Class Veterinary Lecture

Hello, this is Dr. Holle, I prepared this recording to provide you with some of the basics of canine health care.

This lecture will cover the questions frequently asked by new dog guide users, and will serve as a refresher for those of you who have been working with dogs for a while. We’ll start off with advice on selecting a veterinarian, and then discuss the various aspects of the annual physical exam and include preventive care for each area we touch on.  The topics will include oral hygiene, preventing dry skin, protecting against fleas and ticks, detecting and treating ear infections, detecting and treating internal parasites, and preventing and diagnosing heartworm disease. We'll finish off with information on the diseases your dogs are protected against through vaccination.  Now, we'll begin!

How do you choose a veterinarian?  It’s a question we face each time we move, or if our favorite veterinarian moves or retires.  There are a number of factors to be considered in the decision because to some degree it’s not only the veterinarian, but also the practice in which s/he works that we are choosing!

To locate practices in your area you can use the yellow pages, or go on line to websites such as the American Veterinary Medical Association’s www.avma.org/statevma/default.asp. Here you’ll be able to enter your state, and your state’s veterinary medical association’s website will pop up.  Most of these web sites have a “Find a veterinarian” section.  The Canadian equivalent of the AVMA’s site is www.animalhealthcare.ca/directory/provinces.asp

The website of the American Animal Hospital Association is  www.healthypet.com/hospital_search.aspx which allows you to search for an AAHA hospital by entering your state or province and zip code.  You can also enter the radius of your search from 1 to 100 miles. In addition to providing hospital listings these sites provide you with access to reliable health care information for your dog!

Some factors for consideration in the choice of a practice include: How far is the practice from your home or office?  What are the hours? Do they work with your schedule? Has the practice had experience with working dogs? Inexperience shouldn’t exclude them from your consideration, but it does mean you will be recruited to help with their education in this area.  If it is a multi-doctor practice, are you able to make an appointment with a particular veterinarian?  Are emergency services available, or is there referral to an emergency clinic? If so, where is the emergency clinic, and are you able to arrange transportation there? Are house-call services available or does the practice have an arrangement with a house-call veterinarian? Is the office staff informed, friendly and supportive?  You can make a preliminary assessment through a phone call!  The cooperation of the staff will make a major difference in your overall experience. What payment arrangements are available, are credit cards acceptable is there a discount for working dogs?

After you find which practices are available, ask the opinion of friends, neighbors, or even your former veterinarian.  What you are looking for in addition to professional expertise, is a practice personality that is compatible with your own.  Your friends will have both their own experience and their knowledge of your personality to refer to in making a recommendation. It will be important for you to be able to communicate freely and comfortably with your veterinarian.  Together you form the team responsible for your dog’s health care. Set up an appointment to visit the prospective veterinarian.  Meeting with him/her to introduce your guide provides an excellent informal opportunity to chat and see if your personalities click, before your dog has a health need. Ask about the relationships the veterinarian maintains with specialists.  To whom are clients referred when additional expertise is necessary? It’s important that your veterinarian has a ready answer to the question, because there may be times when you would like to enlist the aid of a specialist.  Specialists are available in many areas including ophthalmology, dermatology, and internal medicine. Board certified specialists have pursued a single area of focus in a two to three year residency under the supervision of another board certified specialist, and have passed comprehensive exams in their chosen area of specialty.  Since their efforts are concentrated in a particular area, they see many more cases of a similar nature, are familiar with current progress in that area, and can be of great assistance in expediting the resolution of a complex problem.

If after your introductory visit, or your initial healthcare visit, your relationship doesn’t seem to be headed in the right direction, keep looking.  Remember, your veterinarian is half of your dog's health-care team, and you’ll want to develop a long-term relationship so that your dog’s entire health history is taken into account if a health problem develops.

To ensure your dog’s optimum health you’ll need to visit your veterinarian faithfully for an annual physical exam and vaccination update.  Unfortunately, many people think that their yearly trip to the veterinarian is for the dog’s “shots”, but actually vaccination should be only a small part of the visit.   The annual visit provides you and your veterinarian the opportunity to discuss any known or suspected health problems. Your veterinarian will ask you for your dog's history, the history is a key part of diagnosis.  Since canine patients don’t speak for themselves, your veterinarian will rely on you for vital information.  Be sure to keep notes on your dog’s health, so you can provide accurate answers to help assess the importance of a situation.  Early detection of a problem often increases the likelihood of successful treatment. Keep dated notes on dietary changes, episodes of itching, loose stool or vomiting or any other signs that might be significant
After the history has been taken, your veterinarian will proceed to the physical examination, which allows a thorough inspection of all external areas of the body.

The mouth can be checked for masses, fractured teeth and periodontal disease.  Periodontal disease results from the accumulation of tartar between the teeth and gums. The inflammatory reaction of the gums to plaque and tartar is called gingivitis. Bad breath can signal gingivitis. Left unchecked, gingivitis can progress to periodontitis, which results in destruction of tissue around the teeth, resorption of bone, and eventual tooth loss.  It also can lead to kidney, liver, heart, and joint disease if bacteria spread from affected gums to the bloodstream.  Diseased gums cause pain, which can make a dog stop eating, lose weight, and develop malnutrition.  If there is disease, a dental prophylaxis is in order. Cracking tartar off at the gumline might make teeth look nicer, but it can disrupt nests of bacteria and the remaining rough surface is a welcome-mat for additional tartar build up. The professional prophylaxis usually involves a one-day hospital stay, while your dog undergoes anesthesia and tooth cleaning, scaling, and polishing. Anesthesia is necessary because thorough cleaning, plaque and tartar removal just aren’t possible in a dog that is awake.  Effective cleaning involves probing beneath the gumline.  Because bacteria are disrupted in the process, your dog may also be given antibiotics to prevent infection elsewhere in his body.  Polishing is very important.  A scratched surface is likely to allow more plaque to accumulate so a dental done without polishing actually can encourage, rather than delay, periodontal disease.   Any Class dog who was in need of a dental prophylaxis had one before the start of class. You can now help to delay or prevent further disease by brushing your dog’s teeth every day.  If your dog has never had this done, he will have to become accustomed to the new routine. Initially, rub your index finger along the gum line on the cheek and lip side of your dog’s mouth.  Reward him with lots of praise.  After several days, when he is used to this, progress to wrapping a moistened gauze pad around your index finger, be very gentle in using the gauze pad, when used with a lot of force it can feel like a Brillo pad to the gum! When your dog accepts this procedure, introduce a child’s soft toothbrush, or a toothbrush designed for use in dogs. With the brush at a 45-degree angle, brush along the gumline where the tooth meets the gum.  Remember the molars in back; they tend to accumulate a lot of tartar. The final step is to dip the moistened brush in a dentifrice before brushing.  Regular baking soda can be used, or you can use one of the many flavored veterinary dentifrices on the market. The one or two minutes a day you invest in your dog’s dental hygiene will pay back dividends of fewer dental woes, fresher breath, an unbeatable smile and, possibly, a longer, healthier life for your dog.

The skin is checked for external parasites and evidence of infection or inflammation.  A frequently heard complaint from dog owners is that their dog is itchy or scratches and bites himself a lot.  Some scratching is normal in dogs, just as it is in people.  Excessive scratching and biting can be cause for concern.  Among the many causes of itchy skin in dogs are dryness, allergies, and ectoparasites.  Realizing that there can be multiple underlying causes contributing to itching, we try to eliminate the causes that we can control.  Eliminating some of the causes might eliminate or significantly reduce the itching!

Dry skin can result from a dry environment or a move to a drier environment from a more humid one.  We often see itching in the late fall when the air becomes drier and we turn on the heat in the house or in summer when we turn on the air-conditioner.  Dry skin can also be due to something innate in the dog.  Initial treatment of dry skin can be accomplished through the use of topical products such as shampoos, conditioners, or moisturizing sprays, many of which are made for use on the dog.  Oral supplementation with essential fatty acids can also provide relief.  Essential fatty acids are the break down products of fat that cannot be made by the body and must be obtained through the diet.  They can help provide a healthy skin environment as well as decrease inflammation in the skin. We recommend a supplement made for veterinary use as these are more likely to contain the proper fatty acids in the proper ratios.

Allergies are another common cause of itching in the dog.  Dogs can be allergic to anything, just as people can, but while people generally show signs of allergies in their eyes and respiratory system, dogs generally exhibit skin signs.  Many allergies are seasonal and are seen only when a particular antigen is present in the environment.  This is especially true for allergies to pollens that are out for a few weeks each year.  Some allergies are manifested year round and can be the result of a constant environmental antigen such as house dust, or even dog food.  The ears and paws are often the target itchy areas for seasonal allergies.  It is now suspected that allergens may actually be working their way into the skin of the dog, because unlike us, dogs rarely shower!  One way to help reduce the allergic burden is to bathe your dog weekly with a mild emollient shampoo during the itchy season. Detergent-based shampoos will dry out a dog's coat and increase itching, but an emollient shampoo will not. Treatment for allergies is varied.  Corticosteriods, antihistamines, essential fatty acids, and topical products are generally the first line medications.  Often the dogs will have concurrent skin infections that will require the use of antibiotics.  Be sure to discuss side effects of the medications with your veterinarian.  Antihistamines make some dogs sleepy, so they may not be suitable for a working dog, only a trial will tell.  Corticosteroids like prednisone make dogs drink and urinate more.  They also can have serious long-term side effects if used inappropriately.  In dogs resistant to basic treatment, endocrine tests, food trials, or skin allergy testing by a veterinary dermatologist may be warranted.

Ectoparasites, especially fleas, can also cause severe itching in dogs, so a good flea control program is essential to the control of itching. Fleas take blood meals, meet and reproduce on the dog.  Their eggs are shed into the environment, where they hatch into the next flea generation.  One male and one female can produce enough eggs to start an infestation.  Protect your dog’s body with a product that kills adult fleas and something to prevent eggs from hatching.  If your dog is allergic to fleas, it is actually allergic to flea saliva, so use a product that doesn’t require a dog to be bitten first.  Fortunately there are several new products on the market that are very effective in killing and repelling fleas and are easy to use. Here, we use Frontline Topspot.  It is an oily product that you apply between the shoulder blades monthly.  It's very safe for your dog and for you. It kills fleas and ticks by interfering with the nervous system of insects and is not effective in mammals.  We do, however, recommend that you wear gloves when applying the agent.  We are using the Topspot here because unlike many of the other available products it is safe, kills ticks in addition to fleas and is more waterproof than other products and therefore more likely to remain effective after bathing or swimming. While the use of Topspot should eliminate the need for any flea “birth control”, no product is 100% effective and we worry about fleas developing resistance.  Because of this, we send you home with and recommend that you use Frontline Plus, which has an additional ingredient that kills flea eggs and larvae and prevents all stages from developing.  In particularly bad flea areas, you may want to use Program in addition to Frontline Plus. Program comes in pill form. It is given once a month and prevents any eggs the flea may lay, from hatching.  This pill helps to prevent an infestation from occurring in the environment. It should NOT be the primary means of flea control because in order for it to be effective it does require that the flea take a blood meal, and flea allergy dermatitis is caused by allergy to flea saliva.  Another reason that Program is not our choice as a primary means of flea control is that it has no effect on adult fleas.

Tick control is of utmost importance.  Ticks can carry diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Ehrlichiosis.  Check your dog for ticks as part of your daily grooming by running your fingers through the fur, concentrating around the head, neck, and ears where ticks are most often found.  If you find a tick on your dog, put on a pair of tight fitting rubber or vinyl gloves, grasp the tick as close to the dog’s skin as possible using your fingers or a tweezers, and pull firmly using slow consistent gentle traction.  If the head stays attached to the dog, do not try to dig it out if it is not easily removable.  The body will eventually eliminate it as it would a splinter.

Your veterinarian will use an otoscope to examine your dog's external ear.  Signs of an ear infection include frequent ear scratching, head shaking, a head tilt, and abnormal amounts of foul-smelling debris in the ears.  Sniffing your dog’s ears as part of your daily grooming routine will help you to notice the odor before the infection gets out of hand. These infections are usually caused by bacteria and/or yeast.  The organisms can be the primary cause or can be secondary to allergies or increased moisture from bathing or swimming.  Ear infections are often initially treated with topical medications, cleaners and an antifungal, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory ointment or drop combinations.  Your veterinarian may take a swab to look specifically for bacteria or yeast, and may send a sample off for culture.  To make an ear smear, a cotton swab is inserted in the ear canal and rolled gently to collect debris.  Material then is transferred to a slide and examined for yeast, bacteria, white blood cells or mites.  This helps your veterinarian decide upon the right treatment for a particular ear infection.  In some cases an ear flush may be necessary.  These are often performed under anesthesia or sedation and allow the ear canal to be thoroughly cleansed so that topical medication is able to come into direct contact with the skin to help it to heal faster.  It is important to treat problems thoroughly and effectively to prevent them from becoming chronic.  If your dog does seem to have a tendency toward ear infections, your veterinarian can provide you with a drying agent to help ward off reoccurrence.

During the physical exam your dog’s internal organs are assessed by palpation (feeling) and auscultation (listening).  By carefully palpating the abdomen, your veterinarian may be able to detect certain abnormalities involving the bladder, liver, spleen, kidneys and intestines. Using a stethoscope to listen to different areas of the chest, your veterinarian can detect a variety of disorders of the heart and lungs.  Feeling the strength and regularity of heart rhythm and pulse also provides valuable diagnostic information.  If your veterinarian detects an abnormality, he or she can use diagnostic tests such as blood work, x-rays, electrocardiogram or ultrasound to investigate further.  Dogs over six to eight years of age often have blood work to screen for signs of organ dysfunction.  The basic lab tests usually include a urinalysis, complete blood cell count and a chemistry panel.

Your veterinarian usually requests a stool sample at the annual physical, to check microscopically for the presence of internal intestinal parasite eggs of hookworms, whipworms, roundworms, and coccidia.  The eggs of tapeworms are also microscopic, but are usually found in a tape segment which is about the size of a piece of white rice and can be found wiggling on the outside of the stool, or clinging to the hair of the hind limbs.  In the dog, these parasites can cause diarrhea, vomiting, a poor hair coat, and general unthriftiness.  Both dogs and humans can become infected with these canine parasites by accidentally eating a flea that is harboring tapeworm larvae, by being licked on the face or sharing food with a dog, by eating dirt, sand or unwashed food from a garden where infected dogs have defecated.  Another means of infection is walking barefoot through contaminated areas where hookworm larvae can penetrate the feet.  While the parasites do not like to live in humans, hookworm larvae can crawl through the skin and damage skin and internal organs as well as occasionally causing gastrointestinal signs.  If you practice good hygiene, and have a good flea control regimen, you are really at very low risk. To investigate for the presence of eggs in the stool we perform a fecal flotation test in which a small amount of stool is suspended in a solution, allowing parasite eggs to float to the surface and attach to a slide.  This makes them available for examination and identification.  Your veterinarian can then prescribe the appropriate medication to eliminate unwanted gastrointestinal parasites.

The annual physical is also the time for a heartworm check.  We recommend annual testing, along with year-round medication for the prevention of this potentially fatal blood parasite.  Heartworm is carried by mosquitoes, which pick up the immature offspring of the adult worm when they feast on the blood of an infected dog.  Over a two-month period, immature heartworms develop within the mosquito into a form capable of infecting another dog.  The infective larvae enter the dog through the mosquito bite wound and travel through the body for over three months.  By then, they have become young adults.  They enter the bloodstream and travel to the pulmonary arteries, the blood vessels, which leave the right side of the dog's heart and enter the lungs. Depending on the number of worms present they might also be located in the right side of the heart and its major entrance vessels.   There they become mature adults.  Six months after entering a dog’s body, they’re ready to reproduce. Adult worms are about the size of a piece of spaghetti.   Their presence in the heart and vessels can lead to signs of heart and lung disease.  These signs include coughing, decreased ability to exercise, a fluid-filled abdomen and swollen liver.  The number of worms present affects the severity of the disease.  Early detection by blood test can reduce the likelihood of fatality but will still result in a costly, though usually successful treatment.  The good news is that the disease can be prevented effectively with medication.

Heartworm preventive comes in three generic forms.  Diethylcarbamazine is the generic ingredient in many brands of daily plain and chewable tablets. Due to the perceived convenience of the monthly medications it has become increasingly difficult to find the daily type.
Ivermectin is a preventive to be used monthly.  It comes alone as Heartgard, or in combination with a product for gastrointestinal parasite control as Heartgard Plus. Milbemycin Oxime is also used monthly and is available as Interceptor or, in combination with the active ingredient of Program, the flea infestation control pill, it is available as Sentinel.  It is also capable of preventing certain intestinal parasites. If intestinal parasitism has been a problem for your dog, the decreased need for frequent diagnostic fecal exams and worming medications might outweigh the cost of a heartworm preventive with extras. We recommend that you use one of the two monthly preventives on a year round basis.  Even if you live in an area that experiences harsh winters, using heartworm preventive medication year-round makes traveling to different climates less difficult.  For example, you don’t have to stop to think about having your dog tested so he can start heartworm preventive a month before your trip to Florida from North Dakota.  If you do decide to start medicating in the spring and stop in winter, remember to have your dog tested and start medication one month prior to the spring mosquito season and continue medication one month after a killing frost. The most important thing to remember is that for any medication to be effective it must be given as directed.  Be sure your dog receives the medication to prevent this dreaded disease.

There are three types of heartworm tests.  The Knott’s test and Difil filter tests are used to concentrate any circulating immature forms of the mosquito-borne blood parasite, Dirofilaria immitis.  The occult heartworm test detects any circulating antigen or parts of the parasites in the bloodstream.  It's a more valuable test because it can detect worms of the same sex or sterile heartworm infections that produce no offspring.  The occult test is the test we recommend for dogs on year-round preventive medication.

Now we’ll briefly discuss the diseases we protect against through the use of vaccines.
We prevent significant infectious illness through routine vaccination.  Vaccines introduce into the body either an inactivated or weakened form of a disease-causing agent called an antigen.  In response, the body produces antibodies and is prepared to launch an attack on the live, unmodified antigen should the dog meet up with the real thing. There has been and will continue to be much discussion in the veterinary community on the topic of vaccinology. Recently the AVMA approved the Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents Principles of Vaccination.  Key points among those principles include the concept that individual animals will require different vaccines and that only those veterinarians with a veterinarian – client - patient relationship are in a position to make appropriate vaccination recommendations.  Veterinarians are encouraged to develop core vaccine programs.  Core vaccines are defined as vaccines appropriate to provide protection against diseases that pose a risk of severe disease because the pathogens are virulent, highly infectious and widely distributed in the area in which the animal lives.  Non-core vaccine programs should be developed which target diseases that are either of limited risk in the geographic area or lifestyle of the pet, may represent less severe threats to the pet’s health, or the benefit-risk ratio is too low to warrant use in all circumstances.  Non-core products are used on an individual basis.  Core vaccines for dogs include canine distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and rabies.

Canine distemper is caused by a highly contagious virus spread by aerosols (airborne contamination from sneezing or coughing) or direct contact.  The dog sheds virus through saliva, airway secretions, urine and stool.  Fortunately, the virus is easily killed in the environment by routine disinfecting techniques, so there usually must be close contact with an infected dog for the disease to spread.  Signs include fever, lack of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, thick discharge from the eyes and nose, red, pustular skin rash, thickening of the nose and footpads, and neurologic signs.  The latter can vary; you may see paralysis, convulsions, and rhythmic limb twitching or mouth movements that look like the dog is chewing gum.  Treatment is aimed at supporting the dog through the use of antibiotics to prevent secondary bacterial infection and IV fluids to counter dehydration from vomiting and diarrhea.  Unfortunately, even if the dog survives, neurologic signs like twitching may remain.

Hepatitis refers to an inflammation of the liver.  Infectious canine hepatitis is caused by a virus that’s not the same as the human variety.  It spreads through saliva, urine and stool, is more resistant to disinfection than distemper virus and can persist longer in the environment.  Signs can include fever, tonsillitis, abdominal pain, liver enlargement, shock, and bleeding from the nose, mouth, rectum and urinary tract.  Neurologic signs such as seizures and blindness can occur as a result of liver failure.  Treatment, which is aimed at supporting the patient, includes antibiotics to prevent secondary bacterial infection, IV fluids and/or blood transfusions to combat fluid or blood loss and resulting shock.

Parvovirus is a deadly gastrointestinal virus.  It is primarily spread by eating the stool of infected animals. Even minute amounts of stool, that can be ingested as a dog licks his paws after a walk, can contain enough virus to cause illness in an unprotected dog.  The virus is highly resistant to most disinfectants and can persist in the environment for more than five months.  Primary signs are vomiting, severe diarrhea which is usually bloody, severe lethargy, fever, and loss of appetite. The dogs become immunosuppressed, and their blood protein level becomes decreased.  Therapy needs to be aggressive, but is mainly supportive.  Fluids are used to combat dehydration.  Antibiotics are used to combat secondary bacterial infections, and anti-emetics are used to control vomiting.  Some dogs need plasma transfusions to help increase protein levels.  Puppies are at greatest risk because most adult dogs have been vaccinated effectively.  Once a litter becomes infected, fatalities of greater than 50% are not uncommon.

Rabies, another disease against which we vaccinate our dogs, is one with public health significance because humans can contract it.  The vaccine is not a part of a combination. It's given separately.  The first inoculation is administered at a minimum of three months of age and repeated a year later.  Subsequent vaccinations are given at 1 to 3 year intervals, depending on local public health requirements.  Additional booster vaccines are recommended if a dog has been bitten by an animal whose vaccination status is unknown.  There is no reliable diagnostic test for rabies.  Testing for the disease is done once the animal dies or is euthanized.  Animals suspected of having rabies usually aren't treated due to the risk of exposing humans to the fatal virus.  That is why immunization, stopping the rabies before it can start, is critical. Rabies virus is shed in large quantities in saliva, so it is most often transmitted through the bite of an infected animal.  Wild animals, especially bats, raccoons, foxes, and skunks are the most common carriers.  Shedding of the virus can begin two weeks before the appearance of symptoms.  The virus flows up the nerves eventually ending up in the spinal cord and brain.  Symptoms can include an excitatory, “furious” or “mad” form, and a paralytic or “dumb” form.  The furious form can last from one to seven days and includes signs of restlessness, irritability, sensitivity to light, viciousness, snapping at imaginary objects, and grand mal seizures.  The paralytic phase usually lasts about two to four days.  Paralysis of the head and neck muscles occurs leads to difficulty swallowing, resulting in drooling, and a dropped jaw.  Local paralysis progresses to generalized paralysis, coma, and death.

Non-core vaccines include Leptospirosis, parainfluenza and bordetella bronchiseptica.

Leptospirosis is caused by a type of bacterium referred to as a spirochete because of its spiral shape.  It is shed in the urine of infected animals and often is contracted when a dog drinks from a stagnant body of infected water.  What makes it especially dangerous, is that it can be spread to people through contact with contaminated urine.  There are several sub-types of leptospiras.  Canine vaccines exist for leptospira canicola, icterohaemorrhagiae, pomona and grippotyhosa.  Unfortunately the varieties commonly associated with large animals and rodents, also can cause canine infection.  To date, no vaccine is available to protect dogs against these types.   Signs are those of acute liver and kidney failure and may include fever, listlessness, and lack of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, increased thirst, increased urination, abnormal hindlimb gait (due to kidney pain) and jaundice.  Treatment includes supportive therapy of IV fluids and a long-term course of antibiotics.

Parainfluenza is the virus most commonly isolated in dogs that present with infectious tracheobronchitis or “kennel -cough".  Bordetella bronchiseptica is the most common bacterial pathogen.  These organisms can produce disease alone or in combination.  It spreads through close contact with infected dogs via secretions like saliva or by aerosol.  Its hallmark sign, a loud, honking cough, often is so severe that it is accompanied by gagging or retching that can be mistaken for vomiting.  Other signs can include discharge from the eyes or nose, fever, and loss of appetite.  In an uncomplicated case, coughing usually resolves in about two weeks, although it may persist for up to six.  The dog will behave normally or seem otherwise healthy.  Treatment includes cough suppressants and antibiotics aimed at preventing secondary bacterial infection.  Anti-inflammatories can help reduce the swelling and inflammation of laryngeal tissue.  When a dog already has a respiratory problem, such as a defective trachea or abnormal tracheal lining, the disease can be accompanied by pneumonia, difficulty breathing, lethargy, and decreased appetite.  More complicated cases may need other supportive treatments such as IV fluids and aerosol therapy. Bordetella isn't usually included in the combination vaccine, which is injected under the skin, although it can be.  It is also available in an intranasal form, which has the advantage of producing a local immunity in the respiratory passages.  The intranasal vaccine should be repeated one week before your dog enters a boarding facility, show, or other areas where many dogs will be in close contact.  In addition to requiring vaccination prior to admission, kennels can help check the spread of airborne disease by preventing overcrowding, practicing good routine disinfection techniques, and providing more than 12 fresh air exchanges per hour.

At The Seeing Eye, after a series of puppy vaccines, your dog receives a combination booster referred to as a DHLPP or 5-in-one.  DHLPP stands for distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parainfluenza and parvo.  After that, on this campus, we boost the distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza and parvo portion of the vaccine every three years.  These are modified live vaccines and have a longer duration of immunity than killed vaccines.  Rabies, although a killed product is administered every three years.  Leptosirosis is administered annually, and Bordetella, because we are in a kennel situation is boosted every 6 months. You and your veterinarian will develop a schedule for your dogs vaccines.  We will provide you with the last date on which each of these vaccines was administered.

While it is important for us to familiarize you with the deadly diseases against which we protect our dogs, rest assured, your dogs have been properly vaccinated, and are at minimal risk for contracting any of these deadly infectious diseases.

That completes the topics we selected to cover in this lecture. I hope you've enjoyed learning or renewing your knowledge of some of the basics of canine health care.

05/2005