Dog Vaccination Schedule in India (2026): Age-by-Age Chart, Costs and Rabies Rules

This guide is for general education for Indian pet parents. It is not a substitute for a professional veterinary diagnosis or an in-person vaccination plan. Vaccine types, timing, and costs vary by your dog, your city, and your vet, so always have a licensed veterinarian set and administer your dog's actual schedule. If you have any concern about your dog's health, consult a vet.

Vaccination is the single most effective thing you can do to protect your dog from deadly but preventable diseases like rabies, parvovirus and distemper. In India, puppies typically have a vaccine-free wellness visit at six weeks, begin their core vaccinations at seven to eight weeks, get a second core dose at twelve weeks, start their two-dose rabies series at fourteen weeks, receive the single most important core dose at sixteen weeks, and complete the primary series at eighteen weeks with the second rabies dose and, typically, a kennel cough vaccine. After that, dogs move to yearly boosters as adults. At private clinics, a full puppy vaccination programme paid visit by visit commonly runs somewhere in the ₹5,500 to ₹8,000 range, though bundled wellness packages that combine the vaccines with consultations and deworming are often available for less, and costs vary by clinic and city either way.

That is the short version. Below, our vet-reviewed guide gives you the complete age-by-age chart, explains what DHPPi+Lepto4 and rabies vaccines actually cover, breaks down real private-clinic costs including free government options, and answers the questions every dog parent asks, from what the law requires to what to do if you have missed a dose. It is written for Indian conditions, whether you have a new pedigree puppy or a rescued Indie.

Here is the schedule Supertails clinics follow, aligned with WSAVA 2024 guidelines and adapted for Indian conditions where rabies and leptospirosis are both widespread. Treat it as a guide to discuss with your vet, who will adjust it for your dog's age, health, and history.

A quick, downloadable dog vaccination chart is a useful thing to keep on your fridge or phone, and your vet can give you one printed on your dog's card at the first visit. The exact ages can shift by a week either way, which is normal and something your vet will guide.

A timely wellness check helps your puppy start vaccinations at the right age and stay protected as they grow. Supertails Clinic vets can assess your dog’s health, guide you through the vaccination schedule, and provide a personalised vaccination card.

Book a vet appointment at Supertails Clinics near you in Bangalore today and give your puppy a healthy start.

At this visit your puppy receives the second rabies dose, completing the primary rabies series, along with a kennel cough vaccine, typically included as part of this visit. This completes your puppy's primary vaccination series, and it is generally the point most vets consider it safe for your puppy to socialise freely, go on walks in public areas and visit parks. Your vet will confirm when your particular puppy is fully covered.

Vaccination does not stop after puppyhood. Adult dogs need booster shots to maintain immunity for life. In India, the most common pattern is a yearly booster that includes rabies, the core DHPPi+Lepto4 vaccine, and typically a kennel cough booster.

You may read that international guidance sometimes allows certain core boosters every three years rather than annually. That can be true for the modified-live components of the core vaccine, which can provide many years of protection. In practice, rabies boosters in India are commonly kept annual because of the high disease risk here and because local registration rules often expect a current rabies certificate, and since leptospirosis needs annual boosting regardless, a combined DHPPi+Lepto4 shot is usually given yearly too for simplicity. This is exactly the kind of decision to make with your vet rather than from a global chart, and senior dogs in particular should stay on a vet-guided schedule since their immunity can change with age.

This is where many Indian pet parents get confused, and it is worth clearing up. The numbers different brands use describe how many disease-fighting components one combined injection covers, and different manufacturers count differently. At Supertails, the core combination shot pairs DHPPi (distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza) with Lepto4 (four separate leptospirosis serogroups), and put together, this combination is commonly called the 9-in-1 vaccine. What matters most is not the marketing number but that your dog is protected against the core diseases; if you are unsure exactly what your dog received, ask your vet to walk you through the card.

Canine coronavirus (CCoV) vaccination is not part of the standard Supertails protocol and is not recommended under current WSAVA guidelines.

Deworming and vaccination go hand in hand, and vets usually want a puppy dewormed before or alongside starting vaccines, because a heavy worm burden can weaken the immune response. Puppies are typically dewormed every two weeks from as early as two weeks of age until about twelve weeks, then monthly until six months, then quarterly as adults.

When a deworming dose falls on the same day as a vaccination visit, which happens at the 12-week and 16-week visits, your vet may prescribe the dewormer at the visit but recommend giving it to your puppy five days later rather than the same day. This spacing avoids putting immune and gastrointestinal stress on your puppy at the same time and lets the vaccine take effect without extra physiological load.

The two schedules are separate but coordinated, so your vet will line them up for your puppy. For the full timeline, see our puppy deworming schedule guide, and you can keep a routine going with the right deworming tablets once your vet advises which suits your dog. Even indoor puppies need deworming, since worms reach them in many ways.

For rabies, the practical answer is yes. While India does not have a single national law forcing every dog vaccine, rabies vaccination is effectively required in most cities because pet dog registration, which many municipalities require, is tied to a valid anti-rabies certificate. In other words, to register your dog legally, you generally need proof of a current rabies shot.

This sits within a wider national framework. The Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules 2023, framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960, govern the sterilisation and immunisation of community dogs, and in August 2025 the Supreme Court of India, in its stray-dog matter, directed under these Rules that sterilised, inoculated and dewormed community dogs be returned to their locality, except those that are rabid or aggressive. India also runs a National Action Plan to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies by 2030, and operates a national rabies helpline on 15400 in several states. The takeaway for a pet parent is simple: keep your dog's rabies vaccination current, both because the law expects it and because it protects your family and community.

If you have adopted an Indie dog or a rescue with an unknown vaccination history, do not worry about the missing records. Vets simply treat the dog as unvaccinated and start a fresh core course, adjusting for the dog's age. An adult rescue will usually need a core shot and a rabies shot, followed by boosters, rather than the full puppy series.

Indian pariah and community dogs are hardy, but they are just as much at risk from rabies and parvovirus as any pedigree dog, so they need the same protection. Government veterinary hospitals and NGO vaccination camps are an affordable and often free way to get a rescued or community dog protected, and a quick vet visit will set the right catch-up plan.

Most dogs handle vaccines very well, and any reaction is usually mild and short-lived. Knowing what is normal versus what needs a vet helps you care for your dog confidently after their shot, whether it is a puppy on the primary series or an adult on their annual booster.

Mild, normal reactions in the first day or two include slight tiredness, mild soreness at the injection site, or a reduced appetite for a day. These typically settle on their own. After a vaccination, let your dog rest, keep them calm, and avoid a bath for a couple of days.

That said, do not wait it out if things do not settle. If your dog, puppy or adult, still seems dull, is running a fever, or is not eating beyond a day or so, get them checked rather than assuming it will pass. Your vet may want to run bloodwork to rule out anything else going on, since occasionally what looks like a vaccine reaction turns out to be something unrelated that happened to start around the same time.

Most puppies in India have a vaccine-free wellness visit around six weeks, then start their first core vaccine dose at seven to eight weeks, once the immunity from their mother's milk begins to fade. From there, doses continue at twelve, fourteen, sixteen and eighteen weeks, with the primary series considered complete at eighteen weeks. Your vet will confirm the exact schedule for your puppy.

No. This is not a shortcut that saves you a vet visit, it is a real risk to your dog's safety and to the protection you think you are giving them.

Vaccines only work if they have stayed within a precise temperature range the entire way from the manufacturer to the injection, typically 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, without a single break in that chain. A vaccine that has been mishandled in transit or storage looks completely normal and can still be useless. That means your dog could get the shot, you could believe they are protected, and they could still be fully exposed to fatal diseases like parvovirus and rabies without either of you ever knowing anything went wrong. That is a worse position than simply knowing your dog is unvaccinated, because at least then you would still be taking precautions.

There is also the allergic reaction risk. It is rare, but when it happens it can escalate to facial swelling, difficulty breathing or collapse within minutes, and it needs immediate professional treatment on the spot. At a clinic, a vet is right there to act. At home, you are on your own with no way to intervene in time.

And even a shot that is stored and given perfectly will not get your dog a valid, signed vaccination certificate. Without one, you cannot register your dog with most municipalities or travel with them, so you would still be left without the paperwork that was half the reason for vaccinating in the first place. A licensed vet is the only way to get both the protection and the proof of it, together, reliably. Always use a licensed vet.

Do not panic, but do not delay either. Contact your vet, who will tell you whether to simply give the missed booster now or, if a lot of time has passed, restart part of the course to be safe. Letting boosters lapse leaves your dog under-protected, and for rabies it can also affect your registration, so catch up promptly. This matters especially for the second rabies dose at eighteen weeks, since a missed second dose means the primary series is not actually complete.

In India, most adult dogs receive a yearly booster that includes rabies, the core DHPPi+Lepto4 vaccine, and typically a kennel cough booster. Some vaccine components may be given less frequently depending on the product and your vet's judgement, but annual rabies boosters are common here because of the high disease risk and local registration rules. Your vet will set the exact adult schedule.

About the Author:

Dr. Devayani Kayande completed her Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry degree from Bombay Veterinary College in 2017. Following which she worked as a Junior Veterinarian at Acumed Veterinary Specialty, learning anaesthesia, neurology, clinical pathology. She then traveled to New Zealand in 2018 to earn her Master in Veterinary Studies Degree with research in Anaesthesia, in 2020. After working as a Veterinary nurse in a speciality and GP practice in NZ, she earned her ECFVG Certification in 2024. Devayani Kayande is a Small Animal Clinician, currently working as a Senior Veterinarian (Clinical Excellence) at Supertails. She is building the clinical standard of practice for Supertails Clinics.