Vaccinating your own puppies is not for the faint of heart. It can however save you lots on money and trips to the vet, but you must be committed to learning the proper way of giving your puppy shots.

Just recently, I became the mother to 2 new chihuahua puppies. My son got a third brother from the same litter. When we went to get their puppy shots we were shocked at the cost - and decided to re-think how they were going to get them. A friend of ours from church had told us that we should try giving the puppies their shots ourselves. I was aghast at first about the thought of even touching one of my puppies with a needle (I'm one of those needle-phobic people) but my husband, on the other hand, thought this was a good idea and decided we should give it a shot.

I suppose for a nurse or medical professional the thought of giving your puppy a shot might not be a big deal, but for me I was a nervous wreck. Knowing that doing this would save us about $300 though, I decided it was definitely at least worth looking into. I decided to do some research on the Internet, and talk to the local feed store owner, who sold "puppy shot packages" in his store. (You can also purchase puppy shot packs on the internet)

What I found out was that there are quite a few people who routinely do this and have no problems giving their puppies vaccinations. Our friend from church was one of them. He explained that his family had always given their family dogs shots the entire time he was growing up, and that it was a natural thing for them.

Still not being quite convinced, I sat on the fence about doing anything for a good week or two.

Finally I got up the nerve to go purchase the puppy vaccination shots, and offered to be my husbands assistant while he gave them their shots. I still wasn't thrilled about being involved in this but figured it was better for me to hold them and help him then some stranger. At least the puppies would be in good hands (but probably hate me for the rest of my life)

The first thing you need to decide is where to give your puppy his/her shots. (We decided to go with the most common injection site - the back of the neck) The 2 methods of injection are:

• Subcutaneously: This method of injection involves delivering the vaccine into the fatty tissue just below the skin's surface.
• Intramuscularly: This type of injection is delivered into the muscle tissue, typically in the fleshy part of a dog's thigh.

DIRECTIONS ON VACCINATING YOUR PUPPY:

• Draw up the liquid diluent from the vial into a syringe.
• Insert the syringe into the vial containing the powder.
• Push down on the syringe's plunger to release the liquid.
• Remove the syringe.
• Shake the vial to mix the powder and diluent until all the powder is dissolved (make sure it is mixed thoroughly)
  
• Draw up the mixed liquid using the syringe.
• Place the puppy on a flat surface and hold the puppy firmly.
• Using a cotton ball, rub some alcohol onto the puppy's neck- just before the shoulder blades.
• Pull the puppy's neck skin up using your fingers.
• Push the needle gently under the raised skin.
• Pull the plunger of the syringe up slightly, making sure that no blood enters the syringe. If there is blood, you have inserted the needle into a vein-- Don't inject the vaccine into a vein! Just remove the syringe and try again if this happens.
• If there is no blood, push the plunger of the syringe to inject the vaccine.
• Remove the syringe.
• Gently massage the area for a few seconds (there may be a small bump which will go down by massaging the area)
  
• Praise and pet your puppy.
• Make sure you put the used needle into a “Sharps” container.

I will not pretend that vaccinating our puppies was an easy or simple thing for me to do. I am used to taking all my animals to a vet and getting it done, but now that we have so many animals I realize that this is the most sensible and cost saving way to make sure that all of our animals get their proper shots (We have 4 dogs and 4 cats now)

And the puppies actually did pretty well. Of course it was a little uncomfortable for them but they forgave us fast, and within minutes they were off playing again. One word of caution however - do make sure you keep an eye on your puppy after their shots to make sure they don't have an allergic reaction.

I think I was more of a wreck than they were!

(If this article has been helpful for you a thumbs up would be awesome. Dorsi is a freelance writer and blogger in the SF Bay Area)