Question
Could you please elaborate what you mean by Organics being a bad idea? Also how to spiders etc. come into this - I am sorry I just am a little confused. How would I get rid of the fleas if I have them outside? Is there a way to kill them safely?
-------------------------------------------
The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
The question about fleas has me wondering what you would do in my situation.  I have a golden retriever and a poodle of unknown ages since both are pound dogs.  Let us say they are middle aged.  We get fleas some years, and not others.  Do you know why?  Also, what kind of methods would you use to make sure we don't get fleas every year.  And what is your opinion about Frontline.  Thank you so much.
-----Answer-----
Even Fleas have their place in God's garden.

But I don't like them, either.

Let's look at "Frontline". Active ingredient: Fipronil.  IPM Of Alaska (http://www.ipmofalaska.com/files/fipronil.html) devotes a full page to this tasty treat with warnings up and down that include the following: "Fipronil is neurotoxic in both rats and dogs.  Severe skin reactions to Frontline Topspot for Cats and Topspot for Dogs have occurred, with skin irritation and hair loss at the site of application."  University of Nebraska at Lincoln Entomologysts also post photos (http://nematode.unl.edu/epn/Scarp.htm) at their website.

There's more.

"Organs affected by chronic exposure may include the liver, thyroid and kidney."  Thyroid Cancer was induced in lab rats dosed up with this stuff.  It is designated Class C Carcinogen.  This is no way anything I want in my back yard near my dogs and children.

Say NO to Frontline.

What to do instead?

Ants, Spiders and Beetles have Fleas in their crosshairs.  If you have Fleas, you just don't have enough Ants, Spiders and Beetles.  What are you doing to eliminate THOSE?  

Lawn grasses are not the best of places to be an Ant, Spider or Beetle.  Be vigilant about things like Predatory Nematodes.  This is the Organic version of Insecticides; they're a bad idea because they are so effective at eradicating all bugs everywhere in your garden and that's exactly the opposite of what an effective Organic program aims for.  If you want to eliminate Fleas, don't also eliminate Spiders, Beetles and all other Insect Larvae along with it.  You will be ridding yourself of some key allies in the war against evil in the lawn.

The dog flea, Ctenocephalides canis, appears similar to the cat flea, but is rarely found in the United States. Cat fleas are commonly found on both cats and dogs in North America.

For instance, officially, at least, the Dog Flea is Ctenocephalides canis.  It's a lot like the Cat Flea.  But even Entomologists don't see very many of them in the U.S..  Cat Fleas are often discovered on both Cats AND Dogs here.  Distribute massive doses of Steinernema carpocapsae around your garden and yard to wipe out Fleas in your garden.  You can get them from Buglogical Systems (http://www.buglogical.com/index.asp).  For some lovely photographs, suitable for framing, refer to the Cornell University website (http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/pathogens/nematodes.html).  While no one has discovered a Nematode that will target Wireworms, Fire Ants or Corn Rootwoealth of care and feeding help (http://nematode.unl.edu/epn/culture.htm) on this Flea-Eating Nematode that will knock your socks off.

If Fleas are not noticeable from year to year on a constant schedule, it may be because someone - a neighbor perhaps - has applied pesticides to eliminate some or all of them.  What a waste.

Answer
Sorry, my friend -- I sometimes type way too fast and don't make sense.

"Lawn grasses are not the best of places to be an Ant, Spider or Beetle.  Be vigilant about things like Predatory Nematodes.  This is the Organic version of Insecticides; they're a bad idea because..." was my attempt to point out that Insecticides are anti-GREEN weapons and this will sometimes include "Predatory Nematodes", which have a downside.  You have to think about what you're doing in a garden.  Simply doing "organic" things is not enough, necessarily.

Spiders, Ants, etc., are natural predators that ARE GREEN.  Pesticides will kill more than Fleas; they will kill the Spiders and the Ants that eat them.  You want to keep these around, as creepy as these crawlers can be, because they are a great secret weapon against Fleas of all kinds.  And THEY will kill them safely.  So will those Nematodes.

The All Experts computer seems to alter much of what I type when the answer is too long.  Either I must shorten my answer, or I must wait for you to explain the gibberish in the middle of an Answer.  I apologize for that.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to for a clear direction to turn on this.  It's my pleasure.