A friend of mine recently rehomed a shih tzu from a dog pound in Ireland. When she went to have the vet check her over she was told she was pregnant - the dog not my friend! The dog has since had a healthy litter of 7 and homes have been found through friends and family, with a couple extra in case anyone changes their minds. I did suggest my riend asks for some money for them, purely to pay for jabs etc but she doesn't feel right doing this.

Now it's dawned on her that she should have all 7 innoculated and it's going to cost her a small fortune. She's on benefits so I said I'd ask you guys if you knew of any scheme or something she could get in on - we're in Gloucestershire.

The other idea I had was for her to go back and ask the prospective owners to pay for the jabs themselves but the silly moo is embarrassed.

It might be different with a small breed(if leaving her older than 8 weeks?) but I don't think she should not get them vaccinated before they go to their new homes.
As I have heard if not both jabs are given, some vets start the course again from the beginning.
Her getting first done would be totally pointless and extra stress on the puppies bodies.

In my country of origin we never vaccinate any puppy before they are 12 weeks(this is due to the maternal antibodies) so I see no harm in letting the puppies go to their new homes and letting the owners do the vaccinations.
We only vaccinate puppies earlier than 12 weeks if there is a very special reason e.g. they are leaving the country and need the vaccinations in order to cross borders.

Most puppies aren't vaccinated before they leave for their new homes (if they leave before 8 weeks of age) so the new owner invariably pays for them.

Now that's interesting. I thought it would be better to have them started before rehoming so the new owners could finish them quickly and not be tempted to take them out without 'protection'. That will be a weight off her mind, I'm sure.

Thank you x

The first vaccine is usually given at 8 weeks; they shouldn't be homed within a few days of having a vaccine anyway, and they can't have the second one before 10 weeks of age in any case.

this is interesting actually as anyone calling for pups ive had in the past seem to want the first jab done and ive always done it too.i jab them at 8 weeks keep them for a following 48 hours to make sure alls well with the jab theyve had and then its up to new owners to follow up the second in ten days.i send them (obviously)with the card thats got the sticker stateing what they've had and the vets know what they've had.
so....shouldnt i be doing this then??Or have i misread the posts above somewhere??

As for the op i thinks its very generous of her to want to give them a good start but if shes not got the funds to be able to i dont think its wrong of her to just say she is looking for genuinely lovely homes and would you be happy to donate back to me the money i have paid out for in injections.
who wouldnt agree to giving a small donation when getting a free puppy?

>so....shouldnt i be doing this then??Or have i misread the posts above somewhere??

If the new owner's vet uses a different vaccine brand they'll often have to restart the injections anyway.

As my pups have access to their Mums until they leave home I prefer not to vaccinate until 10 weeks anyway, with second vaccination at 12 weeks.

I won't vaccinate any puppy unless it is staying here past 10 - 12 weeks of age.

Personally, I don't like to get my own pups jabbed until 10 weeks old.  I've always picked up my pups at 8 weeks and therefore I've always expected to pay for my own jabs. With my own pups, minimum age of going is 8 weeks, anyone leaves them longer then I'll start their jabs at 10 weeks but I then that is added to the price (agreed beforehand).

Well done your friend for taking in a rescue, even more well done for keeping her when she found out about the pregnancy but I don't think any reasonable, prospective puppy owner would expect her to be out of pocket.  I don't believe she can charge a hefty amount as she has no idea about background, health etc, but I think to ask for an amount to cover costs (including feed, worming, etc) is not unreasonable.  Might be worth contacting RSPCA, PDSA for advice.

As Jeangenie says, it's not good to mix brands/batches of vaccinations and it can, in fact, cause quite severe problems.  My last pup I collected from 350 miles away, so she didn't receive her first vaccination until 11 weeks.  As far as my own vets are concerned, they will vaccinate at 8 weeks, but they will never do the 2nd jab until 12 weeks, so that means the pups can't be out and about until 14 weeks still.  So by my own personal preferance of 1st jab at 10 weeks, that doesn't actually alter the timescale of when I can take them out and about, what it does do is save a bit of time when their young bodies are pumped up with chemicals.

So long as the pups are well socialised before the final clearance to go out and about in the streets, there shouldn't be a problem.  There's a huge amount of socialisation that can be done carrying a pup around in the arms to experience the sights and sounds, and to mix with healthy, friendly dogs in safe gardens, etc.  Hope this helps.

as jeangenie and trialist say mixing brands of vaccines can be very dangerous.... has been linked with canine epilepsy

Presume this person is in Ireland and actually does the vaccine herself, as I believe can be done over there? 

My pups don't have their first vaccination, unless the new owners vet can confirm that they use the same brand, if they can't then the new owners vaccinate them. 

Well I had never heard of mixing brands causing problems but I know it's the last thing she would want.

She's not in Ireland but the dog came from a pound in or near Dublin via someone who rescues death row dogs and finds them homes.

Thank you all for the advice - I shall pass it all along to my friend!

with my puppies, i asked the new owners to check the name of the vaccine with their own vet to make sure the vaccine was going to be the same as my vet, luckily they were and the vets were all using the same vaccine because i had also heard that if the vaccine was different at the new owners vet then the new vet would do a new course giving the puppies 3 injections!!!