Vaccinating your puppy

One of the first steps in making sure your new family member is safe against different diseases is to vaccinate your puppy at the right time with the right vaccine.

Mother to the rescue
For the first few weeks, puppies are protected against illness by their mothers milk that contains colostrum, which is very rich in antibodies and gives them temporary immunity. Having such a short protection time, you must make sure your little friend is vaccinated in time, so he can run and play safely with other dogs without catching and spreading any diseases.

What is a vaccine ?
A vaccine is a biological preparation that stimulates the production of antibodies and helps improve immunity to a particular disease. This preparation contains an agent which is often made from a weakened or killed form of the microbe, its toxins or one of its surface proteins.

Vaccines are divided into 2 classes:

• a)Core vaccines that should be given to every dog against the most dangerous and most widespread diseases.
• b)Non-core vaccines are optional and are administered considering the breed, age, health status of the dog and the region of the country your dogs lives or might visit.

When should I vaccinate my dog?
Vaccination usually starts at about six to eight weeks of age and are repeated every three to four weeks, until about 4 months of age making a total of 3 rounds of vaccination. It is important for your puppy to receive all three rounds in order to ensure full protection against diseases like Parvovirus, Distemper, parainfluenza, etc.

A possible vaccination schedule

• a combination vaccine(5-way vaccine) often includes distemper, parainfluenza, parvovirus, hepatitis and adenovirus
• there is also a 7-way vaccine that may include leptospirosis and coronavirus

It is important to keep your little friend away from unknown dogs until it gets the third round of vaccines.

Side effects to vaccination
Although it rarely happens, some side effects can appear.Here is a list of signs you should be keeping an eye on:

• -fever
• -difficulty breathing
• -vomiting
• -seizures
• -loss of appetite
• -hair loss around the injection zone
• -diarrhea
• -redness around the injection zone
• -pain around the injection zone
• -lameness

Nowadays it can be pretty hard to make some time to get your dog to a vet, but keep in mind that it is your little friend and relies on you to take care of it and in return he will love you unconditionally.

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