Litter Worming and Vaccinations - Page 1

What worming schedule do y'all use for a new litter of pups? Which wormers do you suggest?

Also what immunization schedule do you follow for a litter of pups and which vaccines are recommended?

I plan on doing these myself, I used to do this with my litters but this will be my first litter in almost 20 years so much of what I know and used is based on dated information as much has changed in 20 years.

Finally, does anyone use Ivomec for heartworm maintenance on healthy, heartworm negative German Shepherd Dogs? What dosage is recommended? It used to be .1 cc per 10lbs of body weight, 1x per month for non- Collie breeds.

Breed - German Shepherd Dog

Thank you,
Marc

I take a stool sample to my vet at 4 weeks, maybe a couple of samples from different pups. If he finds nothing I don't worm, if he does then he gives me what I need. Then at 7 weeks they go to the vet for their wellness check up and first set of shots. I find that people feel more comfortable if they have a written report from a vet, than if I give the shots my self. The vet can check so many more things than I can.
I do give Ivomec for heartworm maintenance just as you said. This is my opinion for whatever it is worth. :) Good luck!!

I'm not a vet, so take this for it is worth. I always started with nemex @ about 3 weeks. it's a safe wormer , effective for roundworms, which is one of the biggest concerns at this age.

used Ivermectin for 30+ years. it's a very safe drug, also used in humans for several different conditions. keeps dogs free of all but tapeworms. never had an issue. never had heartworms and I'm in a very bad place for them.

again, it's best to see a vet and my pups always did before they left. I'm just relaying what worked for me and because you asked.

there are other issues, such as giardia, etc which need to be kept a close watch on. so, again, this is not medical advice.

best,
Rik

Speaking as a buyer, I was really happy when my breeder gave me the vaccination card for my puppy from the vet. So was my vet. No question that the vaccinations had actually been given and when, and the puppy had been seen by a vet.

Now that I have more experience, if I know the breeder, and depending on and what my vet said, I might be OK with the breeder doing the shots. I get the cost differences, but I'd hate to have the puppy get redundant/unnecessary shots, or have something wrong that the breeder's vet could/would have picked up on and taken care of before I picked up the puppy.

Been using Heartgard Plus (Ivermectin and Pyrantel) for GSD and Siberians maintenance for a long time and been very pleased. Also used dehydrated pumpkin for loose stools, and Panacur-C (fenbendazole granules) for giardia, etc.

I appreciate all the responses. I didn't mean to infer that the pups would not get the vet check prior to transferring to the new owner, that is vital for all involved. I plan on going the vet route with this litter, for the very least my own education on the changes in the past 20 years. I will reevaluate at that point. For kennel maintenance of adult dogs that is a different story, as my kennel continues to grow I will start to self perform more of the routine health maintenance myself.

I did have one question for the 2 Ivomec responses - are y'all giving the dosage orally or subcu? I always gave subcu however the trend was starting to go with an oral dose.

I did want to also add in response to the tapeworm subject in a reply - I used to give Valbazen for tapeworms, 2 doses however I do not remember what the doses were. It was effective.

Thanks again for all of the responses, it is much appreciated.

I use the chewable Heartgard Plus (ivermectin/pyrantel). It comes with little heart stickers to put on the calendar to keep track of when the dose was given, so when the next is due. This could be important if something happens to me. The package says protect from light, but no problem, as the card of blister-packs comes in a cardboard box, and I keep that in the air-tight food container, anyway. Dose is based on weight, so the ones made for 51-100 pound dogs for the adult GSD I have now. Every dog I've used it for has really liked it.

OP - probably a meeting with your veterinarian is in order, they will have the best recommendations especially for your specific area.