Puppies get two core vaccines: DHPP at 8, 12, and 16 weeks (start 6-8 weeks, repeat every 2-4 weeks until at least 16 weeks) and rabies once at 12-16 weeks. Each visit runs $75-$150 at a full-service vet, making the core series about $330 typical ($225-$450). Boosters come one year after the final puppy dose, then it's a rabies shot every 1-3 years and DHPP every 3 for life.
| Age | What's given | Why this week |
|---|---|---|
| 6-8 weeks | DHPP #1 | Maternal antibodies fade enough for vaccines to work; breeders often dose at 6-7 |
| ~8 weeks | Vet visit #1: DHPP #1, exam, deworming check | First full checkup; the visit where you plan the rest |
| 12 weeks | DHPP #2 + Bordetella + lepto/flu/Lyme #1 | Lifestyle vaccines stack onto the second core dose |
| 16 weeks | DHPP #3 + rabies | The 16-week finisher guarantees the series took; state law sets the rabies minimum age |
| ~68 weeks | DHPP booster + rabies booster | One year after the final puppy dose |
| Every 3 years after | DHPP; rabies every 1-3 years by state | Adult maintenance for life |
That's the whole architecture: three visits, two core vaccines, and a one-year booster that transitions your puppy to the adult calendar. The schedule follows AAHA's 2022 canine vaccination guidelines, which is the standard your vet is working from too.
DHPP doses run $20-$60 each, rabies $20-$45, Bordetella about $30, and lepto, flu, and Lyme about $35 per dose. But you pay by the visit, and the visit — exam plus vaccines — is the $75-$150 unit. Multiply by three core visits and the math lands at $225-$450, around $330 typical. A year that includes Bordetella and lepto runs closer to $430 typical, with the national spread for first-year vaccines running $150-$800 by region and clinic type.
Low-cost vaccine clinics (humane societies, feed-store events, mobile units) cut the per-visit number roughly in half. The trade is real: no exam, no heartworm test, no one catching the umbilical hernia or the heart murmur. Many puppy owners split the difference — clinic for the middle dose, full-service for the first and last visits.
Enter a birthdate and get the full visit calendar with vaccine pricing — greyed-out rows show what should already be done.
Open the Puppy Vaccination Schedule Calculator →The 6-to-8-week start isn't tradition, it's immunology: antibodies from mother's milk neutralize vaccines given too early, so a 4-week-old shot does nothing. The 2-4 week spacing keeps protection continuous while those antibodies fade. And the 16-week finisher exists because a stubborn few puppies still carry maternal antibodies at 14 weeks — a dose at 16 weeks or later is the guarantee the series took. This is also why a puppy who started late doesn't need extra doses at the end; the vet simply continues the series until a dose lands at 16+ weeks.
The hardest weeks of puppy ownership are the ones where your puppy's socialization window (open until roughly 14-16 weeks) overlaps an incomplete vaccine series. The working consensus among vets: carry your puppy in public, let them meet vaccinated dogs in clean homes, skip the dog park and the pet-store floor until the series is done at 16 weeks. Parvovirus is the disease that fills the cautionary tales — it survives months in soil and hits unvaccinated puppies hard. The socialization you can't skip: puppy classes that require vaccine records are structured for exactly this gap and are considered worth the managed risk.
If daycare or boarding is in the plan, Bordetella and flu are effectively mandatory. Lepto is the one that's quietly shifted from "optional" to "most dogs should" in the last decade — it spreads through wildlife urine and standing water, which describes most suburbs.
The adult calendar is simple: DHPP every 3 years, rabies every 1 or 3 years depending on your state and the product your vet stocks. The one-year booster visit is also the natural time for the first heartworm test and a weight recheck. For budgeting the rest of dog ownership, the cost of owning a dog calculator prices food, preventives, and vet care by size, and the vet visit cost calculator breaks down what routine and emergency visits run. For the puppy in front of you right now, the puppy feeding calculator handles the other urgent question — how much and how often to feed.
Plan on three core visits: DHPP at 8, 12, and 16 weeks, with the rabies vaccine folded into the final visit (it's given once, at 12-16 weeks). Some puppies start the series at 6-7 weeks with a breeder or shelter dose, which can add a fourth DHPP. Lifestyle vaccines like lepto and canine influenza add two doses each, usually stacked onto the 12- and 16-week visits.
A gap of a few weeks is recoverable — the vet resumes the series rather than restarting it, and the rule that matters is that the final DHPP lands at 16 weeks or later. A longer gap (months) may mean an extra dose to be safe. Missed rabies is more procedural: your state's license requirements and facility rules kick in, and a lapsed adult rabies booster can reset your dog to a 1-year certificate in some states.
Some farm-store DHPP and Bordetella products are sold over the counter, and breeders commonly use them for early doses. But rabies must be administered by a veterinarian (or under veterinary supervision where state law allows) to count for licensing, and a vet-administered series comes with the exam that catches the other things puppies need — parasites, heartworm prevention, growth checks. The common split: breeder doses before 8 weeks, vet visits from 8 weeks on.
Modern puppy vaccines are among the most used medical products in veterinary medicine, and serious reactions are rare — mild lethargy or a sore spot for a day is the common response. The diseases they prevent are the real risk: parvovirus still kills unvaccinated puppies routinely, and distemper is devastating. If your puppy has reacted to a vaccine before, tell the vet; they can pre-treat or split the schedule.
Budget $75-$150 per full-service visit and three core visits: about $330 typical for DHPP plus rabies, with a national range of $225-$450 on the core alone. Adding Bordetella (about $30) and lepto (two doses at about $35 each) brings a typical loaded year to $430. Low-cost vaccine clinics — feed stores, humane societies, mobile clinics — cut the per-visit cost roughly in half when you don't need an exam.