No. Really, we don't want your puppy missing vaccines because we don't want them to be exposed. But for the most part, we just start back up every three weeks until they're four months. So, again, there's not a specific number of vaccines you're supposed to get. It's just staying on that series.

If somebody found a puppy at three months of age, we're not going to go back and start vaccinating as if they were eight weeks. It's going to be every three weeks until they're four months. So if they get one under four months, let's say 15 weeks, I'm going to recommend they get an additional booster to make sure they're safe for the next year.

Titer testing is a way of checking whether your dog has antibodies for distemper or parvovirus. As dogs age and they've been vaccinated thoroughly through puppyhood and at their one-year appointment, some dogs can mount a long-term immune response. Some dog owners don't want to vaccinate them in these cases, or there's occasionally a medical reason we don't want to. However, we want to make sure that those dogs have adequate titers, meaning that they can respond if they were exposed.

And that's the purpose of doing annual titers on dogs who are not being vaccinated, because if they do Diplo, then we're going to have another conversation about the importance of keeping them up on those vaccines because those diseases are terrible.

99.9% of all dogs tolerate all the vaccines at one time, just like kids do. Just remember, when you have babies, they get numerous vaccines when they're brand new infants, which to me is amazing. But dogs tolerate it. There's an occasional dog that's a little more sensitive to vaccines, and we may pretreat or spread them out for that dog in particular, or if clients have specific concerns.

For the most part, every puppy needs the core vaccines every three weeks until they're four months, and then the rabies vaccine some time between three and four months. That's pretty standard, but some dogs are going to be exposed to different things. If your dog is boarding a lot or going to daycare, we highly recommend the flu vaccine for dogs as well because it's transmitted via aerosol. Bordatella is not considered a core vaccine, but it is essential if your dog is out and about. Then there's leptospirosis, which is another essential vaccine. It depends on the dog’s lifestyle.

In general, most dogs should have an update of some vaccines once a year. Some boarding facilities require bordetella every six months, so we may need to see you mid-year. But for the most part, once a year is adequate for most dogs. And even some of the vaccines, we can extend the time a little bit after a year. Rabies can go to three years in some states, and I think it’s annual in other states. It’s crucial to check in with your veterinarian once a year and make sure you're up-to-date on all your vaccines.

We want to start vaccines as soon as you get your puppy. The reason is because the mom transfers immunity to the puppy while they're nursing. But as soon as they stop nursing, they need to be vaccinated every three weeks until they're at least four months of age.

Again, start with the call. Talk to your veterinarian and their staff there and find out. I never want to imply that this is not a big deal or that you can handle it yourself. When in doubt, get your veterinarian involved. Because if you assess it one way, or your veterinarian tells you over the phone, “Oh, you probably can do this, it's no big deal,” it could go badly. So if at all in doubt, get on the phone, bring them in, let the veterinarian assess it, and do it that way.

Unless you saw what happened or know what the dog got into, that's the only way you're going to know immediately. Unfortunately, there is no quick, immediate test that, when they come in, that we can say, “Hey, I'm going to run a test for antifreeze.” No, we can run blood work, and we can look where the kidneys are, but it takes days for the kidneys to be affected to where it's going to show on blood work in time. So, unfortunately, there's no rapid test. It's just a matter of good observation on your part.

CPR, much like in humans, is cardiopulmonary resuscitation. So that would imply, by its very nature, that you're having either heart or respiratory issues. So how are you going to know? Perhaps you’ve got a dog that just acutely collapsed and is struggling to breathe, or perhaps has stopped breathing. Maybe it's a dog that's choking. Without going into any further detail, that's kind of how you would know if your dog would require CPR.

On the other hand, how to do CPR is different because it's different anatomy than people. And I won't go through all the play-by-plays of it here because it's not the venue, and I don't have anything to practice on or show you on. But simply put, CPR is usually chest compressions. The dog's going to be on its side laterally, and you’ll start chest compressions right where the left elbow meets the body because that's about where the heart is. So you want to do light compressions there. And see, this is the part I don't want to talk about without a proper demonstration, but it's light chest compressions there at a pretty rapid rate. You figure the average dog's heart rate is anywhere between, say, 80 and 120 even at rest, so it's pretty fast, more so than ours would be.

In people, we know to pinch the nose, kind of hold up the chin, and we breathe directly into their mouth that way. In a dog, you do the opposite. In a dog, you more or less close the mouth and breathe directly into the nose. You can put your whole mouth over their nose and breathe into their nose that way. And I know a lot of people watching this are probably thinking, “Ew, that's kind of nasty.” It works, and it's a pretty good seal, and that's usually the most effective way to get it done.

That's a tricky one to answer because there are so many medical conditions that can happen to a dog. It’s difficult and bordering on impossible to tell you if your dog does this or that, they need first aid. First aid is providing medical care in an emergency, so I think things like lacerations and blood loss are the most obvious and common things that you as a pet owner would see, be able to recognize immediately, and administer first aid to.

Maybe if your dog has a history of seizures, and you already have anti-seizure medications, then you might argue that giving that animal a higher dose of anti-seizure medications might be administering first aid. I can’t argue with that. That might be something that would be good too, but it just depends on what's going on as to what kind of first aid that could be remedied or used. If there's any question of what's going on or what needs to be done, get on the phone and call your veterinarian, and they can walk you through what needs to be done more accurately.