# dog vaccination verification?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-vaccination-verification/195588>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 16, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-vaccination-verification/195588 "2003-08-16T14:51:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Big\_Tom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc348/32.png) [@Big\_Tom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Tom)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-vaccination-verification/195588/1 "2003-08-16T14:51:12Z")

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We have a new puppy. And, a new Veterinarian. She suggests having a blood test done to verify that the vaccinations the puppy received a month ago “took”. I have never heard of verifying vaccinations. Is this a necessary precaution?

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**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-vaccination-verification/195588/2 "2003-08-16T18:31:38Z")

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Hi,

Your vet is probably referring to doing a “titer” which measures the amount of antibodies your dog possesses against certain diseases. I do not think this is necessary for puppies- if you have done at least three series of vaccine boosters, your pup should be good to go. If you do have issues with over vaccinating your dog as a adult- THEN titers are valuable tools to measure the immunity your dog has . I work for a vet, and we do the standard yearly boosters, 3 years for Rabies- but that is changing. Its a slow change because the industry doesn’t want to make mistakes that result in pet disease increases AND the simple fact that vaccines are how we get clients in the door- something needs to replace that economic aspect so vet hospitals can stay open. Personally, my own dogs get their puppy vaccines and boosters once yearly but they travel quite a bit. If they were home bodies I’d probably do their boosters every other year unless I planned on boarding or travelling with them to places where other dogs were. If you frequent public places, dog parks, etc- I’d do the yearly vaccines to be safe. Dogs live longer now than they ever have, so I don’t know how much damage “over vaccinating” could actually be doing. What I do see more of is adult dogs who never got complete puppy series coming down with serious, life threatening diseases.