Canine Health and Wellness
With about 250 puppies born each year on our campus, our veterinary team is busy! They not only care for all of our young puppies, they also care for dogs coming in for training (IFT) from puppy raiser homes, and dogs actively training for working careers. They also provide fee-based veterinary care for other program dogs such as active and retired guide and service dogs whose handlers live locally.
Dr. Kevin Conrad and Dr. Sharon Pindar, our staff veterinarians, oversee all healthcare for our dogs, with help from a director, a certified veterinary technician, a veterinary assistant, one full-time and one part-time canine care technician, a canine care coordinator, and a client care coordinator. It takes a lot of planning and effort to keep our dogs healthy and on track with all vaccines and preventatives.
We checked in with Amy Edwards, Director of Veterinary Services & Canine Care, to find out specifically what kind of preventative care we provide our dogs.
“An annual exam is routine for a personal pet,” she explains, “but on campus, we see our dogs every month for an exam, and we see puppies twice a month until eight weeks. Heartworm prevention is given monthly and started at eight weeks of age, and flea prevention begins once they leave campus at around 10 weeks. All our adult dogs on campus are given flea and heartworm prevention monthly, with dental cleanings performed on an as-needed basis.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Pindar says that keeping your dog at a healthy weight is the best medicine. “I always tell clients that keeping their dog lean is one of the easiest way to save on vet bills,” she says. “Diabetes, arthritis, even urinary and skin infections can be contributed to by obesity.”
Here’s the vaccination and prevention schedule for our puppies and adult dogs. Take a look, and then imagine caring for 250 puppies per year plus about 100 dogs training on campus at any one time!
PUPPY VACCINE AND DEWORMING PROTOCOL:
NEWBORN
- Physical exam
WEEK TWO
- Pyrantel and Ponazuril (PO) – (dewormer)
WEEK FOUR
- Bordetella vaccine (IN) full dose (for kennel cough prevention)
- Microchip
- Pyrantel and Ponazuril (PO)
WEEK SIX
- Physical exam
- Pyrantel and Ponazuril (PO)
WEEK EIGHT
- Fecal float (a routine veterinary test to detect parasites or worms)
- DHPP vaccine (distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza) (SQ)
- Bordetella vaccine (SQ)
- Pyrantel and Ponazuril (PO)
- Begin Heartworm prevention, repeat monthly
WEEK TWELVE
- DHPP booster (SQ)
- Leptospirosis vaccine initial (SQ)
- Canine Influenza H3N8 vaccine initial (SQ)
WEEK SIXTEEN
- Rabies vaccine, 1 year (SQ)
- DHPP vaccine 1 year (SQ)
- Leptospirosis vaccine 1 year (SQ)
- Canine Influenza H3N8 vaccine 1 year (SQ)
- Canine Influenza H3N2 vaccine 1 initial (SQ)
WEEK TWENTY
- Canine Influenza H3N2 vaccine 1 year (SQ)
ANNUAL VACCINATIONS INCLUDE (At approximately 16 months of age)
- Physical Exam
- Heartworm/tick borne disease testing
- Rabies vaccine, 3 year (SQ)
- DHPP vaccine, 3 year (SQ)
- Leptosporosis vaccine, 1 year (SQ)
- Influenza H3N8 vaccine, 1 year (SQ)
- Influenza H3N2 vaccine, 1 year (SQ)
- Bordetella vaccine, 1 year (SQ)
- Fecal float exam
