i will have to give neb the rabies vaccine by law.

i'm wondering - he has been minimally vaccinated (he was vaccinated at 6 weeks by the rescue, and has had no vaccines since). he's gone camping, canoeing, goes out for walks/socialization, and has started FR training (we've been twice).

he's very healthy, and i'd like him to stay that way.

what age is best for the rabies vaccine, since i will have to give it? we're going in to the vet's tonight, he is 4.5 months old, so old enough they'll give it to him. or, i could wait closer to 6 months, but my concern about that is to adopt neb i had to sign a spay/neuter contract that i would neuter him at 6 months, which is most definitely not my preference. his foster home has dropped off the map, so i'm hoping to stretch out his neuter date, but i do have concerns about vaccinating him close to surgery, vs. now, when he is younger.

any suggestions?

At a minimum, wait until he is completely done teething, which should be sometime in the near future.

Also, if you have any other issues, allergies, skin problems, etc, make sure they are completely resolved before the vacc. You want to make sure his immune system has the best chance to recover.

Are you planning on hip xrays at any point? If so, I'd argue that you don't want to knock the dog out twice, and get him spayed at the same time as the xrays, around a year.

i hadn't thought about teething at all. i've noticed with tugging lately he can be a bit fussy on the grip, but i haven't noticed any physical signs of teething, though i'm expecting us to hit full-blown teething relatively soon.

since he'll probably be a smaller dog, i wasn't thinking of hip x-rays. i'm not going to be breeding him, while i'd like to get away w/not neutering him from a developmental standpoint, we'll see if i can. he will be a runner though, so maybe it's not a bad precaution. i'll ask my vet and see what she thinks.

i don't know how the vet will be re: minimal vaccines. probably okay - they know i feed raw and while they aren't raw positive, they've only had issues with it twice: the first time, when teagan was going through the 'bladder/bowel problems?....oh no, it's her hip dysplasia', they asked i stop feeding bones (not to stop raw) in case she was having trouble passing them; the second time was shortly after i adopted neb, luc and teagan got sick - luc vomiting, teagan w/explosive diarrhea (negative fecal, they had a bug, possibly brought in by neb, who was fine) (dogs are never really fun until your long-haired GSD has explosive, STINKY (my brother went back down to his basement apartment b/c he thought he was going to throw up) diarrhea in her crate) - anyways, the vet asked that after their fasts were done, to not feed raw until their stomachs were back chugging away like normal - they suggested the plain rice/chicken diet, which i agreed with.