Puppy Care in Hickory
Welcome to the wonderful mayhem. Bringing home a new puppy is one of the great joys of life, and also one of the more chaotic ones. Springs Road Animal Hospital is here to help you navigate those early months with confidence, from first vaccines to housetraining questions and everything in between.
Why the First Months Matter
The first six months of a puppy’s life are when the foundation gets built. Their immune system is still developing, their bones and joints are still forming, and the experiences they have during this period shape who they’ll be for the rest of their life. The right early care — medical, nutritional, behavioral — sets your puppy up for a longer, healthier, and frankly more enjoyable life together.
We recommend scheduling your puppy’s first wellness visit within a few days of bringing them home, even if they’ve already been seen at a previous facility. It gives us the chance to establish a baseline, answer your questions while they’re fresh, and start building the kind of vet-pet relationship that pays off for years to come.
What’s Included in a Puppy Wellness Visit
A typical puppy visit at Springs Road covers more ground than a standard adult exam, because there’s more ground to cover.
Comprehensive physical exam: We’ll evaluate your puppy nose-to-tail — checking for congenital issues, assessing growth and body condition, and examining everything from the heart and lungs to the teeth and joints. We’ll also answer the questions every new puppy parent has: How big will they get? Is this normal? Should I be worried about that?
Vaccinations: Puppies need a series of vaccines spaced over the first few months to build proper immunity. Core vaccines protect against diseases like distemper, parvovirus, leptospirosis, and rabies, while lifestyle-based vaccines (such as Bordetella, influenza, and Lyme) are recommended based on where your puppy lives and what they’ll be exposed to. We’ll talk through what’s right for your specific pup.
Parasite prevention: Puppies are prone to intestinal parasites such as roundworms and hookworms. Many are born with them or get them from their mom or littermates. We’ll perform fecal testing and start your puppy on appropriate deworming and prevention. We’ll also start them on flea, tick, and heartworm prevention, all of which are far easier to prevent than to treat.
Microchipping: A microchip is a tiny, permanent form of ID that gives your puppy the best chance of finding their way home if they ever slip the leash or escape the yard. It’s a simple, one-time procedure that can be done during a wellness visit or at the time of spay or neuter surgery.
Spay and neuter timing: We’ll talk through when to spay or neuter your puppy. Timing varies by breed and size, especially for larger dogs. We’ll help you make the decision that’s right for your specific pup.
Nutrition and behavior guidance: Puppy food, training treats, when to switch to adult food, how to handle housetraining, when to start socialization, what to do about chewing…it’s a lot, and we’re here to talk through all of it. Puppies don’t come with instructions, but a good vet visit comes pretty close.
To schedule your puppy’s first visit, request an appointment online or call us at (828) 256-2151. We can’t wait to meet them.
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