The preventive health year

· Parasite prevention — same date every month, year round in most of the US
· The lump and body check — five minutes, hands over the whole dog
· Weigh them. Weight trend is the single highest-value number in dog health, and a scale at home makes it a habit rather than an annual surprise.
· Look in the mouth. Gums should be pink and breath should not be offensive.

· Brush the coat — more for double coats, and it finds lumps, ticks and mats early
· Check ears, especially drop ears and after swimming
· Check nails and paws, including between the toes
· Brush teeth, ideally daily, but weekly beats never

The exam: Adult dogs should be seen at least once a year; seniors twice. A physical exam finds things you cannot — heart murmurs, enlarged organs, dental disease under the gumline.

Bloodwork: Say yes to it. A baseline panel on a healthy young adult is what makes an abnormal result at seven meaningful, because there is something to compare it to. Many cancers and kidney and liver conditions appear on routine panels before any visible sign.

Vaccination review: Core vaccines are distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus, rabies — and, since AAHA's 2024 update, leptospirosis, which is now recommended for all dogs from 12 weeks with an annual booster. Non-core — Bordetella, Lyme, influenza, rattlesnake toxoid — depend genuinely on where you live and what your dog does. Ask which of those your region warrants rather than accepting a default schedule.

Titer testing: A blood test measuring existing immunity, used by some owners to decide whether a booster is needed. It is a legitimate conversation to have with your vet, with two caveats: rabies boosters are set by law rather than by immunity, and titers cost more than the vaccine in most cases.

Dental assessment: Ask specifically whether a professional cleaning is due. It needs anesthesia, which is why people avoid it, and avoiding it is how a dental becomes extractions.

Puppy: Vaccine series, socialization window, growth monitoring, spay/neuter timing conversation, and starting handling and brushing early so everything else is easy later.

Adult: Annual exam, baseline bloodwork, weight, dental. The quietest years, and the ones where habits are built.

Senior: Twice yearly exams, bloodwork each time, blood pressure, and a frank conversation about mobility and cognition. Most of what people call ‘just getting old’ is treatable pain.

One place — paper or a note on your phone — with vaccination dates, weight history, medications and doses, the microchip number, and anything your vet has flagged. You will need it for boarding, for an emergency vet who has never met your dog, and for the appointment where you cannot remember when the limp started.

Almost all of this is a habit rather than a purchase. The scale and the toothbrush are the only things worth buying, and both cost less than one emergency visit.

· American Animal Hospital Association (aaha.org) — canine life stage guidelines and vaccination guidelines, both free
· World Small Animal Veterinary Association (wsava.org) — global vaccination guidelines
· American Veterinary Medical Association (avma.org)