We vaccinate all puppies at 6 weeks old with a quality 6 way vaccine. We vaccinate again at 8 weeks with a 10 way vaccine. During each vaccination puppies are de-wormed for roundworms.
All puppies also receive several rounds of Neo Par
We provide the vaccination record with your puppy shown in the photo on the left. We remove the label from each vaccine bottle at the time it is administered and stick it inside the Health & Vaccination Record booklet for your records.
We cannot stress enough the importance of continuing your puppies vaccinations against Parvo. This is a terrible and usually fatal virus affecting puppies. It is entirely possible that the several vaccines we give have little or no effect in providing your puppy immunity to the deadly Parvo virus. The science is explained in this excerpt from Doctors Foster & Smith website.
Window of susceptibility
The age at which puppies can effectively be immunized (protected) is proportional to the amount of antibodies the puppy received from its mother. High levels of maternal antibodies present in the puppies’ bloodstream will block the effectiveness of a vaccine. When the maternal antibodies drop to a low enough level in the puppy, immunization by a commercial vaccine will work.
The antibodies from the mother generally circulate in the newborn’s blood for a number of weeks. There is a period of time from several days to several weeks in which the maternal antibodies are too low to provide protection against the disease, but too high to allow a vaccine to work. This period is called the window of susceptibility. This is the time when despite being vaccinated, a puppy or kitten can still contract the disease.
When should puppies be vaccinated?
The length and timing of the window of susceptibility is different in every litter, and even between individuals in a litter. A study of a cross section of different puppies showed that the age at which they were able to respond to a vaccine and develop protection (become immunized) covered a wide period of time. At six weeks of age, 25% of the puppies could be immunized. At 9 weeks of age, 40% of the puppies were able to respond to the vaccine. The number increased to 60% by 16 weeks of age, and by 18 weeks, 95% of the puppies were protected by the vaccine.
Almost all researchers agree that for puppies and kittens, we need to give at least three combination vaccinations and repeat these at one year of age.
Drs. Foster and Smith prefer to vaccinate puppies with a combination vaccine at six weeks of age initially, with boosters given every three weeks until the puppy is about sixteen weeks of age. We feel that this schedule will help protect the widest range of dogs. We realize that with our protocol, we will be vaccinating some dogs that are not capable of responding, and we will be revaccinating some dogs that have already responded and developed protection. But without doing an individual test on each puppy, it is impossible to determine when the puppy’s immune system will be best able to respond. We also realize that in the face of an infection, due to the window of susceptibility, some litters will contract a disease (e.g., parvo) despite being vaccinated. By using quality vaccines and an aggressive vaccination protocol, we can make this window of susceptibility as small as possible. Our vaccination protocol may not be right for every puppy. Some ‘high risk’ puppies may need a more intense and aggressive vaccination program. It is best to work with your veterinarian on a vaccination protocol that is best for your individual puppy or kennel, taking into consideration your individual situation.
Please talk to your personal Veterinarian about an aggressive vaccination schedule for your puppy as well as Heartworm prevention, worming and other dangers that your puppy faces.
For complete information on protecting your puppy please visit the Foster & Smith website at this link