When should a puppy get its first shots?

AAHA's 2022 guidelines and the AVMA both put the start of the core series at six to eight weeks of age. Your vet sets the actual date, often at the first visit after the puppy comes home.

How many rounds of shots does a puppy need?

AAHA's table calls for at least three doses of the core combination vaccine between six and sixteen weeks, two to four weeks apart, with the last dose at sixteen weeks or older. A puppy who starts at six weeks will usually need more visits than one who starts at eight. A booster follows within a year of the last puppy dose, then every three years.

Why does the last puppy shot have to be at 16 weeks or later?

Antibodies from the mother can block the vaccine, and they fade at different speeds in different puppies. AAHA says they can persist for thirteen to fifteen weeks or longer against parvovirus, so the guidelines keep vaccinating until the puppy is older than sixteen weeks. WSAVA adds that a few puppies still do not respond, which is why it suggests a titre test or an extra dose at about twenty-six weeks.

When does a puppy get the rabies vaccine?

That is set by law where you live, not by a guideline. AAHA notes every licensed rabies vaccine is labelled for puppies three months and older, and recommends a booster a year after the first dose. Your vet will know the local requirement.

Which vaccines are optional for puppies?

AAHA calls them noncore: Lyme disease, Bordetella, canine influenza and the Western diamondback rattlesnake toxoid, recommended for some dogs by lifestyle, location and exposure. Leptospirosis is not on that list: AAHA's current table puts it with the core vaccines (distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus and rabies), recommended for every dog whatever its lifestyle. Your vet weighs the noncore ones against where your dog lives and goes.

My puppy is older than 16 weeks and has had no shots. Is it too late?

No. AAHA's guideline for a dog older than sixteen weeks is two doses of the core vaccine, two to four weeks apart, and for an unknown history its rule of thumb is: when in doubt, vaccinate. Book a visit now; your vet sets the catch-up.

Tools

Puppy vaccination schedule: when to ask your vet about each shot

Your puppy's birth date in; the dates to raise each vaccine with your vet out, from the published guidelines.

Not veterinary advice. We are not veterinarians. Your vet sets your puppy's schedule, and rabies timing is set by law where you live. This planner shows what the published guidelines say, so you know what to ask and roughly when.

Plan the vet visits

Puppy's date of birth

The first core shot was already given

Where will your dog spend time? (adds the lifestyle vaccines to discuss)

Enter the date of birth to see the dates to ask your vet about.

The core series by starting age, at a glance

Computed by the planner above. Each next dose falls two to four weeks after the last; when the 16-week mark is inside that window the plan uses the earliest day there, and otherwise it plans three weeks on, the middle of AAHA's range. The three-week choice is ours; your vet may space them differently.

Core puppy vaccine ages by starting age
First shot at	Core doses at (weeks)	Visits
6 weeks	6 · 9 · 12 · 16	4
7 weeks	7 · 10 · 13 · 16	4
8 weeks	8 · 11 · 14 · 16	4

After the series: a core booster within a year of the last dose (AAHA), or, as WSAVA suggests, a titre test at least four weeks after it or one more dose at about 26 weeks. Rabies from three months, by law. Leptospirosis, which AAHA lists as core, from 12 weeks in two doses two to four weeks apart, a booster within a year, then yearly.

How the planner works, and what it leaves to your vet

Every age and interval is from a guideline we opened. The core series, booster and leptospirosis timing are AAHA's 2022 table as AAHA now publishes it, which lists leptospirosis with the core vaccines; the six-to-eight-week start and the sixteen-weeks-or-older final dose are AAHA's, the AVMA's and WSAVA's; the twenty-six-week option is WSAVA's 2024 guideline.
The dates are planning dates, not appointments. Each one assumes the shot before it happens on the day shown. If a visit moves, the later ones move with it, which is why each line also shows its two-to-four-week window.
Rabies is the law's call. The planner shows the earliest age the vaccines are labelled for and says no more; the age of the first dose, the boosters and any exemptions are set where you live.
Lyme, Bordetella and influenza get no date. No guideline we read gives a starting age for them, so the planner lists them as questions for your vet, and only when the matching lifestyle toggle is on. They are AAHA's noncore vaccines; leptospirosis is core, so it is dated in every puppy plan.
It stops where the record runs out. A puppy past sixteen weeks with shots we cannot see, or a dog past the first birthday, gets the guideline in words and a prompt to book a visit, never an invented series.

What fits around the vet visits

The first vet visit belongs in the first week home; what else happens that week is in the first-week guide.
Waiting for the last shot is not a reason to put socialization on hold: WSAVA's guideline says careful socialization can begin before the series is complete. How to use those weeks safely is in the socialization window guide.
Plan the rest of the day, naps and toilet trips included, with the puppy schedule planner, and see the whole first stretch on the new-puppy stage page.

Questions about puppy vaccines

When should a puppy get its first shots?: AAHA's 2022 guidelines and the AVMA both put the start of the core series at six to eight weeks of age. Your vet sets the actual date, often at the first visit after the puppy comes home.
How many rounds of shots does a puppy need?: AAHA's table calls for at least three doses of the core combination vaccine between six and sixteen weeks, two to four weeks apart, with the last dose at sixteen weeks or older. A puppy who starts at six weeks will usually need more visits than one who starts at eight. A booster follows within a year of the last puppy dose, then every three years.
Why does the last puppy shot have to be at 16 weeks or later?: Antibodies from the mother can block the vaccine, and they fade at different speeds in different puppies. AAHA says they can persist for thirteen to fifteen weeks or longer against parvovirus, so the guidelines keep vaccinating until the puppy is older than sixteen weeks. WSAVA adds that a few puppies still do not respond, which is why it suggests a titre test or an extra dose at about twenty-six weeks.
When does a puppy get the rabies vaccine?: That is set by law where you live, not by a guideline. AAHA notes every licensed rabies vaccine is labelled for puppies three months and older, and recommends a booster a year after the first dose. Your vet will know the local requirement.
Which vaccines are optional for puppies?: AAHA calls them noncore: Lyme disease, Bordetella, canine influenza and the Western diamondback rattlesnake toxoid, recommended for some dogs by lifestyle, location and exposure. Leptospirosis is not on that list: AAHA's current table puts it with the core vaccines (distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus and rabies), recommended for every dog whatever its lifestyle. Your vet weighs the noncore ones against where your dog lives and goes.
My puppy is older than 16 weeks and has had no shots. Is it too late?: No. AAHA's guideline for a dog older than sixteen weeks is two doses of the core vaccine, two to four weeks apart, and for an unknown history its rule of thumb is: when in doubt, vaccinate. Book a visit now; your vet sets the catch-up.

Sources

AAHA — Recommendations for Core and Noncore Canine Vaccines (2022 guidelines, Table 2 as updated) — Which vaccines are core (distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus, leptospirosis, rabies) and noncore (Bordetella, Lyme, influenza, rattlesnake toxoid); at least three core doses between 6 and 16 weeks, 2 to 4 weeks apart; two doses for a dog over 16 weeks; a booster within a year of the last dose, then every three years; leptospirosis from 12 weeks in two doses, a booster within a year, then yearly; rabies as required by law; the Lyme, Bordetella and influenza dosing; and what to do with an overdue or unknown history.
AAHA — 2022 Canine Vaccination Guidelines (full paper, PDF) — The 6 to 8 week start, revaccination until older than 16 weeks with 18 to 20 weeks preferred in high-risk areas, rabies vaccines labelled from 3 months with a booster a year later and the law setting the rest, the leptospirosis risk factors, Lyme before travel, and influenza for dogs that board or mix at daycare and dog parks.
WSAVA — 2024 Guidelines for the Vaccination of Dogs and Cats (PDF) — The last puppy dose at 16 weeks or older, then either a titre test at least four weeks later or an extra core dose at or shortly after 26 weeks; rabies generally not before 12 weeks, local law first; and that careful socialization can begin before the series is complete.
AVMA — Vaccinating your pet — A puppy series starting at 6 to 8 weeks with the final dose at 16 weeks or older; Lyme for dogs where the ticks are; Bordetella and influenza for dogs that go where other dogs gather; and that the vet individualises the plan.

All opened and read on 2026-10-26. We are not veterinarians and this is not veterinary advice. A puppy who is lethargic, vomiting, has diarrhea or is off food, before or after a vaccine, should see a vet.