Puppy Parasite Management
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Good Dog is on a mission to educate the public, support dog breeders, and promote canine health so we can give our dogs the world they deserve.
Good Dog is on a mission to educate the public, support dog breeders, and promote canine health so we can give our dogs the world they deserve.
Good Dog is on a mission to educate the public, support dog breeders, and promote canine health so we can give our dogs the world they deserve.
Q: I have a lot of imported females and I am always confronted with a large amount of parasites - Giardia, Coccidia and sometimes only one or sometimes every kind of parasite. What is your parasite protocol for puppies from newborn to eight weeks?
Best puppy deworming at home? Puppy parasite management suggestions? Best practices for parasite management (including mom during gestation & in between litters)?
A: Thank you for asking about puppy parasite management. I think that one of the most important things we can do is raise parasite free puppies. By having a strict parasite protocol, starting with your adult dogs, the puppies are healthier. Before I share my personal protocol for parasite management, I am going to direct you to some fabulous information right here on Good Dog, pulled together by Good Dog’s own Judi Stella, PhD. on the types of parasites that we most commonly battle. https://www.gooddog.com/a/health/intestinal-parasite-prevention
My protocol, which has worked for me for many years, is to start with my adult dogs. We simply keep our dog areas as clean as possible to prevent any transmission through fecal matter. However, despite how clean we keep our areas, things always seem to creep in! A few years ago, I moved onto a new property and discovered that I had coccidia, so my protocol changed again. I now have all of my adult dogs on Cocciguard that I purchase from Revival. I follow the protocol that Dr. Bramlage outlines in this video https://www.revivalanimal.com/pet-health/managing-parasites-in-dogs-4/learning-center
Doing this has been a game-changer for me as my puppies seldom break with coccidia. This is done in conjunction with having my dogs on monthly wormer and topical flea and tick treatment. If your dog is MDR1, you need to be very careful of the treatments you use, so working with your vet is important.
Once my dog has been bred, and I have confirmed pregnancy, I start a low dose long term worming protocol using Safeguard liquid fenbendazole starting on day 40 of the pregnancy. Liquid Safeguard is available over the counter and can be purchased at Revival or on Amazon. For the pregnancy protocol the dose is 1cc per 8.8lbs of dog, on her food once a day, or mixed with yogurt or molasses. I use her weight at the date of pregnancy confirmation to determine the dose, and I do not change it. I continue this until 2-7 days post whelping. The reason for doing this is that the low dose and long-term use of this product kills the encysted parasite larvae in the tissues of her body. A fecal test does NOT test for encysted larvae, so having a negative fecal is good but not definitive for this. These encysted larvae become active during times of stress, aka pregnancy, and transfer to the puppies via milk and in utero. The good news is that Safeguard kills hookworms, whipworms and roundworms along with giardia parasite. So, by using the Cocciguard with your bitch, along with the Safeguard low dose regimen, you have built a parasite protocol to start your puppies off in the best way. If my puppies do break with coccidia, then I request ponazuril from my Veterinarian.
I follow a slightly different worming protocol with my puppies, as I am comfortable with my sturdy pregnancy parasite control. I do not worm my puppies until 3wks, again at 5wks, and at 8wks (often I will run a PCR fecal to check if it is even needed). When I worm my puppies, I use the liquid Safeguard or Nemex2.
Discuss your protocol with your Vet so that you can make a plan for the parasite type and load in your area.
