KayAnn,
The best thing for flea control is a once a month topical treatment such as Frontline, BioSpot, Advantage, etc... Some kill fleas and ticks and some kill just fleas. If you live in a wooded area then get one that kills both ticks and fleas. We use Frontline because it kills both. The packaging says it starts to kill them in 12 hours.

Flea bites can lead into other problems if not addressed immediately so depending on how bad he is, you may want to take him to the vet for a consultation to determine the severity and proper treatment.

Flea shampoos are ok for controlling the fleas from coming onto your dog for a few days after a bath but typically are not strong enough on their own if infestation has occured.

I use to use flea dips on my dogs years ago before the newer topical treatments came along. Now the beginning of every month I put the topical treatment on and forget about it. We haven't seen a case of fleas in I can't tell you how long. These new products are wonderful! You can now get them at PetSmart or some store similar. The cost of these products is not so astronomical as they were when they first came out too. I look at it as an ounce of prevention to prevent a pound of cure (or however the saying goes!).