How often does my dog need vaccines?

After the puppy shots and a booster about a year later, most adult dogs get the core combination vaccine every 3 years in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, and every year in India. Leptospirosis is a yearly shot, kennel cough is every 6 to 12 months, and rabies depends on the country and the product. The table below gives the intervals for each country, and the calculator above works out your dog’s next due date.

Here is what each vaccine is, how the puppy course works, and how to keep the dates straight.

How often, by vaccine and country

The first time a dog gets leptospirosis, it needs two doses 2 to 4 weeks apart, then one dose a year. These are the usual intervals. The vaccine your vet uses can change them, so the date on your dog’s record is the one that counts.

Core vs non-core vaccines

Vets divide dog vaccines into two categories: core and non-core.

Core vaccines are recommended for virtually every dog, regardless of lifestyle. They protect against diseases that are widespread, severe, or transmissible to humans. The main core vaccines for dogs are:

• Distemper
• Parvovirus
• Adenovirus (hepatitis)
• Rabies (required by law in many countries and regions)

These are often given as a combined injection. You may see abbreviations like DA2PP, DHPP, or similar depending on the formulation your vet uses.

Non-core vaccines are recommended based on your dog’s individual risk level, which depends on where you live, your dog’s lifestyle, and the advice of your vet. Common non-core vaccines include:

• Bordetella (kennel cough), especially relevant if your dog uses boarding facilities or dog parks
• Leptospirosis, spread through standing water and wet soil. Maggie’s schedule counts it as core in the UK, the US, Canada and India; in Australia it depends on your state
• Canine influenza
• Lyme disease (region-dependent)

Your vet is the best person to advise which non-core vaccines make sense for your specific dog.

The puppy vaccination series

Puppies receive a series of injections in their first few months of life. This is because maternal antibodies (passed through the mother’s milk) gradually wane, leaving windows where the puppy is vulnerable to disease. The series is designed to catch the puppy as those maternal antibodies fade.

A typical puppy schedule might look something like this:

• 8 weeks: First combination vaccine
• 12 weeks: Second dose, and rabies in countries that give it
• 16 weeks or older: Last puppy dose. It must be at 16 weeks or later, because the mother’s antibodies can block the vaccine until then
• About 1 year later: The first booster, which completes the puppy course

The exact timing varies by vet clinic, vaccine brand, and country. For a puppy, our puppy vaccination schedule tool gives the date of every visit in India, the US, the UK, Canada or Australia, with a calendar file and a printable sheet for your vet. Always follow the specific guidance your vet gives you.

Adult boosters

After the puppy course, the first booster comes about a year after the last puppy dose. From then on, each vaccine follows its own interval, as in the table above. The core combination is every 3 years in most Western countries because its protection lasts that long, as the WSAVA 2024 vaccination guidelines and the AAHA canine vaccination guidelines set out. In India most vets give a 7-in-1 or 9-in-1 combination every year, with leptospirosis included.

Rabies intervals in the US and Canada follow the product: a 1-year vaccine needs a booster every year, a 3-year vaccine every 3 years. Our post on the 3-year rabies vaccine explains how to tell which one your dog had.

Why schedules vary

If you compare notes with other dog owners and find your schedules differ, that is completely normal. Vaccine timing depends on:

• The specific products your vet stocks
• Local disease prevalence
• Your dog’s health history and any previous reactions
• Your country or region’s regulatory requirements

This is why it is always worth confirming the recommended schedule directly with your own vet rather than relying solely on general guides like this one.

Keeping track of it all

With puppy shots every few weeks, then annual or triennial boosters across multiple vaccines, it is easy for dates to slip. Missed boosters can mean the protection fades earlier than expected, or that a puppy series is not considered properly closed.

Maggie is built to help with exactly this. When you add your dog and their birthday, Maggie’s vaccine tracker builds an age-aware vaccine schedule and sends you a phone reminder before each dose is due. You can log each vaccination as it is given, attach a photo of the certificate if you want a record, and see the full history at any time. For what to keep on file long term, see our guide to pet vaccination records.

Ready to get your dog’s health organised? Download Maggie and add your first pet in under a minute.

This post is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice. Always confirm your dog’s specific vaccination schedule with your vet.