Basic Health Care for Your New Puppy
The Importance of Vaccinating, Worming And Neutering Your Dog
Apr 25, 2009
Taking care of a new puppy takes more than just a cozy bed and a bowl of food. While it is a huge responsibility, and can seem daunting, knowing what to expect will put you in good stead as an owner. While there are no guarantees that your dog will never suffer from an illness over its lifetime, preventative measure such as vaccination and worming and a good diet will give your pet the best chance at a healthy lifestyle.
Vaccinations
Vaccinations are essential to protect your puppy against infectious diseases such as distemper, hepatitis and parvovirus, and the contagious respiratory disease, kennel cough. Puppies require 3 vaccinations: the first at 6-8 weeks, 10-12 weeks and 14-16 weeks, then an annual booster for the rest of its life to ensure their immunity against these diseases.
It is important not to socialize your puppy with dogs that have not been fully vaccinated, and it is best not to walk your puppy outside of your property until it has had its 3 vaccinations, as some diseases are passed on via saliva and dog-to-dog contact or via contaminated faeces.
Intestinal Worming
It is common for puppies to have worms passed on from their mother, so worming in puppies should be done regularly. Puppies should be wormed from 2 weeks of age, every 2 weeks until they are 12 weeks old, then monthly until they are 6 months old. After this age, they should be wormed every 3 months for life. Flea control is also important for controlling flea tapeworm.
Heartworm
Heartworm is a worm that lives in the heart and blood vessels in dogs. Heartworm is spread when a mosquito bites an infected dog, and then bites another dog, passing on the heartworm. Preventative medications are available in a variety of forms such as monthly chewable tablets or liquid ampoules squeezed onto the back of the neck or yearly injections.
Some products are safe to use on puppies of around 6-8 weeks of age, but the yearly vaccinations are usually for dogs over 6 months old. Before heartworm preventative medication is given, it is advisable to have your veterinarian perform a test to ensure that your pet doesn’t already have heartworm.
Fleas
Fleas are often brought home with the new puppy and can continue to multiply if not controlled. There are many products available to control fleas, the most convenient are the monthly ampoules squirted on the back of your dogs neck. Many of these are waterproof also.
Diet
It is important to feed your puppy a premium quality diet and always provide fresh water. Premium diets (eg. Iams, Eukanuba) provide your pet with all the nutrients they need so there is no need to add supplements of any kind. On a premium diet, adding supplements is dangerous and can lead to over-supplementation and disease.
Dental Care
Feeding a good quality diet and providing raw bones, dental chews and toys on a regular basis will minimize the risk of your puppy getting dental disease later in life. Your veterinarian should check your dog’s teeth at the annual vaccination.
Neutering
Dogs that have been neutered make better pets and there is no reason (unless you are a breeder) to not have your dog neutered. Neutering significantly reduces the risk of females developing mammary tumors or uterine infections, and males developing prostate or testicular cancer. Neutering is usually performed at between 4-6 months of age, although this can vary from clinic to clinic, so check with your local veterinarian.
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