Puppy vaccinations, diseases and health care are important topics for any new puppy owner. 

There's lots to learn so let's get started!  We'll begin with the topic of ...

Getting a new Puppy
Well, you've really gone and done it now, haven't you?  You just had to have a new puppy.  If you are a veteran of the puppy rearing scene you surely can recall the excitement and enthusiasm you felt when you brought that furry little bundle home for  the first time.  And if this is your very first pup... there may be just a bit of "What have I done?" anxiety about this major moment in your life.


Owning and caring for a puppy is a huge responsibility.  And with a bit of luck and good health care you should see that little rascal live many happy and fun-filled years! The Jeddah Vet is here to help you all along the way!

In this section about Puppy Care we will provide you with links to articles on our site that you will want to read. We will give you guidelines about vaccinations, worming, feeding, and training.

Puppy Health cate

Diseases to protect against

Take a look at the table below and you'll see an explanation of the different diseases that veterinarians can help protect your puppy against.  A few of these are quite common, some are very deadly and an understanding of these diseases is important

in puppy health care.  You and your veterinarian can talk about which vaccinations should be given, how many times the vaccine should be administered to ensure good protection, and when "Booster" shots should be given. (A "Booster" shot refers to giving a vaccine more than one time.  The follow-up vaccinations will BOOST the immune level up higher and the patient will be even better protected from the disease.  The word "SHOT" is rather slang.  Injection is the correct term.)  Most puppies will get a combination vaccine, called a MULTIVALENT vaccine, which protects against more than one disease.  This combination vaccine allows the puppy to be vaccinated via a single injection rather than having to receive four or five separate inoculations.

When to Vaccinate

The best advice is to call your veterinarian before you pick up that new member of the family and ask to have the puppy examined as soon after you become the owner as possible.

Each veterinarian will have a preferred protocol for vaccinating puppies and for follow-up vaccinations throughout life. On your way home from the breeder/seller is actually a good time to have the pup seen by your veterinarian, and if you are able to you should bring in a stool sample from the pup for analysis for worms.

Getting rid of any intestinal parasites is the first step in having the pup's nutritional efficiency at an optimum level

During the examination the veterinarian will look at the pup's medical/vaccination history.  If the breeder has given vaccinations just recently, and your veterinarian is confident that it was done properly, a recommendation will be made regarding when to come in for the next "booster" injection of vaccine.  If the pup is healthy and unvaccinated, your veterinarian will suggest vaccinating right away. 

One or more of the vaccines listed in the table above will be administered and a suggestion made as to when the next visit should be scheduled

Vaccination Protocols and Schedule

Presented below is just one veterinarian's general schedule of vaccinations for puppies. Your veterinarian's vaccination protocols may be different. 

Vaccination protocols for dogs are changing almost yearly as new research is done on duration of immunity

6 to 7 weeks of age:   Give first combination vaccine.  (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvovirus, Parainfluenza, Coronavirus)

12 weeks of age:  Give the second combination injection.

12 to 16 weeks of age:  Rabies vaccine is given.  (Local and State laws apply regarding Rabies vaccine since this can be a human disease, too.   Your veterinarian will tell you the proper time intervals for booster vaccines for Rabies.)

Special considerations:  Many veterinarians believe some breeds such as Rottweilers and Dobermans should have at least two Parvo vaccines with the last one being given at 20 weeks of age.

Why so many vaccinations?  

Good question! The reason is that no one can be sure that the pup will actually mount a good antibody response to the disease just from one vaccination.   The age of the pup and just how much immunity it has received from its mother will complicate the "probability of protection".  So... if the pup has lots of immunity (called PASSIVE IMMUNITY) that was borrowed from the mother during early nursing, this immunity will actually interfere with the pup's ability to make its own immunity from the vaccine challenge.  The idea is to get the vaccine into the pup just as soon as the mother's passive immunity wears off (NOW the pup is very susceptible to sickness if it is exposed to the disease!) so that the pup can make more lasting immunity of its own.  The precise time when a pup can respond well to a vaccine is variable... it might occur at 6 weeks of age or might be 12 weeks.  So to be as safe as possible, why not start vaccinating at 6 weeks and end at 16 weeks?   Almost 99 per cent of puppies will develop a good immune level to the various disease from a vaccine schedule similar to the one above.