I didn’t get a new puppy, YOU DID!
How many of you got puppies or kittens for Christmas? Or were you the one who gifted one of the most amazing gifts of all time?

Either way, Congratulations! You are officially a pet parent!

So now what are you going to do?

Hug them, squeeze them, love them, and play! Lots of play of course!

But seriously, while a lot of pet parenting is fun and games there’s some serious stuff we need to cover and I’m here for you!

I’ll try to cover as much as possible without boring you, but you will still want to ask your vet questions related to the topics I’ll mention in this post because:

1. There is only so much I can cover while keeping you interested
2. No two pets are alike
3. Recommendations may be different depending on where you live

So let’s get started.

Most puppies are at least 8 weeks of age when they are okay to leave mom or cleared for adoption. By this age their eyes and ears will be open, they will have sharp little baby teeth, and they will be the cutest things ever!

When it comes to the health of your pup, one of the first things you will want to get done is a puppy health exam. This is when I talk to my clients about all things puppies – vaccines, deworming, diet, spay/neuter, microchip, and many times so much more!

Because there is so much information I want to share I just decided I am going to have to turn this into a multiple part series! So I’ll stick to the vaccine recommendations in this first part.

Most breeders, rescues, and humane societies will provide some vaccinations and deworming before sending off the pups to their fur-ever home, but I will give you the run down from scratch.

Here goes:

I will start with the core vaccinations:

• DHPP
• Rabies

DHPP… what does that even mean?

Well, it stands for distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, and parvovirus. If you guys want I can make a separate post going into more detail about these diseases but for now we will stick to just the vaccine protocol recommendations.

When we are talking about ‘puppy boosters’ this is usually the vaccine everyone is referring to.

The first set of this vaccine is given at 8 weeks of age. Any vaccines given earlier do not contribute to puppy immunity. So those 6 week puppy vaccines… sorry but those are pointless, because maternal antibodies are still playing a role in puppy immunity and they prevent puppies from having any kind of immune response to these early vaccines.

After the initial booster your pup will then need boosters every 3-4 weeks until 16 weeks of age, that will mean a total of 3 boosters to ensure an appropriate immune response and protection. So in a perfect world you are looking at vaccines at 8, 12, and 16 weeks of age.

Now onto the big one!

Anyone heard of Rabies? Yeah, it is still around. So all pups require a rabies vaccine given after 12 weeks of age, and the best part is that it doesn’t need a booster until the following year.

So that’s pretty simple, but now we gotta talk about the ‘other’ vaccines. These are going to be what I like to call ‘lifestyle’ vaccines. Is your puppy a social butterfly? Is he going to be visiting dog parks? Are you taking him to puppy classes or training? Will he be going to the groomer? Are you going to take him traveling with you?

All of these are very important questions that help me help you decide what is going to be the best plan for your puppy to ensure he is well protected.

So what are these ‘lifestyle’ vaccines you ask?

Well, if you are in my neck of the woods in good ol’ Alberta, Canada I will be recommending:

• Bordetella
• Leptospirosis

These will most likely be recommended in most areas around the world, but there may be pockets where leptospirosis is not as prevalent and therefore not discussed. Again make sure you are having these conversations with your vet so that the appropriate vaccine protocol is discussed and tailored specifically to your puppy’s needs.

Kennel cough. Anyone ever heard this term?

Well, this is what the Bordetella vaccine is for. This vaccine is currently given once a year in my area, but in some areas where the pups may have a higher exposure rate the recommendation is every 6 months.

Now this vaccine is a little different because there are different routes of administration including in the nose, in the mouth, or as an injection. There are some studies that do support the nose one as the preferred option, but again something for you and your vet to decide on what is best for your pup.

And finally: Leptospirosis!

This is another emerging disease that we have seen an increase in cases over the last several years in my area. Immunization for this vaccine involves a 2 part booster where your puppy will receive the first booster at one of the initial booster visits and then there will be a second booster required 3-4 weeks later. After this it is an annual vaccine.

This one hurts! It’s been the one where we have seen the most reaction to the injection itself and then soreness reported for the next couple days by owners, but nothing to be too concerned with unless your puppy is a real drama queen and needs a little pain medication to get them through the day.

Anybody still there?

Hopefully you made it through to the end of this post and you feel more prepared on what to expect with your puppy’s vaccinations!

Stay tuned for more posts on puppy basics and if you have any questions or content requests leave them in the comment section below!

Thanks for reading!

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