Preventative Medicine for Life-Long Health
A new puppy is a lot of fun as well as a lot of work. Love, attention and training are very important for a puppy to grow into a happy, well-trained adult dog. Routine vaccinations, worming and a heartworm prevention program are also very important. This page is designed to help owners through the first six months of their puppy's life.
First visit: At 6 to 8 weeks of age, you should bring your puppy in for a complete physical exam and the first of a series of three DHLPP vaccines. DHLPP stands for Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Parainfluenza and Parvo virus and is a combination of five vaccines in one injection. All of these diseases are potentially life threatening to any dog and the DHLPP vaccines induce valuable, life-saving immunity in your pet. Your puppy' s first visit will also include an oral worming agent and its first monthly chewable heartworm pill.
Second Visit: Three to four weeks after the initial visit, your puppy will need a booster DHLPP injection and a second dose of oral worming agent. We also recommend an intranasal vaccine for Canine Bronchitis (also known as kennel cough). Canine Bronchitis is caused by a bacterium and virus working together to damage the lining of your puppy or dog's windpipe. Although not life threatening, canine bronchitis causes a persistent nagging cough that is highly contagious to other dogs. If your dog is likely to be exposed to ticks, then the first of two Lyme vaccination boosters should be administered.
Third Visit: Your puppy will be ready for DHLPP and Lyme boosters, and its first rabies vaccination three weeks after the second visit. We recommend a stool sample be tested at this time for parasitic analysis.
Yearly Visits: After your puppy matures into an adult dog, it is important to make yearly visits to the DMVC for an annual wellness exam. When your dog is one year old, he will receive a rabies and DHLPP booster. Rabies and DHLPP will then be boostered every three years. Vaccinations for Lyme and canine bronchitis need to be boostered yearly. Every year it is also important to have your dog screened for heartworm disease and Lyme disease. This test requires drawing about 3 drops of blood from your dog's foreleg. Our current recommendation for any dog that has testing positive for the disease is to have heartworm prevention given monthly year round, with a stool analysis performed yearly.
Feeding: Feed your puppy a brand-name commercial puppy or "growth-formulated" food. Allow your puppy to eat as much as it wants for 20 minutes at a time, two or three times daily. At around 9-10 months of age, make a gradual transition to a maintenance or adult diet by replacing the 20-minute feedings with a fixed amount of food fed twice a day. We recommend dry food over canned, as it is better for your dog's teeth. The staff at the DMVC recommends and sells the Hills Science Diet.