Chirnside Park Veterinary Clinic

Vaccinations

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Vaccinations are important to protect your puppy from potentially fatal viral diseases. Your puppy requires vaccinations to be protected and should not socialize with unvaccinated dogs until two weeks after the final vaccination.

Our normal protocol involves:

• First at 6-8 weeks: C3 - parvovirus, canine distemper and canine infectious hepatitis.

• Second at 10-12 weeks: C5 – C3 plus canine cough.

• Third at 14-16 weeks: C5 or canine cough booster (not applicable if 'early finish' vaccination given).

After these initial vaccinations, three yearly boosters for C3 and yearly boosters for canine cough are required to maintain protection throughout their life. An alternative to vaccination for C3 is yearly titre testing, please speak to your veterinarian for more information.

 

Intestinal Worming

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Puppies should be wormed with an allwormer which kills all the intestinal worms; roundworm, whipworm, hookworm and tapeworm. Puppies should be treated:

• every 2 weeks until 12 weeks of age

• every month until 6 months of age

• every three months if older than 6 months, for the rest of their life

 

Heartworm

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At 12 weeks of age puppies should be started on a heartworm preventative, which kills worms transmitted through mosquito bites that live in the chambers of the heart. The preventative treatments available include monthly applications (tablets or spot-on) or yearly injections.

 

Fleas

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Flea preventatives are available in a spot-on or tablet. Flea powders or collars generally don’t provide adequate protection. Flea and tick preventatives should be considered especially if the puppy is an outdoor dog, socializes with other dogs, or is exposed to wildlife such as foxes or wombats.

 

Desexing

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Desexing your puppy is highly recommended. Desexing at a young age has many physical and behavioural benefits, including reduced risk of cancers. It is also a requirement for some councils. For the ideal age to desex your dog, please talk to your vet.

 

Feeding

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We recommend feeding your puppy 4 meals a day until they are 12 weeks old. The meal frequency can then be reduced eventually twice to once daily long term. Puppies should be fed puppy food until they are 12 months old, except large (> 25kg) and giant breeds, which should be fed LARGE BREED puppy food until they are 18 months of age. For a guide as to how much to feed your puppy at different ages, check the food package or consult your vet.

 

Training

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It is important to socialize your puppy with other dogs and people. A great way to do this is through puppy school or obedience clubs.

 

Pet Insurance

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It is highly recommended to consider pet insurance for your puppy, as unfortunately, unexpected veterinary bills can become costly. There are many insurance providers available, please speak to your vet if you would like recommendations.

 

If you have any questions about general puppy care please don’t hesitate to ask us!

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