please can anyone tell me how many injections should a puppy have for its innoculations as just recently my friend has purchased a westie pup that had already had its first jab and was handed a vaccination card on purchase day and was told on the puppy fact sheet he would need 2 further jabs to complete his initial innoculations. In all my time of breeding and buying puppies ours have only ever had 2 jabs two weeks apart. Can anyone tell me if this is new or just the breeder covering themselves as they may not have had the first done (the vaccination card it not readable so i cannot trace the vets details)
any info greatly received as my friend is very worried that he may get overdosed with the parvo vaccination

I think I would take the vaccination card along to the vets and ask exactly what the pup has had.  As far as I'm aware puppies have two injections, normally 2 weeks apart

hi sharon,
we agree with that, the first vet that was used was near the breeder and the writing on the card isnt legible so she cannot trace the vet unless she rings the breeder i hope the breeder will be helpful but who knows!!!!

have you tried asking your vet if he can read it, you know what these doctors and vets writing are like, maybe they can understand each others!

Sometimes the vets do insist on starting the course again, so a pup can conceivably have three sets of injections. Normally they are two or four weeks apart (8 & 10, 6 & 10, and 8 & 12 are normal depending on the vaccine used). Our bitch had 2 weeks between her vaccines and our dog had 6 weeks, though both only had the two done.

It is also possible for the breeder to have just a parvo injection done at anything between 6-8 weeks and then the pup would still need the two injections to complete the course.

I have done this in the past if either we have an outbreak of parvo in an area near us or the pup is going to its new home near to where there may be an outbreak.

the pup has now had its second jab as per breeders note but he is now being sick and passing blood in his very slimey poos. i believe that this maybe the start of parvo itself, if the parvo vaccine is now overdosed would this cause parvo, i think the vets may be confused and has given another first jab instead of the second one , i've looked on our dogs vacc certificate and to me it looks like the same ingredients is used both times am i right or wrong , i'd be grateful for all replies

There are many causes of vomiting and diarrhoea in puppies, not least being a change of diet and water. The very best person to ask is the vet, who will understand what is written on the vaccination card. This article is quite good at explaining the vaccine routine, and states that the parvo jab can safely be given every three weeks till the pup is 16 weeks old.

The puppy vaccination card must have the labels taken off from the vaccine bottles & stuck in the card, the vat then signs at the side to confirm he gave the vax, so you need only to read the labels to determine what vax puppy has had. *CDV-2* stands for canine distemper virus,both strains *CPV* for canine parvo virus *CAV-2* canine adno virus & so on. Abreviations are international.
Usually 2/3 doses a few wks apart are recommended, whether it`s necessarry tho is another matter. If the pup is 16wks or older then only 1 jab is recommended & acceptable. There is no reason to start the whole schedule again but many vets do.
Yoyr pup needs to be with the vet if you think he has parvo, he`ll be able to test for it. Make sure he does both fecal & blood tests, also tell him to test for the strain of parvo, this should be able to determine if it did come from the vaccine. Glasgow university diagnostic labs are very good at this so maybe you could tell him to send the tests there.

Christine, Spain.