Healthcare & Wellness We Subscribe To
Healthcare & wellness is such a huge topic when it comes to our dogs, this is a condensed list of what we do for our personal dogs, our breeding girls and our puppies. Refer back to this article before and after bringing your new puppy home to help account for when their next vaccine will be due, food and treat recommendations, and any other healthcare related questions. As always, I’m only a text, call or email away if you need to reach me directly!
Keep in mind, your vet will be your best resource when it comes to anything healthcare related. This is simply what we do and how we operate, and I wanted to shed light on the measures we take to keep our dogs and puppies safe.
Vaccine Protocol
We’ve adjusted our vaccine protocols since our first litter, and this is how we will be vaccinating for the foreseeable future.
Puppies
4 weeks old - NeoPar (Parvovirus Specific)
6 weeks old - NeoPar
7 weeks old - Multiway Vaccine given by vet, complete wellness check and fecal done at the same time
8 weeks old - NeoPar
11 weeks old - Next Multiway Vaccine should be given by your vet. Paperwork from their first vet exam will be included in your puppy go-home binder
15 weeks old - Last Multiway Vaccine should be given by your vet.
16 weeks old - 20 weeks old - Rabies Vaccine can be given from 12 weeks old, but most vets opt to wait until 16 weeks.
Multiway Vaccine will be repeated at yearly wellness exam.
Dams/Sires
All dams/sires, and our personal dogs, get a booster every year. We give Leptospirosis, Distemper, Bordatella, Parvo & Canine Influenza.
Puppies have some immunity from their mom’s colostrum (first milk) and we like to keep our breeding girls topped off so they can deliver the strongest immunity to their pups.
Deworming Protocol
Next is deworming. Deworming is super helpful for any dog, but puppies especially. Worms take nutrients away from the dog and we want our puppies getting every calorie they can to grow big and strong.
Puppies
2 weeks old - Pyrantel Pamoate
4 weeks old - Pyrantel Pamoate
6 weeks old - Fenbendazole (Panacur)
8 weeks old - Fenbendazole
We do give Bene-Bac Probiotic Gel with each deworming treatment, and we always add pumpkin to our puppies food, whether being dewormed or not. I would recommend both Bene-Bac and pumpkin if you do deworm your puppy in the future, it helps their tummies so much!
Dams/Sires
Our dams/sires and personal dogs are dewormed every 6 months. Dams are dewormed prior to conception, and at the 50 day mark of gestation to help prevent passing worms to their unborn puppies. If we have a wet season (rare), we deworm every 3 months. Worms thrive in damp environments.
General Wellness
General wellness is essential to keeping your dog healthy and happy! We recommend a yearly wellness visit with bloodwork performed. Many vet’s offices have monthly payment plans to help spread out the cost of this visit over the year, and offer discounts on office visits when on this membership plan.
The most important thing to focus on during your puppy ownership journey is weight and dental care. Ask your vet how your dog looks physically if you don’t know how to body condition score. Ask how much food you should be feeding. Ask if your dog needs more exercise or how their muscle tone is. Ask how their teeth look. All these questions are not dumb, they show you care about your dog, and your dog will thank you for it!
Supplements
Just as with human supplements, you can go as deep into them as you want or keep it surface level. We tend to err on the side of surface level. We use a great fish oil, glucosamine/chondroitin for our aging dogs, and Fortiflora for probiotics.
Your vet will be your best resource for the best supplements for your specific dog and their needs.
Food & Treats
Food and treats are such a hot topic! Some people think kibble is the devils work, and others believe salmonella poisoning from feeding raw is the worst thing you can do for your dog. We don’t have any hard and fast rules when it comes to what to feed. We feed kibble and often we add fruit, vegetables, and real meat to their diet. We don’t use raw to keep our puppies and dams safe, but we don’t look down on anyone who does. Raw can be an excellent way to feed if you know what you’re doing and sourcing meat correctly. If you’d like to dip your toes into feeding gently cooked food, and even just adding more fruits and vegetables, The Forever Dog book is a great starting point. I refer back to my copy often!
What We Use
Here’s a complete list of the food, treats & supplements we currently use
SportMix Puppy Food (Puppy Food)
Purina Pro Plan Salmon (Puppy Food, Chicken Free)
Purina Pro Plan Wet (Wet Puppy Food)
SportMix Dog Food (Adult Food)
Kirkland Salmon & Sweet Potato (Adult Food, Chicken Free)
Kirkland Canned Food (Wet Food)
Omega 3 Fish Oil (We use this for Adults + Puppies)
Chondroitin Joint Chew (We start this at 6 years old)
Pro-Pectalin Gel (Excellent to help with diarrhea)
Training Treats (Freeze Dried Duck)
Dog Chews (Freeze Dried Bully Stick)
Your Vet Is Your Best Resource
I cannot stress this enough, but your vet will be your best resource. While I love sharing what I personally do to give you a baseline of what to expect, your vet will have the best recommendations for your specific dog and lifestyle. If you live locally please reach out and I can provide some references to wonderful vets we use and love, as well as emergency clinics and surgery centers.