To Vaccinate or not? - Page 1

On January 15 my dog will be 17 months old as per her medical record she is due for the following vaccines : Rabies, Bordatella, DA2PP, and Leptospirosis. What are the views of learned persons on here about whether or not it is beneficial to vaccinate a dog ( at this age ) or the vaccinate at all?

 

Thanks in advance

If she's only had one rabies vaccination, she needs a second one, no matter what anyone else tells you--the initial rabies vax is only recognized as valid for 12 months, and needs to be boostered within 364 days of the initial immunization. That count is important--if your dog bites someone, and a check of her rabies vax history shows she had her initial shot 366 days earlier, she WILL be considered unvaccinated for the purposes of public health, and may be remanded to a private quarantine facility [which you'll have to pay for] for anywhere from 10 to 30 days. So don't screw around with that vaccination--always make sure hers is current. Better to get it a few months early than be one day late on boostering.

As for the other vaccinations, I'm going to stay out of it. I know what works for me, and has been working for 30+ years. YMMV. You might want to check out Dr. Jean Dodd's vaccination protocol, however.

Where I am you legally have to do your rabies vaccine regularly, the first shot is only good for a year here, but after that they're good for 3 years.

Personally I tend to do the first round of DA2PPL, Influenza, and bordatella then not worry after that. I work at an animal shelter and bring my dogs to work with me. My older dog has not had any of those booster vaccines for nearly 3 years now but never gets sick, despite meeting every dog who comes through. (They help me test the dogs.)

I've found feeding your dog a good diet and keeping their immune system strong to be one of the best defenses against illness.

Where I live, in CA, if a dog bites they are quarantined period. Vaccines or not, it does not matter. But they offer a in-home quarantine option to more cooperative owners.

Ok Jenny macarthy. You are required to vaccinate for rabies. You will be fined and sometimes your dog can be euthanized if it bites someone. No dogs' immune system can combat rabies. Watching your dog waste away before its shot by the PD is crappy. Vaccinate your pet. I worked at an animal shelter. Your dog will get sicker in quarantine, not to mention the stress. I also used to prepare the samples for rabies testing. (read I cut off the dogs head with a dull axe) Thankfully the animal was already dead, but a miserable affair still.

As hexe said, check out Dr. Jean Dodds, also Dr. Ronald Schultz. You can probably find more current articles but this is informative:

http://www.abrl.org/files/vaccinesWDJ0808.pdf

Personally, after the initial puppy shots I titer every year for distemper and parvo.  Have never done Lyme or lepto.  Bordetella either and my dogs accompany me to a boarding/training facility twice a week (never gotten sick even when around those that are).  Rabies required by law.

Agree with Dakonic about feeding right and keeping the immune system strong.

Inform yourself and make a decision based on what you think is best for your dog.

bump

She's now fully vaccinated. And all seem to be well.