I recently got my puppy, Bentley, 8 days ago, making him 9 weeks yesterday ( I know now this was too early for him to leave his birth mama ). I never planned on looking at vaccines until I got him and am completely shocked and frightened at what I have learned. I beleive he has already received parvo and distemper before I even got him (I'm at work right now but want to post exactly when he received and the name of the specific ones he received.)
I live in Arizona, where it is very dry and there is never any standing water. There are also no wild animals like racoons or skunks (only coyotes that come out at night looking for food). I also plan on keeping him as an indoor dog, and because our backyard does not have grass, only rock landscape, I plan on keeping him pad trained unless we move to a closed backyard with nice grass.
Looking at a vaccination schedule from the pet education website it lists the following as core: Canine Distemper, Parvovirus, Hepatitis and Rabies. I know Rabies is required legally, but what about Hepatitis? Where/How would my dog catch this?
I also plan on only vaccinating once and not doing annual boosters because I've read they are unnecessary. However about distemper and parvo, I've seen that many are getting more shots just a few weeks or months after? Is this necessary to complete the vaccine or is it already complete and the following are just precautionary type things?
Are there any other vaccines you would recommend him receive considering my area? I've tried to google common diseases in my state, as well as common areas for things like lepto and lyme but couldn't find anything..
Any answers to any of the above would be so helpful
Thanks a bunch!