Canine Characters Puppy Care Course
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This is A Free Course To Help You Take Great Care of Your New Puppy - Feel Free To Pass It Along
This Lesson's Topic:  Puppy Health
Puppy Health
Puppy Health Tips:
  • Find a good veterinarian before you even get your puppy. Ask friends for recommendations. Make sure the distance of the vet clinic isn't too far from your home in case you need to get there in an emergency.
  • Get pet health insurance. Most good plans offer coverage for preventive care. Pet insurance from puppyhood can save you thousands of dollars and heartache later on if an illness or accident happens.
  • Puppies and dogs need preventive shots to keep them from getting sick from various infections. 
    • Vaccination is usually started at the age of five to six weeks. Prior to this age, the maternal immunity will be helping your puppy to have natural disease resistance.    
    • Vaccination against the parvo virus is done at an early age because pups are often being affected by parvo viral infections.  Ask about distemper shots as well.
    • The booster dose for each vaccine needs to be given at appropriate time and this helps to build up the immune status to an appreciable manner.  
    • Vaccination against rabies is crucial because this is such a dangerous disease for dogs and people. Most counties require proof of rabies vaccination to get a dog license, which will help you get your dog back if he/she ever gets lost or runs away.
    •  Rabies vaccine is given at age of thirteen to fifteenth weeks of age and is repeated in fifteenth months time.  However, this depends on the type of vaccine used.  Once in three years, this is repeated. These days, to protect your dog's immune system, some vets will run a test for rabies antibodies before giving a booster shot, just to make sure it is really necessary
    • Leptospira serovar vaccine is given at six to eight weeks of age and again at tenth to twelfth weeks and at thirteenth to sixteenth weeks. Then annually repeat this.  
    • Bordatella and lyme disease vaccinations are only optional ones in case of dogs.  Many boarding clinics and doggie day care programs require bordatella to prevent kennel cough along with proof of rabies and other shots.
    • Get your puppy tested for heartworm and get him on monthly preventive medications. This is a dangerous disease that is easy to prevent. You can get the monthly heartworm preventive meds at a discount online with a prescription from your vet.
  • Puppies also may come to your home with parasites, worms, and other unpleasant things, like fleas or ticks. Your vet can examine your puppy and do whatever tests are needed to make sure your pup gets a health start in life. Give the meds that the veterinarian prescribes if you are dealing with worms.
    • It is always better to deworm the animal before the vaccinations get going.
    • There are less toxic ways to control fleas and ticks than using pesticides on the dog or your house. Look into your options for your health as well as the health of your puppy over his lifetime.
  • Ask about health problems that your puppy's breed may be particularly prone to get, e.g., hip dysplasia or eye problems or kidney problems or diabetes. Find out from the vet and from breed forums online what you can do with diet and living environment to reduce these risks.
  • Get a recommendation for a good puppy food brand from your vet. You can likely get it at the pet store unless the puppy needs a special medical diet right away (unlikely in a healthy young puppy). 
  • Call your vet whenever you aren't sure if you need to bring in your dog. Changes in basic things like appetite, thirst, urinating and defecating can be signs of health problems, along with limping or losing interest in playing or eating. Scratching a lot or chewing on a body part can mean food allergies, nerves, or other conditions. Get these problems checked out.
  • Plan to spay or neuter your dog when she or he gets to the right age that the vet considers safe to do this. This step is the responsible way to own a dog, prevent the tragic problem of dog overpopulation and euthanasia of dogs that just can't find new homes in time.
Resources:
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Disclaimer: To the best of our knowledge, the information contained in this book and related documents is true and accurate. This information is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. The reader is advised to consult his or her own professional dog trainers, veterinarians, and other relevant expert advisors to assist in their puppy's individual care. We cannot guarantee that you will achieve the results that others have reported using the suggestions in this book. We are not responsible for how you utilize the information provided here. We also cannot guarantee that the products mentioned in this book will still be available at the time you read this material. Some of the items recommended in this program are affiliate offers and we may be making commissions for referring you. Canine Characters only recommends the items that we have used ourselves or researched carefully and believe could be helpful to you for certain puppy care questions, concerns, and/or problems.