Dog Vaccinations

Regular vaccination is required for all dogs to ensure they remain free from a number of contagious diseases. Many of these are potentially fatal. As these diseases are preventable by vaccination, in addition to your own desire to keep your dog healthy, this is also part of your obligation to ensure you adhere to the five freedoms, under the animal welfare act.

Vaccination visits are not just a vaccination. We do a full clinical examination on your pet and discuss with you any potential problems we envisage. In addition to vacciantion we may recommend other things such as blood tests, dental treatment or weight management.

When you have a puppy we need to complete a series of vaccinations.  Once this is complete your dog will visit for annual boosters

Talk to us about what is required for your dog. 

Initial vaccination course

An initial course of 3-4 vaccinations approximately 3 - 4 weeks apart is given. The interval specified is important and must be adhered to. This ensures high levels of immunity are achieved.

Your veterinarian will advise you exactly when these need to be given and how many are required at your first visit. It is dependent on the vaccine used and the age of your puppy when you first contact your veterinarian with regards to vaccinating. In general terms, a vaccination course for puppies should start at 6 weeks of age, and the last vaccine in the primary course will occur between 14-16 weeks.

Your puppy (or older dog, if vaccinations were started late) is not fully protected from the diseases vaccinated against during the initial course until 10 days after the last vaccination. It is very important that you do not let your puppy in public areas until this period is over. This includes dog parks, walking on the pavement, visiting pet shops and walking on the beach.

Because socialisation during this period is very important, you should take your puppy to puppy classes (contact our Straven Road branch for details on their puppy classes), take your puppy to visit friends who have dogs that are fully vaccinated (or invite those fully vaccinated dogs to your place for a play. Ensure that you make sure your puppy is not only introduced to other puppies and diogs durign this time, but also to all types and ages of people.

Booster vaccinations

Following this initial course, booster vaccinations are required. Recent research shows that not all diseases must be vaccinated for annually, as immunity for some diseases lasts longer than one year. However, for other diseases, immunity wanes after six months to one year, therefore an annual vaccination is required to maintain immunity to these diseases.

Annual visits to your veterinarian for vaccination also include a full health check. During the visit we will do a full clinical examination which will include checks on weight, teeth, heart and lungs, skin, abdomen and limbs. We will also review your pets nutrition plan and behaviour. In addition we will talk to you as the owner about how things have been over the last year to see if there are any areas of concern to then make recommendations.

The area of immunity and vaccination is currently changing rapidly as more research is done and you should follow the current regime advised by us at your vaccination visit.

Vaccination Requirements for Boarding Kennels

Ensure that you are familiar with the vaccination requirements of your boarding establishment. You will be required to present an up to date vaccination certificate to the boarding facility at the time of admission. If your dog does not meet the requirements of your preferred boarding facility with regards to vaccination, he may be excluded from the boarding facility or be isolated for the duration of his visit.