Beaphar FIPROtec Spot-On Extra Large Dog

A spot-on is the one thing in a pet shop where the size on the box is not a preference. Every strength in a range is tied to a weight band, and a dog that has quietly crept over the top of its band is being treated as the dog it used to be. The scales matter more than the packaging.

This is the extra large size in Beaphar's FIPROtec range, made for dogs weighing between 40 and 60kg and at least 8 weeks old. Beaphar's own figures are that it kills fleas and ticks on the dog and then goes on killing fleas for up to five weeks and ticks for up to four. They also say plainly that the dog is only half the job: a household insecticide is meant to be used alongside it, because most of a flea population is never on the animal in the first place.

• For dogs weighing between 40 and 60kg
• Suitable for dogs over 8 weeks of age
• Kills fleas and ticks, and keeps killing fleas for up to five weeks
• Continues to kill ticks for up to four weeks
• Beaphar advise using a household insecticide alongside it
• Beaphar note that dogs spending a lot of time outdoors are most at risk

On the pack size, and on the leaflet. Beaphar's pack size reaches us as a maker code rather than a count of pipettes, so we cannot tell you how many treatments are in the box — the printed carton is the authority on that. More importantly, this is a licensed veterinary product and the leaflet inside carries the application method, the warnings and the contraindications. Read it before the dog is anywhere near the pipette, and if your dog weighs under 40kg or over 60kg, this is the wrong pack.

Who it's for: owners of a genuinely large dog — a Newfoundland, a mastiff, a big Great Dane — who have weighed them recently enough to be sure which band they are in.