Canine Vaccines & Preventive Care

Canine Vaccines & Preventive Care

Vaccines are one of the easiest and most effective ways to protect your dog from serious (and sometimes life-threatening) diseases.

Our goal is to keep things simple, practical, and tailored to your dog’s lifestyle—because while every dog is different, every dog does need protection.

Core Vaccines (Recommended for All Dogs)

Rabies (Imrab® 3)

Rabies is a fatal disease that can affect both pets and people, and vaccination is required by law.

We use Imrab® 3, which provides:

• Protection for up to 3 years (after the initial series)
• Safe, reliable coverage against rabies

Distemper (DHPP)

This combination vaccine protects against:

• Distemper
• Adenovirus (hepatitis)
• Parvovirus
• Parainfluenza

Typical schedule:

• Puppies: every 3–4 weeks until ~16 weeks old
• Booster at 1 year
• Then every 1–3 years depending on lifestyle and risk

Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is now considered a core vaccine due to how commonly dogs are exposed—even in suburban and urban environments.

It’s spread through wildlife urine (often in puddles, grass, and soil) and can affect both dogs and people.

Lepto can cause:

• Kidney failure
• Liver disease
• Severe illness if untreated

Schedule:

• Initial series: 2 vaccines, 3–4 weeks apart
• Then: once yearly

Lifestyle (Non-Core) Vaccines

These are recommended based on your dog’s exposure risk, environment, and activities.

Lyme Vaccine

Especially important in New England where tick exposure is very common.

Protects against Lyme disease, which can cause:

• Joint pain
• Fever
• Kidney complications

Schedule:

• Initial series: 2 vaccines, 2–3 weeks apart
• Then: once yearly

Canine Influenza Vaccine

Recommended for dogs who:

• Go to daycare or boarding
• Visit groomers frequently
• Spend time around other dogs

Protects against canine flu, which can cause coughing, fever, and pneumonia.

Schedule:

• Initial series: 2 vaccines, 2–4 weeks apart
• Then: once yearly

Bordetella (Kennel Cough) – Intranasal

Helps protect against a common cause of contagious cough in dogs.

We offer this as an intranasal vaccine, which:

• Works quickly
• Is great for dogs needing fast protection (boarding, grooming, daycare)

Schedule:

• Typically once yearly
• Every 6 months for higher-risk dogs

More Than Just Vaccines

Vaccines are just one part of keeping your dog healthy.

We strongly recommend pairing vaccines with:

• Year-round parasite prevention (fleas, ticks, heartworm)
• Routine labwork screening to catch early changes before symptoms appear

👉 Check out our Preventatives page to learn more about protecting your dog from parasites
👉 Visit our Routine Labwork page to see what we recommend for ongoing health screening

Not Sure What Your Dog Needs?

That’s completely normal—there’s no one-size-fits-all plan.

We consider:

• Age
• Lifestyle (homebody vs. social)
• Travel and boarding
• Local disease risks

Then we build a plan that makes sense for your dog.

Our Approach

We believe in protecting dogs without over-vaccinating.

That means:

• Keeping core vaccines up to date
• Recommending additional protection when appropriate
• Having honest conversations about risk

If you ever have questions about vaccines or timing, we’re always happy to walk you through it.