What Vaccine’s Should I Give My Dog?

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Are you thinking about getting a new dog? Well this article will explain to you all of the vaccines that your dog should get, what they help prevent, and which ones your dog doesn’t need. If you enjoy this post I will be making another one soon about vaccines for cats. 

There are five core vaccines for dogs that almost all veterinarians (and a lot of state laws) say that you need to get. They are Distemper, Parvovirus, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, and Rabies. Other vaccines include Leptospirosis, CoronaVirus, Lyme, Bordetella, and Canine Influenza. I know there’s a lot but I will break them all down for you. 

Let’s start with the core vaccines:

Vaccine	How it is Transmitted	Illness without the vaccine	Treatment
Distemper	It is picked up by the dog coming into contact with snot from an infected dog’s nose	Pneumonia and seizures are the main symptoms	Treatment is hard and most dogs don’t make it through
Parvovirus	It is picked up by the dog being exposed to contaminated poop	Vomiting and diarrhea	Treatment requires a lot of fluids and meds being inserted into the veins. Older dogs survive better as this is mostly a puppy disease.
Hepatitis	It is picked up from feces and saliva from an infected dog	Causes fever, vomiting, and diarrhea	It requires aggressive fluid therapy and most dogs don’t make it through
Parainfluenza	Transmitted by snot	Causes coughing and sneezing	Antibiotics help speed recovery. This disease is part of the kennel cough complex.
Rabies	Transmitted by a bite from an infected animal	Causes nervous signs and habits	Right now we don’t really have a treatment for rabies

Now there are five other vaccines that are not required to get most places but can be helpful depending on how you are planning on keeping your dog.

Vaccine	How it is Transmitted	Illness without the Vaccine	Treatment	Why you should get it
Leptospirosis	Picked up from water infected with urine from an animal with the disease	Causes kidney and liver disease	Severe infections can often be fatal, but a lot of the times they go unnoticed	If you plan on taking your dog to a lot of parks or trails that have ponds you should probably consider this vaccine
CoronaVirus	Picked up from infected poop	Causes vomiting and diarrhea	Most older dogs recover without treatment but puppies have a harder time	If you plan to take your dog in public places or dog parks you may want to consider this one. While it may not be fatal it can be inconvenient for you and the dog
Bordetella	Transmitted by snot	Causes coughing and sneezing	Antibiotics can help speed recovery but that is the only thing that can help. It is part of the kennel cough complex.	If you plan on boarding your dog ever or taking it to a place with a lot of dogs you might want to consider this vaccine.
Lyme	Transmitted by ticks	Causes fever and joint inflammation	Treatment is usually successful with antibiotics	If you want to be outside a lot with your dog this one might be good to get.
Canine Influenza	Transmitted in kenneling situations	Causes mild upper respiratory infection with some coughing with the occasional high fever and pneumonia	Possible death	Again if you are going to kennel your dogs have have them with a lot of other dogs this one is good

You should always do your research and talk to a trusted veterinarian before doing anything like giving your dog a vaccine. I am studying to be a veterinary assistant so I do not have a ton of experience with these vaccines yet, but this is a good place to start looking or to see what there is to protect your furry friends. 

Thank you for reading! I will do a post on cat vaccines soon and in the meantime please like and subscribe to this blog for more posts. 

I got all of my information from the veterinary assistant class on Ed2Go.com. I highly suggest this course and I will be doing a full review on the classes I’m taking a bit later. 

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