Health

The puppy vaccination clock

Every date below is counted from the day the puppies were born, so the whole schedule is fixed the moment a litter arrives. Some of these dates are Luxembourg law and cannot be moved. The rest is veterinary advice. While the puppies are with us those choices are ours, made with our own vet; once your puppy is home they become yours.

What each date is bound by:

Law: Luxembourg law. This date cannot be moved earlier by anyone.
FCL: A breeding rule of the Fédération Cynologique Luxembourgeoise.
Advice: WSAVA 2024 guidance for vets worldwide, which says local practice comes first.
Ours: How this kennel does it.

While the puppies are still with us

We book and pay for these. Rabies stays with us even after the litter starts leaving, because a puppy travelling abroad is still here at twelve weeks.

6 week

First core vaccination — earliest possible Advice
7 week

First vaccination, microchip and EU passport FCL
12 week

Rabies — earliest valid day Law

A rabies vaccination given even one day before the puppy is twelve weeks old is void. It has to be given again, and the twenty-one days before the puppy may leave the country are counted from the new date.
15 week

Earliest departure abroad Law

After your puppy comes home

These fall due in your house, not ours. They go home with you on paper, and your own vet takes it from there.

9 week

Second core vaccination Ours

We give this two weeks after the first. WSAVA suggests three to four, with two as the minimum — this is our choice, made with our vet.
16 week

Final puppy core vaccination Advice
17 week

Legal microchip deadline Law

In Luxembourg a dog must be microchipped by four months old at the latest, and the chip has to be in place before the rabies vaccination. Every puppy leaves us chipped at seven weeks, well ahead of both.
26 week

Booster Advice

What we do not give, and why

One vaccine we have decided against. It is listed rather than left out, so you can see it was considered — and so you can raise it with your own vet, who may take a different view for your dog.

Leptospirosis, first dose

We do not give it. It is hard on the dogs, and the protection does not last long enough to be worth putting them through it.

WSAVA lists leptospirosis as a core vaccine in regions where the disease is endemic and suitable vaccines are available, with a second dose two to four weeks after the first and a yearly booster after that.

Why some dates shift by a day or two

When a date lands on a Saturday or Sunday it moves forward to the Monday, never back to the Friday. Rabies given before twelve weeks does not count at all — the shot has to be given again and the twenty-one day wait before travel starts over — so moving a date earlier is never safe, and moving it later always is.

Where this comes from

The Luxembourg dates are law, taken from guichet.lu and the ALVA. The rest is guidance published by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, which states that local practice takes priority. This page is here to help you plan and to give you the right questions. It is not veterinary advice. What happens while a puppy is with us we decide together with our vet; what happens once your puppy is home is for you and yours.

3 September 2026