Vaccinations for Dogs/How often

Question
Hi Amanda,
I have a pug who is 7 years old. I was wondering how often dogs need to get their vaccinations.... It just seems to me that I might be taking her way too often....And it is costing me a fortune. Her first vaccinations were the distemper, lepto, bordatella, and the rabies. Those shots were given on 11/4/05. Today 11/15/06 I took her and they gave her the rabies, and the dhpp. How often do they check for heartworm as well?  They said that more dogs are getting sick so they wanted to split the shots up. Which is fine.... But I don't want to pay a fortune for shots. Which ones does she really need and are necessary? If you could help me out, I would appreciate it. Thanks so much.

Stephanie
Also, how much should I be feeding her? Right now I feed her one cup in the morning and thats it. Should I be feeding her more? thanks again!

Answer
Every veterinarian has their own protocol for vaccines, but here is our protocol at the hospital I work in:

Distemper/parvo combo vaccines are given as a series of 3-4 every 2-3 weeks as a puppy, then again at 2 and 3 years of age.  After they have had two annual distemper combo vaccines, we give them every three years.  This is a vaccine that is recommended regardless of whether or not your dog boards or goes to the groomer.

We do not vaccinate for Lepto unless the dog has a chance of being exposed to it - meaning they have access to FRESHwater ponds, drains or runoff.  Lepto is given as an annual vaccine.

Bordatella (commonly called kennel cough) is only given to dogs who are at risk of contracting it (i.e. they board or get groomed, or are around other dogs).  

Rabies varies by state - in the state where I live (North Carolina) animals get a 1 year vaccines at 4 months of age, then can get a 3 year vaccine for subsequent boosters.  

Since heartworms are contracted through the bite of a mosquito and mosquitos happen to be the state bird of North Carolina (just kidding...but we do have A LOT of them), we test for heartworms annually if the dog is on prevention, or every six months if they are not or have missed prevention.  North Carolina law also requires an annual heartworm test in order for us to dispense heartworm medication, so you will have to check with your vet if you live in a different state.

Since you have a small breed dog, the vet is being smart by splitting up the vaccines.  We definitely do see a much higher incident of reactions in small dogs, plus too many vaccines given at once will just make them feel really crummy.  If you are concerned that she is getting vaccines that she doesn't need, your vet should also be able to run titers on her to see if she still carries antibodies for the viruses, but this is often much more expensive than the vaccines themselves.

Without seeing your dog, I can't really know if you are feeding her too much or not enough.  Same thing goes without knowing which brand of food she is on.  Generally the serving size on the bag is pretty accurate, although sometimes you can cut the amount back by a 1/3 if it is too much for you dog.  Pugs tend to be a little more compact, but you should still be able to feel her ribs without having to push in.  You should be able to feel her ribs right under the skin, but not see them.  Also, you shouldn't have to push through too much fat to be able to feel them either.  And if you can't feel them, well then it's time to go on a diet.  Since she is 7 years old, it won't be too much longer before you will want to switch her to a senior diet as well.  

I hope that helped...if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask, I'll help any way I can.

Amanda