Table 1.

WSAVA Canine Vaccination Guidelines

Vaccine	Initial Puppy Vaccination	Initial Adult Vaccination	Revaccination Recommendation	Comments and Recommendations
Canine Parvovirus‐2 (CPV‐2; MLV, parenteral) Canine Distemper Virus (CDV; MLV, parenteral) Recombinant Canine Distemper Virus (rCDV, parenteral) Canine Adenovirus‐2 (CAV‐2; MLV, parenteral)	Administer at 6–8 weeks of age, then every 2–4 weeks until 16 weeks of age or older [EB1].	Two doses 2–4 weeks apart are generally recommended by manufacturers, but one dose of MLV vaccine or rCDV is considered protective [EB4].	Revaccination (booster) at either 6 months or 1 year of age, then not more often than every 3 years.	Core
CPV‐2 (killed, parenteral)				Not recommended where MLV available.
Canine Adenovirus‐1 (CAV‐1; MLV and killed parenteral)				Not Recommended where CAV‐2 MLV available.
Rabies (killed parenteral)	Administer one dose at 12 weeks of age. If vaccination is performed earlier than 12 weeks of age, the puppy should be revaccinated at 12 weeks of age. In high risk areas a second dose may be given 2–4 weeks after the first.	Administer a single dose.	Revaccination (booster) at 1 year of age. Canine rabies vaccines with either a 1‐ or 3‐year DOI are available. Timing of boosters is determined by this licensed DOI, but in some areas may be dictated by statute.	Core where required by statue or in areas where the disease is endemic.
Parainfluenza Virus (CPiV; MLV, parenteral)	Administer at 6–8 weeks of age, then every 2–4 weeks until 16 weeks of age or older [EB4].	Two doses 2–4 weeks apart are generally recommended by manufacturers, but one dose is considered protective [EB4].	Revaccination (booster) at either 6 months or 1 year of age, then annually.	Non‐core. Use of CPiV (MLV‐intranasal) is preferred to the parenteral product as the primary site of infection is the upper respiratory tract.
Bordetella bronchiseptica (live avirulent bacteria, intranasal) B. bronchiseptica + CPiV (MLV) intranasal B. bronchiseptica + CPiV (MLV) + CAV‐2 (MLV) intranasal	Administer a single dose as early as 3 weeks of age.	A single dose.	Annually or more often in very high‐risk animals not protected by annual booster.	Non‐core. B. bronchiseptica is available as a single product or in combination with CPiV or with both CPiV and CAV2. Transient (3–10 days) coughing, sneezing, or nasal discharge may occur in a small percentage of vaccinates. Intranasal or oral vaccines MUST NOT be delivered by parenteral injection as this may lead to severe adverse reactions, including death.
B. bronchiseptica (live avirulent bacteria, oral)	The current manufacturer's recommendation is for use of this vaccine from 8 weeks of age.
Bordetella bronchiseptica (killed bacterin, parenteral Bordetella bronchiseptica (cell wall antigen extract, parenteral)	Administer one dose at 6–8 weeks and one dose at 10–12 weeks of age.	Two doses 2–4 weeks apart.	Annually or more often in very high‐risk animals not protected by annual booster.	Non‐core. Intranasal or oral products are preferred to the killed parenteral to provide local protection [EB4]; however, a review published at the time of compilation questions this advantage (Ellis 2015).
Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme borreliosis; killed whole bacterin, parenteral) Borrelia burgdorferi (rLyme borreliosis) (recombinant‐Outer surface protein A [OspA], parenteral)	Recommendation is for initial dose at 12 weeks of age or older. A second dose is given 2–4 weeks later. Borrelia vaccines may be given as early as 9 weeks of age if there is a high risk of exposure. For some vaccines, this will constitute off‐label use.	Two doses, 2–4 weeks apart.	Annually. Revaccinate just prior to start of tick season as determined regionally.	Non‐core. Generally recommended only for use in dogs with a known high risk of exposure, living in or visiting regions where the risk of vector tick exposure is considered to be high, or where disease is known to be endemic.
Leptospira interrogans (with serogroups canicola and icterohaemorrhagiae; killed bacterin, parenteral) Also available in the USA and some other countries with serogroups grippotyphosa and pomona, in Europe with serogroups grippotyphosa and australis, and in Europe with serogroup grippotyphosa. In Australia there is a monovalent vaccine containing serogroup australis and in New Zealand monovalent serogroup icterohaemorrhagiae vaccines are available.	Initial dose at 8 weeks of age or older. A second dose is given 2–4 weeks later.	Two doses 2–4 weeks apart.	Annually.	Non‐core. Leptospira vaccines have been developed to account for the known circulating pathogenic serogroups in different geographical areas. Note that Leptospira serogroups may include multiple serovars. There is often confusion with the use of the terms ‘serogroup’ and ‘serovar’. Vaccination should be restricted to use in geographical areas where a risk of exposure has been established or for dogs whose lifestyle places them at risk. This vaccine is known to provide protection that is less robust and may be of shorter duration, and therefore these products must be administered annually [EB1]. In the past, Leptospira bacterin vaccines have been suggested to be linked to a higher prevalence of allergic adverse events – particularly in small breed dogs. The evidence base for this is low [EB4] and one published study indicates no greater risk from Leptospira bacterins (Moore et al. 2005) [EB1]. The European Consensus Statement on Leptospirosis (Schuller et al. 2015) also takes this view.
Canine influenza virus (CIV; H3N8; killed adjuvanted, parenteral)	Two doses 2–4 weeks apart with initial dose at >6 weeks of age.	Two doses 2–4 weeks apart	Annually	Non‐core. Licensed only in USA. Consider for at‐risk groups of co‐housed dogs such as those in kennels, dog shows or day care [EB1].
Canine Coronavirus (CCV; killed and MLV, parenteral)				Not Recommended. CCV infections are usually subclinical or cause mild clinical signs. Prevalence of confirmed CCV disease does not justify use of currently‐available vaccines. There is no evidence that existing vaccines would protect against pathogenic variants of CCV (Buonavoglia et al. 2009, Decaro et al. 2009) [EB1]. Although CCV can be isolated commonly, the VGG remains unconvinced that CCV is a significant primary enteric pathogen in the adult dog. No studies have satisfied Koch's postulates for this infectious agent.

Where the recommendations in this table are not consistent with those on datasheets [EB2] the level of evidence supporting the recommendation is given.

The VGG did not consider the following products that have restricted geographical availability:

Crotalus atrox (western rattlesnake vaccine) and Crotalux adamanteus (eastern rattlesnake vaccine) – Conditional USDA License

Babesia vaccine (soluble parasite antigen from B. canis in saponin) – EU Licensed

Canine herpesvirus vaccine – EU Licensed

Leishmania vaccines – licensed in Brazil and the EU