What are puppy vaccinations?
We all want our furry family members to live long and healthy lives! Responsible pet ownership means giving our pets the best chance possible to avoid sickness, starting from the moment we first bring them home. Vaccination is one of the most important ways that we achieve this. At My Local Vet, we vaccinate our puppies with two key components:
- The DHP component, which protects against Distemper, Canine Parvovirus, and Canine Hepatitis, which are three of the most deadly transmissible diseases in dogs.
- The KC component, which protects against Bordetella and Canine Parainfluenza, two of the most common and nasty upper respiratory diseases in dogs.
Historically, three separate sets of vaccination would be required to provide your puppy with immunity to these diseases. However, this would have puppies finishing their vaccinations at 16 weeks of age – which is at the end of their socialisation window.
What is the socialisation window?
The socialisation window is the key stage in a puppy’s mental development where they are the most receptive to new experiences. This is a critical time in their lives where they learn how to interact with the world around them in a positive way, to reduce the chances of developing fearful or aggressive behaviour to stimuli later in life.
We only have a very limited window to properly socialise our puppies – this window begins to close at between 14 and 16 weeks of age. Once it has done so, it becomes a lot harder to accustom a puppy to new places, people, and experiences.
Because this window is so small, early finish vaccines are now recommended.
What is an early finish vaccine?
The brand of vaccines used here at My Local Vet is Nobivac. This brand is extremely effective at stimulating a dog’s immune system to reliably produce enough antibodies to provide protection. This means that for puppies we can give one DHP from 6 weeks of age and one DHP and one KC from 10 weeks of age, and that’s it until the next year!
Not only does this mean your puppy will receive fewer unpleasant needles, but it means they will be ready to go out and explore the world safely from as early as 11 weeks of age – which is still within their socialisation window. This means our puppies have a much better chance of growing up into stable, well-behaved, confident dogs!