Preventive Care for New Dog Owners: What to Organise in the First Three Months

When you get a new dog - especially a puppy - you're handed a lot of information at once. Breeders give you vaccination cards. Rescue centres give you a history that may or may not be complete. Friends give you advice. Vets give you leaflets. According to the PDSA PAW Mini Report 2025, 14% of UK dog owners had owned their current dog for one year or less - representing around 1.5 million dogs - making new owner education one of the most impactful areas of pet health support.

The result is often a pile of information that's hard to organise into a clear picture of what needs to happen next. This guide cuts through it.

Week one: register and assess what you have

Your first job is to register with a vet if you don't have one, or confirm your existing practice can take on a new patient. Don't wait until something is wrong.

At the same time, gather whatever paperwork came with your dog:

• Vaccination card (what was given, when, and by which vet)
• Worming and flea treatment records
• Microchip documentation (including the database the chip is registered with)
• Any health test results (relevant for pedigree breeds - hip scores, eye tests, DNA panels)

If records are incomplete or missing - common with rescues and some imported dogs - a first vet appointment will establish a baseline and determine what needs to be repeated.

The vaccination question

For puppies who haven't completed their primary course, your vet will advise on what remains and when they can go outside safely after the final vaccine. Typically full socialisation access is possible two weeks after the second vaccine in the primary course - but follow your vet's specific guidance.

For adult dogs, if you have a complete vaccination card showing recent annual boosters, you're up to date. If records are uncertain, your vet can check titre levels (a blood test that measures antibody levels) to determine whether revaccination is needed rather than automatically repeating everything.

Don't let vaccination records lapse during a house move or vet change. It's easy for dogs to fall off reminder lists when there's a transition, and lapsed vaccinations mean repeating parts of the primary course. The PDSA PAW Mini Report 2025 found that 80% of UK dogs receive regular booster vaccinations - but the BSAVA has warned of a concerning decline in uptake, noting that millions of pets are at risk of deadly diseases like parvovirus as herd immunity falls in some communities.

Microchip registration

In the UK, microchipping dogs under 20 weeks and registering them on an authorised database is a legal requirement. This has been the case since 2016; the rules were tightened in 2024 to include keeping registration details current.

When you get a new dog:

• Have the microchip scanned to confirm it's readable
• Verify which database it's registered on (the vet can look this up via a central search tool)
• Transfer or update the registered contact details to yours

There are multiple databases operating in the UK. If you're not sure which one your dog is on, Petlog, Microchip.me, and the UK Petbase system all offer chip lookup. A vet can also do this.

Parasite prevention in the first months

Fleas: Start treatment as soon as you bring the dog home, or confirm when the previous owner last treated and with what product. Prescription treatments (Bravecto, NexGard, Advocate, etc.) are significantly more reliable than supermarket products.

Worms: Puppies should be wormed more frequently than adults - typically every two weeks until 12 weeks, then monthly until six months, then quarterly. Rescued dogs should be wormed immediately regardless of stated history.

Ticks: If you're in a tick-risk area or walk regularly in woodland, moorland, or heathland, discuss tick prevention with your vet. Some combination products cover both fleas and ticks.

Lungworm: Ask your vet whether lungworm prevention is appropriate for your area and your dog's lifestyle. The risk is higher in some parts of the UK than others, and the parasites are spread through contact with slugs and snails - something many dogs encounter without their owners realising.

Neutering

The timing of neutering is something worth discussing with your vet rather than following a blanket schedule. Guidelines have shifted in recent years. There's evidence that early neutering in some larger breeds may affect joint development - for some dogs, waiting until physical maturity is recommended.

For puppies and young dogs, your vet will advise based on breed, size, and sex. There's no universal "right age," and the answer for a 25kg male Labrador is different from the answer for a 6kg female Bichon Frise.

Dental care from the start

The best time to start tooth brushing is when you first get the dog. An adult dog who has never had their teeth touched is much harder to acclimatise than a puppy who learns it's part of normal routine. Start with just handling the mouth and lips. Move to a brush or finger brush gradually. Use dog-specific toothpaste.

You won't achieve perfect compliance immediately. But starting early - even imperfectly - prevents significantly worse dental disease outcomes later.

What to record from day one

Starting a health record when you get the dog, rather than after the first health scare, means you have baseline data when you need it. The most useful things to capture early:

• Weight on arrival (and monthly for the first year)
• Vaccination dates and products
• Worming and flea treatment dates and products
• Microchip number and database
• Name of the breeder or rescue and contact details
• Vet practice name, address, and phone number (including out-of-hours)

A new dog arrives with a history you don't have full visibility of. Building the record from the point they join your household means that over time, you create a picture that's genuinely yours.

Frequently Asked Questions

My rescue centre gave me a health pack - is that enough? It's a starting point. Rescue packs often include vaccination records and microchip information, but may not include worming or flea history. Book a check-up with your vet within the first few weeks to fill in any gaps and establish a relationship with a practice.

The previous owner says my dog has been vaccinated but I don't have the card. What do I do? Ask your vet to check for vaccination records via the previous vet's practice if you have that information. Alternatively, a titre test can check antibody levels for core diseases. If neither is possible, your vet will advise whether to start again or proceed without a full history.

My puppy's breeder said they've been wormed - does that cover me? Breeders typically worm litters, but the gap between breeder worming and when the puppy arrives with you is usually enough to warrant another treatment. For most worming protocols, treating again isn't a problem - the risk from undertreating is significantly higher than the risk from an additional dose.

When should I get pet insurance? Before the first claim. Insurance policies typically exclude pre-existing conditions, so getting cover early means anything that develops later in life is likely to be covered. Some conditions become apparent in the puppy stage; insuring before these are flagged gives you the best terms.

How do I find a good vet? Ask local dog owners for recommendations, check that the practice is registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and look for practices with the RCVS Practice Standard accreditation. Proximity matters - a vet ten minutes away is more useful in a genuine emergency than the best practice in your region forty minutes out.