The best deworming products to give your dog are prescribed by a veterinarian, so it usually requires an exam. Whether we send it home for you to give at home, you’ll get the best product. You may pick some up at a supermarket or pet store but, again, I recommend they be prescribed by your veterinarian.

It's a pretty simple, straightforward diagnostic. We collect some stool, whether you bring it here or we collect it in-house. We do a fecal float to see if there are any eggs, and we look at that under the microscope.

I would recommend it unless there's some reason why not to do so in their history. It's always good to have that immunity on board, especially for our older patients if they can tolerate the vaccines. It’s beneficial for them to have that extra immunity against diseases.

The leptospirosis vaccine is a well-known non-core vaccine. Lepto is a three-shot series at 6, 12, 16 weeks, and we then give it annually as well. We can also vaccinate against Lyme Disease. These vaccinations depend on exposure and what kind of environments the dog is typically in.

Yes, they are, especially rabies. If another dog bites your dog, you would hope that your dog and the other dog are vaccinated against rabies because certain things can come into play, such as the need to quarantine or even euthanize one or both dogs.