A lot of thought goes into designing canine vaccination protocols, but pet owners may only consider the various vaccines listed on their dogs’ reminders, and not think much more about them. However, by learning how The Old 41 Animal Hospital team chooses your dog’s vaccinations and about the diseases against which they protect, you’ll gain a better understanding of regular vaccinations’ importance for your four-legged friend’s health.

Factors that influence your dog’s vaccination protocol

For disease prevention, many factors influence which vaccinations your dog needs. Our team customizes each dog’s vaccination protocol, assessing such factors as:

  • Age — As the immunity they have from their mother wanes, a puppy requires more frequent vaccinations than an adult or senior dog. Once their immune system has formed its own antibodies through vaccination, an adult dog does not need to be vaccinated as frequently.
  • Medical history — Your dog’s health status, and medical and vaccination history influences which vaccinations they need in the future. A dog who has an autoimmune disease or who has had severe allergic reactions to earlier vaccinations may be precluded from receiving future vaccinations. 
  • Lifestyle — A dog who rarely ventures out of their yard is exposed to fewer pathogens than a dog who attends doggy daycare, visits pet-friendly businesses, or hikes through wooded areas. Your dog’s daily activities and exposure risk help The Old 41 Animal Hospital team determine which vaccines your four-legged friend needs.
  • Travel plans — If you plan on traveling with your dog, or boarding them while you are out of town, they will need additional vaccinations that protect against respiratory illnesses.

Core vaccines for dogs

Core vaccines are essential for every dog, regardless of their lifestyle. Core canine vaccines protect against:

  • Canine distemper — Canine distemper is highly infectious, and many wildlife species, including skunks, raccoons, and wild canines, often have this disease. Incurable and often fatal, distemper affects dogs’ respiratory, gastrointestinal (GI), and central nervous systems.
  • Canine adenovirus type 2 (CAV-2) — CAV-2 causes respiratory illness in dogs, but the vaccination for this adenovirus strain also cross-protects against CAV-1 (i.e., infectious canine hepatitis). 
  • Canine parvovirus — Highly infectious, canine parvovirus attacks a dog’s GI tract and bone marrow, and can also cause heart inflammation in extremely young puppies. The disease can prove fatal by causing severe dehydration, shock, and sepsis.
  • Rabies — A fatal neurologic disease, rabies is transmitted via an infected animal’s blood or saliva. People can also contract rabies, which makes vaccination against this deadly disease critical for all pets.

Noncore vaccines for dogs

Noncore vaccines are administered based on a dog’s exposure risk, so our team does not recommend every noncore vaccine for all dogs. Canine noncore vaccines protect against:

  • Leptospirosis — Wildlife transmit leptospirosis bacteria through their urine, and this microorganism lurks in wet environments. The leptospirosis vaccine had previously been recommended for dogs living in rural areas in which they are exposed to wildlife. However, the leptospirosis vaccine is now becoming essential for most dogs. Wildlife host populations are becoming more common in cities, increasing dogs’ risk for contracting this disease, which can cause kidney and liver failure. Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that animals can transmit to people, so our team will likely recommend that your dog receive this vaccine
  • Lyme disease — Transmitted by black-legged ticks, Lyme disease can cause serious, lifelong illness to pets and people. This disease can potentially cause your dog to experience kidney failure.
  • Bordetella — A highly infectious respiratory illness, kennel cough (i.e., Bordetella bronchiseptica) rarely results in serious illness, but the cough this infection causes can be long-lasting. 
  • Canine influenza — Canine influenza is another canine respiratory infection agent. We recommend the influenza vaccine for dogs who visit boarding facilities, doggy daycares, or other dog-friendly locations.

Canine vaccination frequency

To maintain your dog’s protection from transmittable disease, we determine their vaccination frequency based on their age and medical history. The following vaccination schedule outlines a dog’s typical vaccination protocol as they age:

  • Puppies — Puppies’ immune systems are still developing during their first several months of life, so The Old 41 Animal Hospital team administers each pup’s vaccination series to stimulate proper development and protection against infectious diseases. Typically, puppies receive their first vaccination between 6 and 8 weeks of age. They then receive boosters every 2 to 4 weeks until they reach 16 weeks of age. 
  • Adult dogs — After a puppy’s initial vaccination series is complete, they will not need any vaccinations for a year. So, your adult dog will receive vaccination boosters at around 16 months of age. We can then switch your four-legged friend to three-year core vaccines boosters, as these vaccinations provide long-lasting viral immunity. Noncore vaccines that protect against bacterial infections generally only provide immunity for one year, so if you have an at-risk dog, they should receive annual noncore vaccine boosters.
  • Senior dogs — After receiving appropriate vaccinations throughout their lifetime, a senior dog may not need as many vaccinations as when they were young adults. In lieu of vaccination, you may opt to perform titer testing, which quantifies your dog’s antibody levels and helps determine if vaccination is necessary. Otherwise, your senior dog will still benefit from the same vaccination schedule as they had when they were a young adult.
  • Dogs of unknown vaccination status — A dog who enters an animal shelter as a stray or who comes from a situation in which their vaccination status is unknown has a slightly modified vaccination protocol. Our team generally assumes that such a dog has received no vaccinations, so we administer an initial round, with boosters in two to four weeks. We can then put them on a standard adult dog vaccination schedule.

Bring all your questions about your dog’s vaccinations to our team at The Old 41 Animal Hospital. Schedule your furry pal’s next wellness visit and booster vaccinations with our team.