Prancing Pony Farm Maremma Sheepdogs and Mini Dairy Goats
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  • Maremma Sheepdogs for Sale
    • Maremma Testimonials
    • Available Maremma Puppies and Adults >
      • Puppy Questionnaire
      • Maremma Sales Policies
      • Puppy Placement Policies
      • Shipping Maremma Puppies
      • Breeding Candidate Puppy Program
    • Maremma Visitor Policy
    • How we Raise and Train our Maremma Puppies >
      • Our New Puppy Parlor
      • The Importance of Early Socialization in LGD Puppies
      • How Many LGD's do I Need?
    • Our Maremma Sheepdogs >
      • Our Breeding Maremmas
      • Reference Maremmas
    • Maremma Litters - Past & Present >
      • May 2022 Litter Polar x Sevro
      • May 2022 Litter Marisa x Simba
      • February 2022 Litter Celeste x Sevro
      • December 2021 Litter Gianna x Simba
      • October 2021 Litter Marcella x Sevro
      • May 2021 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • February 2021 Litter Simba x Marcella
      • February 2021 Litter Sevro x Polar
      • December 2020 Litter Sevro x Gianna
      • September 2020 Litter Olaf x Carina
      • August 2020 Litter Simba x Polar
      • January 2020 Litter Olaf x Carina
      • 2019 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • 2018 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • 2017 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • Our Puppies in Their New Homes
    • About Maremma Sheepdogs >
      • Training Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Maremma Sheepdog Forum
      • Maremma Sheepdog Open Forum Facebook Group
      • Maremma Sheepdog FAQ's
    • Maremma Sheepdog Care >
      • Feeding our Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Goat Milk for Healthy Dogs and Puppies
      • Vaccine and Parasite Protocol for Our Maremma Puppies
      • Grooming Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Housing Maremmas
      • Favorite Dog Products
      • Whelping Supplies for LGD's
  • Maremma Blog
  • Goats for Sale
    • Baby Goats For Sale
    • Adult Goats for Sale
    • Nigerian Dwarf Kids 2022
    • Mini Nubian Kids 2022
    • Breeding Plan Goats
    • Goat Questionnaire
    • Shipping Goats
    • Goat Sales Policies
    • Goat Stud service info
  • Dairy Goat Blog
    • Our Prancing Ponies
    • Fun Farm videos
  • Our Dairy Goat Herd
    • Mini Nubian Does
    • Mini Nubian Bucks
    • Reference Mini Nubian Does
    • Reference Mini Nubian Bucks
    • Standard Nubian Does
    • Nigerian Dwarf Does
    • Nigerian Dwarf Bucks
    • Reference Nigerian Dwarf Does
    • Reference Nigerian Dwarf Bucks
    • Past Kidding Seasons >
      • Fall 2021 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • Spring 2021 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • Spring 2021 Mini Nubian Kids
      • 2020 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • 2020 Mini Nubian Kids
      • 2019 Fall Kids
      • 2019 Spring Kids
      • 2018 Fall Kids
      • 2018 Spring Kids
      • 2018 Mini Nubian kids
      • 2018 Nigerian Dwarf kids
      • 2017 Spring Kids
  • Goat care & Info
    • Goat care articles
    • Useful Animal Products & Links
    • Supplies for Goats
    • Favorite Goat products
    • Annual Disease Testing of Goats
    • Bringing Home Your New Goat
    • Health concerns of your new goat
    • Feeding Our Mini Dairy Goats
    • Feeding Mini & Dwarf Baby Goats
    • Housing Does & Kids
    • Goat Parasites
    • Pneumonia in Goats
    • Goat Hoof Trimming
    • Milking Dairy Goats
    • Our Dairy Goat Milking Parlor
    • Clicker Training Goats
    • Disbudding Mini & Dwarf Goats
    • Nigerian Dwarf Goats
    • Mini Nubian Goats
    • Mini Nubian Ears
    • Dairy Goat FAQ's

Our Vaccination and Parasite Control Protocol for Our Maremma Puppies

Deworming, Giardia and Coccidiosis

Parasite control is very important in puppies, particularly puppies that spend any time outdoors or whose mothers live outdoors or go outside a lot, such as LGD puppies. They can get parasites directly from their mother via the placenta or from her milk, or some types of parasites, such as giardia, can be brought in on her fur after she goes outdoors, especially if she spends any time in ponds, puddles or other wet areas. Puppies who are heavily infested with parasites sometimes have poor weight gain, rough coats, failure to thrive, diarrhea (often bloody) and dehydration. Certain types of parasites such as giardia and coccidiosis are particularly dangerous and can mimic parvoviruses in the severity of their symptoms.

You can lose puppies quickly from these side effects so the best way to prevent problems is to start a very strict parasite control program beginning at 2 weeks old (sooner for coccidiosis) and stick with it until the puppies are past the critical stage. Below is the parasite control program we use, with links to recommended products. If you are a breeder or puppy owner you can follow this protocol with your puppies but we suggest discussing things with your veterinarian first. We are not veterinarians and are not giving medical advice; only sharing what we do.

First you’ll need to weigh your puppy because the dosage is very important. Below are the scales we use for various ages. 
All products can be administered with with 1, 3 or 5 ml luer slip syringes. Use the 1 ml syringe for puppies and dogs under 22 lbs, the 3 ml for puppies and dogs 22-65 lbs and the 5 ml for larger pups and dogs.
Ideally you should also treat the puppies’ mom 10 days before she whelps and whenever you treat the puppies. We do this and have found that being diligent in treating mom really helps keep the puppies parasite free.

Intestinal Worms: Roundworms, Hookworms, Whipworms, Tapeworms

Puppies should be dewormed starting at 2 weeks old repeating every 2 weeks until 2 months old, then once a month until 6 months old. So deworm at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 weeks, then 4, 5 & 6 months. The drug used depends on the age and the type of parasite they have or are at risk for.

Roundworms & Hookworms

We treat at 2 & 4 weeks with Pyrantol Pamoate 50 mg/ml suspension. This is the same ingredient in Nemex 2 canine dewormer, only we use the human version, purchased at Amazon, because it’s much cheaper. It comes in a couple of different sizes and you don’t need a lot, so choose the size that works best for you. You administer it with 1, 3 or 5 ml syringes. Use the 1 ml syringe for puppies and dogs under 22 lbs, the 3 ml for puppies and dogs 22-65 lbs and the 10 ml for larger pups and dogs..
Dosage Charts for Dogs & Puppies - Pyrantol Pamoate 50 MG/ML Suspension
Dose at 4.55 mg per lb for pups under 6 lbs and 2.27 mg per lb for pups 6 lbs and up. See dosing charts below.
For more info on this deworming protocol see this website

Six Weeks and Up - Roundworms, Hookworks, Whipworms, Tapeworms and Giardia

Safeguard 10% Fenbendazole Goat Dewormer - 1 ML per 5 Lbs Body Weight
Starting at 6 weeks we switch to Safeguard 10% Fenbendazole Goat Dewormer to cover Giardia and tapeworms in addition to other intestinal worms. (If we suspect a Giardia problem we will start the Fenbendazole at 4 weeks.) This is given at the rate of 1 ML per 5 lbs, for 3 days in a row for worms only or 5 days in a row to cover Giardia, as well. Repeat weekly at 6 & 8 weeks, then monthly until 6 months. Personally we usually continue weekly treatments until 10 or 12 weeks, just because puppies are more at risk when there are more of them living together and living outdoors. We feel it’s better to stay on top of things. Some people recommend treating only for 3 days for giardia and others say 9 days if they have a known infection. We generally do 5 days in a row, every 2 weeks.

We buy the Safeguard in 1000 ML bottles but the 125 ML Safeguard is probably enough unless you’re a breeder. you You’ll need 10 ML syringes or a goat dosing syringe to dose bigger puppies and dogs.

Very resistant cases of Giardia can be given Metronidazole, instead of or in addition to Fenbendazole. This is a prescription drug so you’ll need to get it from your veterinarian. We do keep it on hand and use it for resistant cases, in addition to the Safeguard. Oregano Oil is said to prevent Giardia but we haven’t tried that.

Coccidiosis

Coccidiosis is a highly dangerous intestinal infection caused by the coccidian protozoa. It can mimic canine parvovirus with severe diarrhea (sometimes bloody), vomiting, lethargy, anorexia, dehydration and the puppy generally being depressed and sickly. Puppies can die quickly from dehydration and malnourishment if not treated immediately. Really bad cases may require subcutaneous fluids, prescription medications and a special diet. It’s best to prevent coccidiosis before it gets a strangle hold on your puppies or to treat it aggressively at the first symptoms.

You can get prescription medications from your veterinarian to treat Coccidiosis or you can use
​ Toltrazuril 5% Suspension from Horseprerace.com.
​This is the drug we use to treat and prevent coccidiosis in both puppies and goats. It’s very expensive but works very well, so it’s worth it.

Toltrazuril Dosage 5% Suspension

Picture
FYI, puppies don’t get coccidiosis from other species, because the protozoa are host specific, but if you have goats, chickens etc and have a coccidiosis problem with them you’ll likely also have issues with puppies, simply because the conditions that favor the Protozoa are the same regardless of species.

The Toltrazuril dosage for goats is 1 ML per 5 lbs, but for for puppies the dosage is different and varies, depending on if you’re using it as preventative or a treatment. For prevention it’s 5 mg per lb, given once. Most people recommend the first dose at 4 days and then every 2 weeks from 2-14 weeks, but if you have a severe problem you can dose weekly.

To treat Coccidiosis infections (not just prevention) you triple the dosage to 15 mg per lb and treat for 5 days in a row.
*Beginning with our October 2021 litter we started a new protocol for Coccidiosis prevention. We use a product called Cocciguard which we get from Revival Animal Health. This is a powdered coccidiostat designed for livestock. We mix it into our puppy food at the rate of about 4 cups per 45 lb bag of food. We feed this to our females while they are pregnant or nursing, and when the puppies start solid food they get this same product in their food. We also add Doc Roy’s GI Synbiotics to the food at about 2 cups per 45 lb bag of dog food. We buy the 10 lb bags of Cocciguard and 25 lb bags of Doc Roy’s and pre-mix it into the puppy food bags as we fill the storage containers.

The Cocciguard is NOT a Coccidiosis treatment. It’s only a preventative. If we get an outbreak of Coccidiosis we still treat with Toltrazuril, but we have found that by using the Cocciguard it keeps the parasite at bay and we don’t need to treat. This stuff is amazing and we will definitely continue using it!

Probiotics to Restore Healthy Gut Flora

You should always use probiotics after treating for parasites or any time a puppy has digestive issues. Here are some we keep on hand and use:
  • Zesty Paws Probiotic for Dogs
  • Nutramax Proviable DC
  • Nutramax Proviable Kit
  • Doc Roy’s GI Symbiosis
Picture

Vaccine Information & Protocol

There are many different vaccine protocols and many different views on the best one for puppies. Some believe in vaccinating early and often with boosters every 1-3 years while others believe that is overkill, that most vaccines after the initial puppy series give immunity for life and that overvaccination is harming our pets. There is no “right” or “wrong” approach, nor any simple answers and we don’t recommend any protocol over another. We simply do what works for us. Every breeder or dog owner needs to do their own research, discuss this topic with their veterinarian and decide what protocol works best for them.

The most important thing to realize is that there are some diseases like canine parvovirus and distemper that are highly contagious and that can be extremely deadly, so you really do need to take vaccinations and protecting your puppies from these diseases seriously. Puppies get some immunity from their mothers and it’s not known exactly when this immunity wears off. It’s different for every dog, every litter and possibly even for every puppy within a litter. (Mom can have great antibodies but if a particular puppy didn’t get adequate colostrum it might not be protected as long as the other pups.) If you vaccinate too early the antibodies from the mom can cause the vaccine to not work at all. If you vaccinate too late those antibodies from mom may wear off and then if the puppy gets exposed to the diseases it can get very sick. Because of this most veterinarians recommend a series of vaccines, starting somewhere between 6 & 8 weeks and given every 2-4 weeks until the pups are around 16-18 weeks old.

Unfortunately because this is really just a guessing game there can be “gaps” in the coverage and even a properly vaccinated puppy CAN get sick with one of the diseases they have been vaccinated for. This is why you should keep your new puppy isolated until it has had ALL of its vaccinations. In particular don’t take it out to public places like dog parks, on walks, to the pet store, to hotels parking lots or rest stops (if traveling with your pup), or any public place where other dogs or wild animals such as foxes or coyotes could have been. Parvo in particular is highly contagious, can last for years outdoors and it only takes microscopic particles to infect your puppy. It can also be brought in on shoes, clothes and tires so we suggest that until your pup is fully vaccinated you change your clothes and shoes and wash your hands before handling you puppy if you’ve been out in public.

The veterinarian’s office is actually a highly dangerous place for a puppy. It’s best if you have a mobile vet that can come to you. That’s what we do. But if this isn’t an option then carry your puppy into the vet clinic, being sure it’s feet never touch the floor or furniture and making sure the examining table is sterilized before putting your puppy on it. Using a blanket or pad brought from home to set the puppy on would be even better.

This may all seem like overkill but it really can’t be stressed enough; to keep your puppies from getting sick you have to take appropriate precautions until they have had all of their vaccines and built a strong immune system. We do not even wear the same clothes or shoes into our puppy areas that we wear out in public, in order to protect our puppies. And we do not allow visitors into the puppy areas in order to protect our pups from these terrible diseases. We take protecting our puppies very seriously! We understand that some buyers would like to visit their puppy before they’re ready to go and we do sympathize. But if you are one of those people ask yourself this - based on all the information we just shared and the serious risk to all of the puppies do you want other buyers visiting YOUR puppy?

Below is the vaccine protocol we use on our puppies, with links to the vaccines used. We give every puppy buyer a copy of their puppy’s medical history but if you happen to lose it or want more info you can click on the links to see what vaccines we use and when we generally give them. Of course if your puppy goes home before the series is complete you’ll have to finish the vaccines yourself, and take the appropriate precautions until then, but this is the vaccine series we use on puppies that stay with us until they are 4-5 months old.
  • 6 weeks - NeoPar - Live vaccine for Canine Parvovirus only
  • 8-9 weeks Nobivac Canine 1-DAPPv - for Parvovirus, Distemper, Hepatitis, Adenovirus Type 2 & Parainfluenza
  • 12weeks Nobivac Canine 1-DAPPv - for Parvovirus, Distemper, Hepatitis, Adenovirus Type 2 & Parainfluenza
  • 16 weeks Nobivac Canine 1-DAPPv - for Parvovirus, Distemper, Hepatitis, Adenovirus Type 2 & Parainfluenza

Products to Help Firm up Loose Stools

Puppy Reservations
If you are interested in our Dairy Goats or Maremma Sheepdogs please fill out our Goat Questionnaire or Puppy Questionnaire. We are located in Lemoore, California.
Goat Reservations
Puppy Reservations
  • Home
    • Contact us
    • About Us
    • Farm Visits
    • Prancing Pony Farm Families FaceBook Group
  • Maremma Sheepdogs for Sale
    • Maremma Testimonials
    • Available Maremma Puppies and Adults >
      • Puppy Questionnaire
      • Maremma Sales Policies
      • Puppy Placement Policies
      • Shipping Maremma Puppies
      • Breeding Candidate Puppy Program
    • Maremma Visitor Policy
    • How we Raise and Train our Maremma Puppies >
      • Our New Puppy Parlor
      • The Importance of Early Socialization in LGD Puppies
      • How Many LGD's do I Need?
    • Our Maremma Sheepdogs >
      • Our Breeding Maremmas
      • Reference Maremmas
    • Maremma Litters - Past & Present >
      • May 2022 Litter Polar x Sevro
      • May 2022 Litter Marisa x Simba
      • February 2022 Litter Celeste x Sevro
      • December 2021 Litter Gianna x Simba
      • October 2021 Litter Marcella x Sevro
      • May 2021 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • February 2021 Litter Simba x Marcella
      • February 2021 Litter Sevro x Polar
      • December 2020 Litter Sevro x Gianna
      • September 2020 Litter Olaf x Carina
      • August 2020 Litter Simba x Polar
      • January 2020 Litter Olaf x Carina
      • 2019 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • 2018 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • 2017 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • Our Puppies in Their New Homes
    • About Maremma Sheepdogs >
      • Training Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Maremma Sheepdog Forum
      • Maremma Sheepdog Open Forum Facebook Group
      • Maremma Sheepdog FAQ's
    • Maremma Sheepdog Care >
      • Feeding our Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Goat Milk for Healthy Dogs and Puppies
      • Vaccine and Parasite Protocol for Our Maremma Puppies
      • Grooming Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Housing Maremmas
      • Favorite Dog Products
      • Whelping Supplies for LGD's
  • Maremma Blog
  • Goats for Sale
    • Baby Goats For Sale
    • Adult Goats for Sale
    • Nigerian Dwarf Kids 2022
    • Mini Nubian Kids 2022
    • Breeding Plan Goats
    • Goat Questionnaire
    • Shipping Goats
    • Goat Sales Policies
    • Goat Stud service info
  • Dairy Goat Blog
    • Our Prancing Ponies
    • Fun Farm videos
  • Our Dairy Goat Herd
    • Mini Nubian Does
    • Mini Nubian Bucks
    • Reference Mini Nubian Does
    • Reference Mini Nubian Bucks
    • Standard Nubian Does
    • Nigerian Dwarf Does
    • Nigerian Dwarf Bucks
    • Reference Nigerian Dwarf Does
    • Reference Nigerian Dwarf Bucks
    • Past Kidding Seasons >
      • Fall 2021 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • Spring 2021 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • Spring 2021 Mini Nubian Kids
      • 2020 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • 2020 Mini Nubian Kids
      • 2019 Fall Kids
      • 2019 Spring Kids
      • 2018 Fall Kids
      • 2018 Spring Kids
      • 2018 Mini Nubian kids
      • 2018 Nigerian Dwarf kids
      • 2017 Spring Kids
  • Goat care & Info
    • Goat care articles
    • Useful Animal Products & Links
    • Supplies for Goats
    • Favorite Goat products
    • Annual Disease Testing of Goats
    • Bringing Home Your New Goat
    • Health concerns of your new goat
    • Feeding Our Mini Dairy Goats
    • Feeding Mini & Dwarf Baby Goats
    • Housing Does & Kids
    • Goat Parasites
    • Pneumonia in Goats
    • Goat Hoof Trimming
    • Milking Dairy Goats
    • Our Dairy Goat Milking Parlor
    • Clicker Training Goats
    • Disbudding Mini & Dwarf Goats
    • Nigerian Dwarf Goats
    • Mini Nubian Goats
    • Mini Nubian Ears
    • Dairy Goat FAQ's