Our Vaccination Philosophy
Shomaisou Shiba Inu supports thoughtful, age-appropriate vaccination and preventive care. Our goal is not to avoid core protection. Our goal is to avoid unnecessary overlap, poorly timed combinations, avoidable higher-valency vaccines, and rushed medical decisions during sensitive developmental periods.
We consider core protection important, especially for distemper, parvovirus, and rabies. Rabies vaccination must comply with applicable law. Depending on geographic risk, veterinary advice, boarding, daycare, travel, local disease prevalence, or lifestyle, your veterinarian may also discuss additional vaccines such as Bordetella, Leptospirosis, Lyme, or Canine Influenza.
Over-Vaccination and the Health Guarantee
Over-vaccination voids the Shomaisou Health Guarantee. For our purposes, over-vaccination includes giving too many vaccines at once, giving vaccines too close together, giving rabies with another vaccine, using unnecessarily broad combination vaccines, or revaccinating when adequate titers and veterinary judgment indicate that vaccination is not needed.
- Review the puppy's actual records before administering any booster so the schedule is not duplicated or compressed. Ask your veterinarian to identify the next vaccination due date based on what has already been given.
- For distemper/parvovirus vaccination, use a limited two-way distemper/parvovirus vaccine when reasonably available. A DHPP/DA2PP 5-way puppy vaccine is acceptable when a limited two-way product is not available. Avoid 7-way, 10-way, and other higher-valency combination vaccines whenever possible.
- Do not give rabies at the same time with any other vaccine.
- Do not give optional vaccines such as Bordetella, Leptospirosis, Lyme, or Canine Influenza together with core vaccines (see definition below).
- Separate optional vaccines from core vaccines by at least 2 weeks. A 3-4 week separation is preferred when practical.
Dr. Jean Dodds' Published Canine Vaccination Protocol
Dr. Jean Dodds' Hemopet protocol, published April 6, 2024, recommends distemper + parvovirus at 9-10 weeks, distemper + parvovirus at 14-15 weeks, parvovirus only at 18 weeks, rabies at 20 weeks or older if allowable by law and separated from other vaccines by 3-4 weeks, and distemper/parvovirus titers every three years thereafter.
Core Vaccines We Consider Important
- Distemper — a serious viral disease affecting multiple body systems.
- Parvovirus — a dangerous and often severe gastrointestinal virus, especially in puppies.
- Rabies — legally required and public-health significant.
Additional vaccines should be based on real local or lifestyle risk and must be administered separately from core vaccines.
Heartworm Prevention
Heartworm prevention is recommended and should be discussed with your veterinarian based on your location, travel, seasonality, and exposure risk. Heartworm prevention is not a vaccine, but with young puppies we still prefer not to stack multiple new medical stressors on the same day when avoidable.
Some monthly parasite preventives combine heartworm prevention with flea and tick control. Because of that, we recommend discussing each product carefully with your veterinarian rather than automatically using a broad combination product on a young puppy.
Flea/Tick Control
Flea and tick control should be based on your local risk, season, travel, and veterinary guidance. At our kennels, we prefer natural yard and topical approaches when practical, but some areas may require stronger parasite prevention. Flea and tick products are not vaccines; however, with young puppies we still prefer not to stack multiple new medical stressors on the same day when avoidable.
We have personally seen some puppies react after going home to certain flea/tick products, particularly Simparica Trio and Seresto collars, so we would not use those products on our own dogs without very careful veterinary discussion. Final parasite-control decisions should be made with your veterinarian based on your puppy's age, weight, health history, and local parasite risk.
What New Owners Should Do
- Schedule a wellness visit with your veterinarian soon after pickup.
- Bring every vaccination, microchip, fecal, and wellness record provided by Shomaisou.
- Ask your veterinarian to identify the next due date based on what has already been given.
- Avoid uncontrolled dog parks, high-traffic pet-store floors, rest stops, and unknown dogs until the puppy series is complete.
- Use safe socialization: trusted dogs, clean environments, carried exposure, puppy-safe classes, and controlled handling/grooming practice.
- Follow the Animal Placement Contract and Health Guarantee requirements.
Resources
Questions About Your Puppy's Schedule?
If you are bringing home a Shomaisou puppy, review the records provided with your puppy and schedule an appointment with your veterinarian. You are also welcome to schedule a call with us to review what has already been given and what is expected next.