Dog Vaccination - The Importance of Dog Vaccinations

Name: Veterinary Services
Brand: Phoenix Mobile Veterinarians

What exactly are dog vaccinations?

That's a good question. A vaccine is a formulation that is used to help prep the body to fight infection. Oftentimes it comes in an injectable form, however, the two other common forms that we have, we have a nasal, which goes up the nose, and then we have an oral form as well that goes into the mouth.

Dr. Mark Caldwell
Phoenix Mobile Veterinarians

How do vaccinations impact the health and well-being of my dog?

A properly vaccinated animal is just going to be at an overall more protected state, and therefore when you do go out into the outside world, or if you go into other situations with other dogs, or you go on a walk around the block or anything else like that, they're going to be better protected. So they're overall just going to have a better quality of life since they're going to be able to just do more.

Are vaccinations required by law?

Yes and no. So the canine rabies vaccine is required by Maricopa County. However, the other dog vaccines that we have are not required. And as well as the feline vaccines that we have, those are not required by law. Certain facilities, such as boarding facilities and daycare and things like that, they will require certain vaccines, but as far as legal implications, no, only canine rabies is required.

Does my dog's lifestyle factor into what vaccinations my veterinarian will recommend?

Oh, absolutely it does. If you go around with other dogs, you're going to want the kennel cough vaccine and the influenza vaccine. If you go near water or if you have wildlife in your backyard, we're going to recommend the leptospirosis. Same thing with cats. If they're going to be integrating with other cats, then we have different shots for them as well. But lifestyle is absolutely dependent.

How soon should I get my dog vaccinated?

For puppies, we recommend their first vaccine at around six to eight weeks. Now, we do have different puppy protocols as versus adult animals, but for a puppy or a kitten for that matter, we're going to be recommending six to eight weeks for the first vaccine.

Do I really need to avoid allowing my puppy to socialize with other dogs until they are fully vaccinated?

In a perfect world, yes, you will prevent that. Now, it's not always reasonable to do. Let's say you have another dog at home. Of course, you can't realistically keep them separated. So as long as your other dog is fully vaccinated, do your best to keep those dogs together and then prevent outside dogs from being able to interact with your dog. So for instance, don't take them to a Petco or PetSmart. Don't take them to a boarding facility, things like that until they're fully vaccinated and you've spoken with your veterinarian about it.

Why is it important to avoid missing a dog vaccination?

You want to make sure that you don't miss a vaccine because we don't want there to be a lapse in their protection. Certain vaccines have different durations, especially when they're puppies and we're trying to boost through those shots. There is a range when that immunity is at its max and that next shot is going to have its maximum benefit. So by timing it specifically, we can give them the best protection for what we do give them.

What are typical puppy and dog vaccination schedules?

So for puppies and for kittens, for that matter, we're going to be doing their first shot, like I said earlier, about six to eight weeks, and we're going to space those out every three to four weeks until they're about 14 to 16 weeks old. For dogs, we're going to recommend one more shot at 18 to 20 weeks to really make sure they're fully vaccinated. But for kittens, we're going to usually stop it at around 14 to 16 weeks. And then after that, it can be either a one-year, six months, or a three-year vaccine. It really just depends on the protocol that you come up with with your veterinarian.

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Dog Vaccination - FAQs 1

Dr. Mark Caldwell
Phoenix Mobile Veterinarians

Are all puppy and dog shots necessary?

No, not all puppy and dog vaccines are necessary. We break them down into core vaccines and non-core vaccines, otherwise known as lifestyle vaccines.

What are the core dog vaccinations?

The core dog vaccinations that we have are going to be the rabies vaccine and then the distemper-parvo combination. Now the distemper-parvo combination can also go by a couple different names. You may see it written down as DAPP or DHPP, but they're all the same thing.

Are dog vaccinations mandatory?

Not all dog vaccinations are mandatory. It's really going to be the rabies vaccine that is going to be required by Maricopa County. That's going to be the only, what we call, required vaccine.

What are the non-core vaccinations and why does my dog need them?

The non-core vaccines, like as we said earlier, the lifestyle vaccines, those are going to be the Bordetella, which is also known as kennel cough, the influenza, which is the doggy flu, and then the leptospirosis. That's a little bit of a weird one that I'll talk about in a second. But the first two, the Bordetella and the influenza, those are going to be for dogs that are going to have a lot of interaction with lots of other dogs. So if they're going to dog parks, boarding facilities, groomers, if they're going to be going to patio bars and interacting with other dogs there, we always recommend them because they are spread through the air and so if they're around other dogs, they can get it. Now, leptospirosis, this one's a little bit different. This one's actually spread primarily by wildlife, from everything from a tiny little mouse up to a moose. If a dog drinks out of an infected pool of water that has leptospirosis in it, then they can actually get a urinary tract infection. Now most of the time, this UTI can actually be treated with antibiotics. But what we worry about with leptospirosis is that there's actually a few strains that can cause liver and kidney failure. And this is fatal. But one of the other things that worries us about that is that people primarily get leptospirosis from dogs because we'll go up, we'll scratch the belly and then we happen to scratch our lip and then we can get that as well. So it's a matter of keeping ourselves safe if the dog is going to be living that kind of lifestyle.

Does my senior dog still need core vaccinations?

Absolutely. We always recommend the vaccines, the core and the non-core, depending on their lifestyle with the non-core, just because we want to keep them at their optimum health.