come into my care. It took days to get the hundreds of fleas off this poor cat but, thanks to the collars, none of them made it onto my dogs!
Overall, I am very happy with these collars. They have been, by far, the most effective natural flea solution I’ve found. I plan to continue using them for the foreseeable future.
Conclusion
After testing the Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar on my own dogs, I can say with confidence that this is one natural pest solution that lives up to the hype. Not only did this collar reduce my dogs’ flea load by over 90%, but it was super easy to use and had absolutely no side effects.
I highly recommend the Sobaken Flea & Tick Collar to all dog owners looking to avoid chemical products and those wanting an effective, natural flea solution that requires less work.
