By the time your puppy is 6 weeks old, it should get its first vaccination. However, there will be many more to come, as the puppy ages. It is very convenient if you know how to give your puppy a shot, so that you can save the time and expenses spent visiting the vet
It’s not always feasible to take time out of your busy schedule in order to take your puppy to the vet for its regular shots. However, if you want your puppy to have a healthy and long life, these initial vaccinations are a must and cannot be postponed or ignored. Which is why, many dog lovers prefer giving their puppies the shot personally, because, firstly, the dog trusts them more and has been living with them for some time, and secondly, administering the shot personally saves time and is far less expensive, because you need not pay the vet for simply injecting your dog when you can do it yourself. For those who have owned dogs in the past, this task will be comparatively easier and a useful one.
Nonetheless, those who have never carried out this procedure on their puppies before and wish to learn, will find the idea very appealing, for themselves as well as their adorable pups. Of course, there are some dog owners who are afraid of needles and would never even venture close to this prospect, which is why they must either seek help of a family member or friend to carry out the job, or they could follow the conventional and expensive route and get the puppy vaccinated by a vet. However, consult your vet about the exact time frame between weeks and when to give puppy shots.
Where to Buy the Shots From?
You will need to do some bit of research on recommended health websites dedicated to dogs or you will need to ask certain well-known and popular pet stores, if they have the new stock of puppy vaccination. These packages or kits contain the necessary vaccination, according to the specific puppy shots timeline. Make sure you check the manufacturing date and see to it that the date is not close to expiration.
The reason being, the medication will begin to lose its effect if it’s already getting old, secondly, it can prove dangerous for your puppies health if it’s expired, and thirdly, you will need to keep the kit in the fridge for some time until the next shot is due. Which is why, the date must be within the due expiry date, and must have many months left before it should be discarded or not used. You will also find these puppy vaccination kits online and that too at discounted prices. This way you can keep a tab on your puppy shots schedule and not get late in the process. They will have the kit delivered to your home so you need not worry about having to go searching for it in person.
Steps on How to Ready a Shot
- You will need to place the kit in the fridge until its cool enough.
- After which you must open the kit when you’re ready to vaccinate your puppy. The kit will contain the vaccination; however, you will need to mix the contents in order to prepare the vaccination. The reason being, the shots are divided into two parts. One small vial holds the liquid or diluent while the other contains the medication in its powdery form. You will need to mix the powder with the liquid so that it can be absorbed into a syringe.
- For doing this you will need to take a fresh syringe, and insert the needle into the vial containing the diluent and take the liquid out.
- Now the next task will require that you release the liquid within the syringe into the vial containing the powder.
- Mix the contents of the vial thoroughly until the powder dissolves completely with the liquid.
- Now reinsert the syringe and absorb the vaccination from the vial.
Tips on Giving Your Puppy a Shot
- Pick up your puppy and play with it for some time in your arms. Let the puppy not know that it’s about to be injected. Let it stay calm and oblivious to what’s about to come.
- Now gently place the puppy on a soft cushion or on your lap, and gently pull up the loose skin behind the neck or the fatty tissue on the thigh. Rub this area with some alcohol, using a cotton ball, so as to disinfect and numb the area a bit.
- Gently stretch the skin a bit to see if you can make out tiny veins. If so avoid those veins and select a patch which is only skin.
- Now inject the syringe into the skin, while making sure that no blood is absorbed into the syringe.
- Blood in the syringe vial means that the needle has inserted a vein which can be fatal for the dog. So remove the injection immediately if you see tiny hints of blood.
- Make sure you insert the needle into the soft loose skin and release the medication.
- Once you have extracted the needle, you will need to massage the area you’re your thumb for a few minutes.
- That’s it, your dog has been vaccinated successfully by you. Now you must give the puppy a treat, so that it knows it behaved well.
After the vaccination you must place all the used items into a disposable ‘Sharps’ container which comes with the kit. You will need to destroy the container as per the proper safety disposing regulations.