Dog Info

Giving your puppy the best start

Once you have your puppy, it is important to give them the best start in life by setting them up with a preventative health care plan to keep them healthy and safe from disease.

  • Our vaccination course encompasses 2 health checks with our vets and vaccination against distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and leptospirosis.
  • Regular flea and worms treatment - we generally recommend monthly flea and roundworm treatment until 6 months of age at least, although sometimes advice may vary for an individual patient. Once they reach the 6-month mark, we can discuss the most suitable ongoing protocol for your pet that gets the right balance of keeping them protected based on their risk factors and fits in with your lifestyle and preferences.

We recommend joining our Pet Health Club to keep all your puppies' essential preventative health care covered for life.

Dental Care

Dental disease is very common in dogs, especially as they get older. The best way to get your puppy used to having their teeth brushed is to start when they are young. Our staff are very happy to discuss how to start tooth brushing if you have any queries or concerns.

Puppy Parties

We offer free puppy parties to vaccinated puppies from 8 to 18 weeks of age. They are a great way for puppies to get used to socialising with other dogs in a safe and controlled environment. They also allow the puppies to visit us when they are well, and we generally find our puppy party graduates come in to see us very enthusiastically as they grow into adults! Parties take place at the practice every other Wednesday at 5.30 and last approximately 45 minutes. Please give us a call to book your spot if you are planning to attend.

Vaccination

We routinely vaccinate dogs against distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and leptospirosis, all potentially fatal diseases. The initial core vaccine course for puppies can be started from 6-8 weeks old, with the second vaccine 4 weeks later. We have recently upgraded our core vaccines to include increased protection against leptospirosis.

We do also offer a kennel cough vaccine, immunising dogs against parainfluenza virus and Bordetella bacteria as well as the rabies vaccine for dogs planning on travelling abroad.

Neutering

Neutering is hugely important in our pets to prevent common and serious health problems, as well as to prevent unwanted litters. In female dogs, the health benefits include prevention of pyometra, a severe and potentially fatal uterine infection, as well as other uterine and ovarian problems. If done before the first couple of seasons, spaying dramatically reduces the incidence of mammary (breast) cancers. In male dogs, castration prevents testicular disease as well as reducing the incidence of many prostate diseases and also some types of cancer.

Well Pet Blood Test

We offer a Well Pet blood test, which is a low cost health screen that looks at markers of diseases including diabetes, liver and kidney disease, certain types of cancers and anaemia. If it is performed at the same time as your dog’s annual health check and vaccination, there is a further discount applied to the price. It is a good screening tool to use to check for subtle signs of disease, sometimes before problems can be detected on clinical examination. It is also useful to provide 'baseline' values for your individual pet. The test is run on our in-house blood machines, ensuring we can report the results to you promptly and efficiently.