My dog had puppies and I do not know when to get their first shots. They are about 3 weeks old. They are still with their mother.
JESS from BLOOMINGTON, CA
Please make sure you get the rabies and the parvo shots. Above all, the parvo. I almost lost my Sancho due to getting rabies shot at SPCA before the parvo shot. He contracted parvo at the SPCA we think. Thanks to a wonderful vet we nursed my baby back from his death bed. I never realized just how important a parvo shot could be. It is the difference between life and death. (08/25/2006)
By Mookie9853
Puppies need to get their shots at 10 - 11 weeks. The vet will make another appointment for any follow-up shots. (09/01/2006)
By Laurie
They should have already been to the vet the day after they were born, then your vet should tell you when to bring them in again. I believe it is around 6 weeks old. Call your vet. Don't rely on online answers. :) (03/22/2007)
By Hound Breeder
Well, it really all depends on the mother, the litter, each individual puppy and their environment. Puppy shots are kind of complicated, IMHO. :p My husband and I breed APBTs, and currently have a litter of 7, 5 week 1 day old puppies. Well, it's 12:20am right now, so they are technically 5 weeks 2 days. And we do our shots ourselves, for the most part. If you are going to do your shots yourself, it is important to make sure the puppies still see the vet for regular checkups.
Now, as I'm sure you know, newborn pups aren't naturally immune to diseases. Though they do have some antibody protection from mom's blood through the placenta. Then, the next level of immunity is from antibodies received from the first milk. Colostrum is the antibody-rich milk produced from the time of birth for up to 36-48 hours. The puppies only receive maternal antibodies (antibodies derived from mom through her blood or colostrum) until they are 2 days. Also, the puppies will only receive antibodies against diseases that the mom had been recently vaccinated against or exposed to.
The antibodies from the mom normally circulate in the newborns blood for a number of weeks. At what age the puppies can effectively be immunized all depends on the amount of antibody protection they received from their mother. If there are high levels of maternal antibodies in the puppies' bloodstream that will block the effectiveness of a vaccine. When the maternal antibodies drop to a low enough level in the puppy, immunization will work.
There is a period of time (the window of susceptibility), that can be anywhere from several days to several weeks, where the maternal antibodies are too low to provide protection against the disease, yet too high to allow a vaccine to work. During the window of susceptibility, even if the puppy has already been vaccinated, it can still contract the disease.
The length of the window of susceptibility is different in every litter, and every individual puppy. To ensure all of our puppies are as protected as possible, we like to give them a combination vaccine at six weeks, and give them boosters every three weeks until the puppy is about sixteen weeks of age, or until they go to their forever homes. I know that a lot of breeders, if not most, will allow their pups to leave at 8 weeks, but we just feel more comfortable keeping them with their mother until they are about 10 weeks.
For puppies that are at high risk of exposure to parvo, some vets recommend getting them vaccinated at 5 weeks. At 6 and 9 weeks, a combination vaccine (or 5-way vaccine, normally includes adenovirus cough and hepatitis, distemper, parainfluenza, and parvovirus) without leptospirosis and with Coronavirus, where coronavirus is a concern. At 12 weeks or older they need to be vaccinated against Rabies. I'm not sure if you do your own shots, but if you do, I would recommend going to the vet for the Rabies vaccination. I think in most places, by law, you have to go to your vet for that.
By MommyOfTen
I bought my pup from a breeder; the pup I got was one of her adoption puppies; he had all his shots up to date. Now I don't know when he would be due for more. Here is what he got:
4 weeks Dewormed pyran 50
5 weeks galaxy 5 (distemper/parvo) and bronchcine (kennel cough) strongid (dewormer)
6 weeks panacur 3 days (dewormer)
I got him when he was 11 weeks and he came with a health certificate and internal parasite med that I gave to him. He had a vet check the week before I got him and passed with flying colors. Does he need other shots? (02/19/2008)
By newpupownet
I totally agree that immunizations, heartworm meds, flea control, etc., are way overused and over-priced. What ever happened to puppies' immune systems not being mature enough to give shots and worming meds to before 8-10 weeks of age? I've had at least 3 vets tell me to wait until they were older, with one saying to start the de-worming at 6 weeks.
Also, never use flea control products on young puppies. At least now they've started using a three year rabies vaccine, which is far better than the old every year one. I've also known too many people whose pets (both dogs and cats) have contracted all types of tumors, leukemias, other cancers, epilepsy, and other ailments at young ages, and they were devoted followers of vet orders for vacs, meds, etc.
Luckily, I've been blessed not to ever have had any of those diseases affect my animals. Even when the vet wanted me to keep buying expensive ear meds for one of my dogs, I chose a natural home mixed remedy that worked beautifully and it cleared the ears right up, and she hasn't had another ear problem in 3 years. (04/02/2008)
By ReignbowTracer Novelties
My 17 week old puppy (Cockerpoo) received the last of his puppy shots a few days ago and I'm anxious to get him out there for walks and running with me. How long before the vaccines are in full effect? I keep hearing different information on this. Some say a few days, others a few weeks. Thanks for your help. (02/23/2009)
By floristguy
I have 2 puppies, one male and one female Rottweiler mixed with unknown father. They are about 7 weeks old. I am very concerned for them to have their first shots, something that I did not know I had to do as an adoptive person of the puppies. Our animal shelter in NC do not give shots. I was told they had to go to a Vet. I cannot afford it. I was quoted about $140 for one pup. Can you recommend anything else that I might be able to do to immunize these pups? Can I buy my own medications? Thank you for your suggestions. (03/01/2009)
By Margaret
Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
