Puppy Vaccination Schedule in Kerala: Week-by-Week Guide for 2026

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) publishes the vaccination guidelines most vets worldwide refer to. Its 2024 edition splits vaccines into core (every dog, everywhere), core-in-certain-places, and non-core (depending on lifestyle). For a dog in Kerala, that works out as:

• •Canine distemper virus: a severe viral disease affecting the gut, lungs and nervous system.
• •Canine adenovirus (CAV-2 in the vaccine), which protects against infectious canine hepatitis.
• •Canine parvovirus type 2: a highly contagious cause of vomiting and bloody diarrhoea, especially dangerous for young puppies.
• •Rabies: WSAVA treats rabies vaccine as core wherever the disease is endemic, which includes India.
• •Leptospirosis: WSAVA now treats it as core where the disease occurs, the local strains are known and suitable vaccines are available. Kerala fits that description.

In India these first three are usually given together as a combination injection, often labelled DHPP, DA2PP or a 7-in-1 or 9-in-1 vaccine. Combinations sold in India may also include parainfluenza, leptospirosis or canine coronavirus. WSAVA lists parainfluenza as non-core for pet dogs and does not recommend the coronavirus vaccine, so ask your vet what each part of the combination is for.

Here is the shape of a typical plan. Your vet may shift a dose by a week or two to fit the product leaflet, the puppy's health or a local outbreak.

• •2 to 8 weeks: deworming begins (see below). The breeder should hand over these dates.
• •6 to 8 weeks: first core dose (distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus). WSAVA says to start no earlier than 6 weeks.
• •8 to 12 weeks: second core dose, 2 to 4 weeks after the first. The first leptospirosis dose is usually given from 8 weeks, depending on the product.
• •10 to 16 weeks: second leptospirosis dose, 2 to 4 weeks after the first. A third core dose falls in this window.
• •About 12 weeks (3 months): first rabies vaccine in most Indian practice. WSAVA says to follow local laws and the product leaflet, and notes that in some countries the first dose is not given before 12 weeks.
• •16 weeks or older: the final puppy core dose. WSAVA says this dose should not be given earlier than 16 weeks, and 18 to 20 weeks may be better where exposure risk is high.
• •At or after 26 weeks (about 6 months): another core dose to protect the few puppies whose maternal antibodies blocked earlier doses. Your vet may offer an antibody blood test from 20 weeks instead.
• •About 1 year: annual health check, rabies booster and leptospirosis booster.

Why so many doses? Antibodies from the mother's milk protect a newborn puppy but also neutralise vaccines, and they fade at a different age in every puppy, sometimes after 12 to 14 weeks. Repeating doses until 16 weeks or later closes that gap.

Once the puppy series and the 26-week dose are done, the plan settles into a simple rhythm:

• •Distemper, adenovirus and parvovirus (modified-live vaccines): WSAVA recommends revaccinating at about 3 years of age and then no more often than every 3 years, because these vaccines give long-lasting immunity. Inactivated versions do not last as long, so your vet may advise differently.
• •Leptospirosis: every year. Immunity from current leptospirosis vaccines is thought to last less than 18 months, so annual boosters matter, ideally before the monsoon.
• •Rabies: as local rules and the vaccine's licensed duration require. Rabies vaccines with 1-year and 3-year durations exist. In Kerala, a dog licence is renewed every financial year with a fresh rabies vaccination certificate, which is why many Kerala vets and owners vaccinate against rabies every year.

If a dog's leptospirosis protection has lapsed for 18 months or more, WSAVA's precautionary advice is to start again with two doses 2 to 4 weeks apart. For an adult dog with no known history, one dose of modified-live core vaccine is very likely enough for dogs over 26 weeks, plus rabies and the two-dose leptospirosis course.

Leptospirosis, known in Malayalam as eli-pani (എലിപ്പനി, rat fever), is carried mainly by rats, and dogs can catch it from water, mud or puddles contaminated with infected urine. Kerala's heavy monsoon and recurring floods make that exposure common, and veterinary researchers working in Thrissur, Palakkad and Kozhikode describe Kerala as endemic for canine leptospirosis. It also infects people, which is one more reason to keep the household dog vaccinated.

Rabies (pevisha-badha, പേവിഷബാധ) is the vaccine nobody in India should skip. The World Health Organization says rabies is virtually 100 percent fatal once symptoms appear, and dogs cause up to 99 percent of human cases. Vaccinating dogs is the most cost-effective way to protect people.

If your puppy shows vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, refusal to eat, sudden weakness, yellow gums or eyes, or any change in behaviour after a bite or scratch from another animal, do not wait for the next scheduled visit: go to a vet now.

Vaccines do not protect against worms or ticks, and Kerala's warm, humid weather suits both.

• •Deworming: the Tropical Council for Companion Animal Parasites (TroCCAP) advises deworming puppies from 2 weeks of age and every 2 weeks until 8 weeks, then continuing on a regular plan. It also suggests stool testing at routine visits and at least every 3 months. Hookworms can infect people too.
• •Ticks: tick-borne blood infections such as Babesia and Ehrlichia are a real problem for dogs in South India. Ticks are active most of the year in Kerala, not just in summer.
• •Your vet chooses the products, the frequency and the dose for your puppy's age and weight. Do not use adult-dog products on a young puppy without advice.

Our tick and flea guide for Kerala covers checking, removal and prevention in more detail.

A neat vaccination card saves time at every vet, boarding, grooming and licence visit. WSAVA recommends that each entry shows:

• •Date given and the next due date.
• •Vaccine name and manufacturer, ideally the peel-off sticker with batch number and expiry.
• •The vet's name, signature or clinic stamp.
• •WSAVA also suggests certificates state how long the dog is expected to be protected, which helps boarding staff read the card.

Alongside the card, keep deworming and tick-prevention dates, your vet's phone number, and your dog licence from the panchayat, municipality or corporation. Photograph every page and keep the photos on your phone.

At Neolokam, every dog boarding at the farm needs up-to-date rabies, distemper, parvovirus and leptospirosis vaccination with proof, tick prevention applied within 3 days before arrival, and a trial visit before the first stay. Bring the card to the trial visit so the team can check the dates.

The short answer: when your vet says the vaccination series is complete for your puppy. Before that, WSAVA supports early socialisation because it matters so much for behaviour, but in a controlled way:

• •Meet healthy puppies and fully vaccinated adult dogs you know.
• •Carry your puppy to see traffic, people and new sounds rather than walking on public ground.
• •Avoid roadsides, beaches, parks and anywhere unknown dogs toilet until your vet gives the go-ahead.

Boarding, daycare and group play bring many dogs together, so plan them for after the final puppy doses and any wait your vet advises. Ask the boarding facility what it needs to see. For Neolokam's puppy boarding, the team checks vaccination records at the trial visit before any stay is confirmed.

• •The last puppy dose was given before 16 weeks and nothing followed.
• •Only one leptospirosis dose, with the second never given.
• •Rabies missing because the puppy was too young at the last visit and no one booked it later.
• •Boosters that lapsed during a family move or a long trip abroad.
• •A card with handwritten dates but no vaccine name or clinic stamp.

Each of these is easy to fix with a short vet visit, but it takes weeks if a two-dose course is needed. Check your dog's card a month before any trip or boarding stay, not the night before.