Vaccinating your dog is essential in protecting your dog from diseases. Dog vaccination is the introduction of vaccines into the dog’s body to enable it to build an immune against diseases.
We all want to watch our puppies grow into healthy adult dogs. There are many diseases out there that can hinder a dog’s growth, and some of these diseases are fatal and can lead to a dog’s death. Therefore, dog vaccination is essential.
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When Should You Start Vaccinating Your Dog?
It would be best to administer the first vaccine to the puppy between the sixth and eighth week of their birth.
After this, the puppy receives other vaccine shots at every three weeks intervals till the puppy becomes four months old. It is vital to get to know your puppy’s vaccine schedule.
Should My Dog Receive All Vaccines Available?
As much as all vaccines are essential, certain conditions may make taking some types of vaccines optional. These factors include the environment, lifestyle, age, and medical history.
Will My Dog Feel Unwell After Vaccination?
It is not uncommon for a puppy or an adult dog to feel a bit unwell after being vaccinated. The dog will most likely become uncomfortable or lethargic. Furthermore, this condition will last for a day or two.
Benefits Of Vaccinating Your Dog
At the earliest stage, vaccinating your dog will protect it from the following diseases:
Bordetella bronchiseptica
This disease is a bacterial infection, and the bacterium responsible for this condition typically resides in the infected puppy’s respiratory tract. This disease is highly contagious and causes a puppy to cough, vomit, have seizures, and sometimes die.
Canine Distemper
Canine Distemper is a viral and contagious disease. This disease is airborne, and Most puppies contract this virus through inhalation. This virus attacks the gastrointestinal, respiratory, and nervous systems.
This disease causes the infected puppy to have discharge from the eyes, diarrhoea, fever, vomiting, coughing, and seizures. Furthermore, it can lead to death.
Rabies
Are you thinking of vaccinating your dog? A Rabies vaccine should be at the top of your list. This viral disease attacks the central nervous system of an infected dog, and the most common transmission mode is through an infected animal bite.
The infected dog’s typical symptoms are excessive drooling, anxiety and excessive aggression, seizures, and paralysis. Rabies disease has no known cure.
Lyme Disease:
This is a bacterial disease; the bacterium responsible is usually a spirochete, and ticks are the typical carriers of this bacteria.
Ticks gain access to their host through contact. Furthermore, a tick infestation is likely to spread when an infested dog shares the same space with other dogs. Dogs with Lyme disease show appetite loss, swollen lymph nodes, lameness, and swollen joints.
Leptospirosis
This is a bacterial disease transmitted through the soil or water contaminated by an infected dog’s urine.
This disease causes the infected dog to suffer severe weakness, fever, loss of appetite, muscle pain, diarrhoea, and infertility. Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease; this implies that humans can contract this disease from animals.
Kennel Cough
This disease can be caused both by a virus and a bacterial infection. This disease inflames the dog’s upper airways and transmission through airborne droplets.
Furthermore, the infected dog will have symptoms like dry cough, sneezing, retching, and gagging.
Recommendations When Vaccinating Your Dog?
It would be best to administer the following vaccines to your dog:
Vaccinate Dogs Against Distemper/Parvovirus
It would be best to administer the Distemper/Parvovirus vaccine to your dog between the sixth and eighth week of birth.
DHPP
The DHPP vaccination protects your puppy against canine diseases such as Distemper, infectious hepatitis, adenovirus, parvovirus, and parainfluenza. It would be best to administer this vaccine to the puppy between the tenth and twelfth week of birth.
It is also administered during the sixteenth to eighteenth week and the twelfth to the sixteenth month of the dog’s birth. After this, the vaccination is then observed every one to two years.
Rabies
The rabies vaccination protects the dog against rabies disease. The dog can receive this vaccine between the sixteenth and eighteenth week of birth, and you can also administer the vaccine between the twelfth and sixteenth months of birth.
Furthermore, your dog should receive this vaccine every one to three years. However, this varies depending on the regulation or law.
Vaccinating Your Dog Against Leptospirosis
It would be best if you administered this vaccine against your dog between the tenth and twelfth week of birth against this disease.
The second dose should be between the sixteenth and eighteenth week. Furthermore, administer the next dose observed between the twelfth and sixteenth months of birth.
Most veterinarians recommend giving this vaccine to your pet every one to two years after the initial jabs.
Canine Influenza
It would be best to administer the first dose of this vaccine to your dogs during the tenth to twelfth weeks. Administer the second dose of this vaccine between the sixteenth to the eighteenth week after birth.
Afterwards, the recommendation is to administer this vaccine at an interval of every one to two years.
Vaccinate Dogs Against Lyme Disease
It is best to administer this vaccine to dogs during the tenth to twelfth weeks. Administer the second dose between the sixteenth to the eighteenth week.
Finally, administer the third dose between the twelfth to sixteenth months after birth. Afterwards, it would be best to vaccinate your pet at an interval of every one to two years.
Bordetella
This first dose of the vaccine is given to dogs during the sixth to eighth week. Visit your vet to administer the second dose between the tenth to twelfth weeks after birth.
Similarly, it would be best to administer the third vaccine between the sixteenth and eighteenth weeks.
Administer the fourth dose between the twelfth to sixteenth months of birth. Afterwards, vaccinate your dogs once every one to two years.
Conclusion
Vaccinating your dog for the first year ranges from $100 to $350. Regardless of the price, it is nothing compared to your dog’s health.
Remember that the only cost-effective treatment for your dog is prevention; vaccination is the only way to prevent your dog from these dangerous diseases.
