I’m in the middle of a discussion on this subject with my Schutzhund group. One member just sent out a set of links with various articles on vaccinations and vaccine protocols from various sources.
The article here: has some information on the study I was thinking of, currently being conducted by Dr. Ronald Schultz. He’s shown some dogs to be protected at challenge up to 11 years, and the majority still protected at seven. One thing that makes me think it’s entirely plausible that “real world” dogs would continue to be protected past seven is that dogs are constantly exposed to these diseases if they’re around other dogs–other dogs shed the virus after vaccination, and these things live in the environment, thereby boosting your dog’s immunity every time he comes into contact with this stuff and his body reacts to it. Even dogs who have never been vaccinated can show high titre levels due to this source of immunity. The dogs in the study are in a sterile environment.
The answer to the question “Why three-year intervals?” two thirds of the way down the page sums up nicely why I will not choose to follow the recommended protocol. Because it’s completely arbitrary.
There’s a quote from Schultz there: “However, Schultz admits some vaccines still need to be administered annually to dogs if there is truly a risk of the animal getting the disease. He uses kennel cough and the leptospira vaccines as examples.” which I think is pretty silly. Lepto has to be repeated yearly because Leptospira interrogans is a family of bacteria not a virus–which means vaccinating for it is pretty ineffective in the first place. Immunity really only lasts for about six months past vaccination. Furthermore, there are a huge number of bacteria in that family which cause the disease Leptospirosis. Guess how many the vaccine covers? Two. Two more are covered by a vaccine that was recently introduced. Since lepto isn’t exactly what you’d call endemic to this area, and the chance that the vaccines available are going to protect my dog anyway is low, it’s not something I’d choose to vaccinate against.
In an article here , there’s a summary of what Merial recommends dogs be vaccinated for I can’t find any mention of frequency, but then I’ve been up since four thirty so I’m about as sharp as a marble at the moment. Merial recommends dogs that spend a lot of time outdoors or interacting with other dogs be vaccinated with the DHLPPC (distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parainfluenza, parvovirus, coronavirus) set, which includes coronavirus. Coronavirus only affects pups under six months, and causes something like a mild cold. Why on god’s green earth would you innoculate an adult dog yearly with boosters for that disease?
So I guess the best recommendation I could make is to research each of these diseases, find out what the effects are, how common they are in your area, and then weigh the potential risk against the potential benefits of vaccinating. Parvo and Distemper are really the only diseases that are common enough, and virulent enough in adult dogs to scare me. The chance of my pooch coming into contact with rabies is so small as to be nil, but that’s a legal issue so I’ll vaccinate against it anyway.
If you’re worried about your dog having an allergic reaction to the vaccines, you can also have your vet pre-medicate with steroids or diphenhydramine, or you can drop her off for the day and let them keep an eye on her. Personally, I’d drop her off if I was that concerned about it. The staff will likely pick up on any problems faster than you would, and she has access to immediate treatment if she’s right there in the clinic.
My personal inclination is to just go on and get the shots. The odds of them having health problems because of the vaccines are so low that I don’t see the point in mucking about with titres. If it saved money, or stress on the animal, or hassle for the owner, or the risk of yearly vaccinations was higher, maybe. As it stands now, though, titres cost way more per year than vaccines, you’ve still got to drag the animal to the vet (and for some of them the blood draw is significantly more stressful than a couple of sq injections), and if your titres are low you’ve got to bring them back and get the vaccines anyhow. For the average pet owner, it just doensn’t seem worth it.
Hi Crazycatlady - she has shown a lot of sensitivity to many different things - food, environment, stress, etc. I’m much less worried about an immediate allergic reaction than I am about long-term effects on her health.
The info session for the dog training class is next week - I will bring her vaccination records to that (she’s not “due” for her boosters until November) and discuss it with them at that time before I make any firm decisions. I need to find out their definition of “up to date”.
If it weren’t for the obedience school’s rule, I wouldn’t be considering boosters at this time (except her rabies shot).
However, since no-one has posted about any adverse effects on THEIR pets, perhaps it isn’t that big a deal.
ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Og help me if I ever have children!!!
I just want to say that if you ever need to:
-kennel your dog for any period of time
-ship your dog on any commercial carrier (plane, train, etc.)
-take your dog out of the country
-get your dog licensed (city or county),
then you will probably be required to show proof of vaccination in order to do these things. That would be difficult to do if you don’t get your dog vaccinated. Also, if you take your dog to dog parks or other places where your dog is in contact with other animals, you should get him vaccinated. And I’ve never even heard of any negative side effects from vaccinations for pets before. Do your pup a favor and get the vaccinations.
Our dog acquired IMHA about a year and a half ago. (http://www.vetinfo.com/dimhanemia.html). While there is no concrete proof, there are suspicions that it could be linked to some vaccinations. After a lot of drugs, a lot of blood tests and a lot of money, or dog seems to be OK. But our vet does not recommend vaccinating her for anything ever again. So, we skipping vaccinations, and will get periodic tests to check antibody levels.
And we do kennel our dog from time to time. And take her to the groomer. A call and a letter from the vet were sufficient for both of thse places to accept her without shot records.
Necros - thank you for the info, and I’m sorry about what you went through with your pup.
MixieArmadillo - sorry I didn’t say this in my previous post (trying to post and work at the same time!) - thank you for your posts and your links - they’re very informative and helpful.
Ghanima - I have kennelded my pooches (at the spa, no less :D), shipped them on planes, took them out of Canada into the US, got them licensed, went to doggy school, take them everywhere… with vet certificates which state they are immunized against the problematic bugs. The vet issues such a certificate once the animal’s titres come back showing they have the antibodies necessary and do not require additional vaccination.
Yeah, this is pricy, in the end, and as CCL has said, it’s not for every pet owner. That said, there are growing concerns in the dog world about over-vaccination - and as some posters here have already said, the protocol is changing. Not so long ago, we’d vaccinate against rabies every year. Now, it’s every THREE years. There are more and more vets studying immunity in animals and they are now discovering that many vaccines offer lasting protection for 5 to 7 years and do not require yearly boosters.
YMMV. I feel more comfortable doing limited vaccination. It’s mostly a matter of opinion, but what I’ve read so far makes me lean towards being a bit more conservative and not vaccinating every year just because I can. I also know some breeders who have contracts stating that the puppies they place will NEVER be vaccinated (and I don’t agree with that at ALL - I think they all should get the puppy shots and associated boosters during the first year, following the Dodds protocol). Again, YMMV.
Elenfair - thanks for your post. Are you in Canada?
I’m having a hard time finding out what the guidelines are for rabies vaccines and I have no idea how to go about it. (I don’t know if it’s provincial, federal, or local).
I like the vet certificate idea. I’ll have to talk to my vet and see if he’s supportive of such an idea, and if he’s not, I’m sure I can ask around.
It’s a fine line to walk between the “fanatics” (like the people who won’t even get puppies vaccinated) and the “old-school” or “conservative” way of thinking. I truly hope I’m not offending anyone, sometimes it’s hard to explain what I mean. I just feel like this is such a grey area, and I want my dog to be safe in all aspects.
I’d just like to say that the ArmadilloPup was shipped in to the US on a major commercial airline out of Europe and did not need any proof of vaccination whatsoever. Partly this was due to age–over four months he’d have needed a proof of rabies to enter the US, but at ten weeks he didn’t need anything at all.
We do very little vaccinating of our 100% indoor cats. Distemper is the only one we vaccinate for religiously. Our veterinarian is worried about injection-site issues, though I seem to think that’s a bigger risk for cats than dogs. I’m probably wrong, but I do know that he only recommends distemper unless we’re doing some traveling.
I’m sure people’s experiences vary widely (as evidenced by this thread), but I have had to show proof of vaccination to have my dog kenneled. I also discovered when I was living in Vermont that taking my dog into Canada wasn’t a problem, it was getting her back into the USA that I needed proof of vaccinations for. As for licenses, I am a scoff-law myself, but I have lived in counties where proof of vaccines were needed to get one. YMMV.
If you have a dog that is free to roam, absolutely.
If you have an outside dog, probably.
If you have an inside dog who often comes in contact with outside dogs., probably
