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Puppy Care Guide

Even before your puppy arrives home you need to think about the best care

Even before your puppy arrives home you need to think about the best care you can give him/her

One of the first items on the agenda is to bring your puppy to your vet for a thorough health check and first vaccination.

Vaccinating your puppy is one of the most important preventative health care measures that you can take.

Vaccinations can be given from six weeks of age and we vaccinate against five major diseases.

 

  • Distemper
  • Hepatitis
  • Influenza
  • Lepto
  • Parvo-virus

 

Most of the diseases will be fatal if left untreated BUT vaccination can provide near 100% immunity.

Vaccination and Health Check – check out our Flying Start Package!

Pups require two injections spaced two weeks apart and adults still require yearly vaccinations. We recommend that your pup remains confined in your own environment until two weeks after its second vaccination to allow the immunity to develop.

First vaccinations can be given at any of our three clinics and when you come for a first vaccination, your new puppy will be given a full health check.  The vet will also discuss flea and worming treatments, the best diet for your new puppy and pet insurance.

  • Diet
  • Flea Control
  • Insurance
  • Microchipping
  • Neutering
  • Puppy Parties
  • Worming

Diet

Your new puppy will require a nutritious diet to help them develop properly.  It is important they are fed a staple puppy diet for the first year of their life. 

During the first 6 months they should be fed small feeds 3 – 4 times a day as opposed to one large feed.

Flea Control

Puppies should be treated for fleas from 8 weeks of age. 

They should be treated every 8 weeks as a preventative measure.

Insurance

At Clare Vet Group we strongly advise you to insure your pet in case of accident or illness. 

At first vaccination you will be offered 4 weeks free insurance, as long as you have no other policy for your puppy, we advise that you avail of this. 

Take care when researching insurance as some companies only provide cover for a year and lifelong conditions can be left uninsured after the years cover has elapsed.

Microchipping

Microchipping is a simple procedure that injects a small chip carrying a unique 12 digit number under the skin of your pet.  The chip is about the size of a grain of rice and once inserted is permanent, when read with a scanner this unique ID is used to identify your pet.

This ID will be registered to a national database. In the event of your animal being found by vets or dog wardens, we can then contact you and reunite you with your pet.

All vets and dog wardens carry scanners, ensuring that all microchipped, straying pets get returned to their owners.

Neutering

In this practice we recommend neutering puppies which are not of breeding stock.

We recommend that bitches should be spayed before their first season at 6-7 months or 10-12 weeks after this season.

We advise castrating dogs from 6 months onwards.

Puppy Parties

'We are not running any puppy parties at this current time'

At Clare Vet Group we organise puppy parties for our clients. These are held in Ballyclare.  Puppies must be under 6 months of age and have their first vaccination. 

The main aim of the party is to help your puppy to socialise with other puppies in a safe environment. 

There is lots of free advice on offer from the vets and veterinary nurses, a chance to meet other like minded puppy owners and you get to see behind the scenes of our busy practice! 

Run over two evenings, a dog trainer will be on hand during the second evening to give you some tips on how to begin training your puppy.

When you come to the clinic for your puppy’s first vaccination, the reception staff will be able to provide you with details of the next party that is suitable for your puppy.

Worming

Puppies should be wormed from 6 weeks of age, we recommend that you worm your puppy fortnightly until 12 weeks of age. 

After 12 weeks of age we recommend that you worm your puppy monthly to 6 months, thereafter every 3 months is sufficient.

We stock a range of products that treat round and tape worms in various formats.

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