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Do you vaccinate your dogs? Yearly or every few years? Titer instead? Just looking for opinions. I work at a vet office and of course they recommend every vaccine under the sun to be given every year and they don't believe in titering. I like to try to vaccinate as minimally as possible but just wondering what you guys do. Of course when going to shows I always wonder what my guys are being exposed to. Thanks!

I mostly follow the AAHA guidelines, so every 3 years for core vaccines (rabies, distemper, parvo).

We hike a lot, so we do Lepto yearly (Lepto is bacterial, and so unlike the viral vaccines MUST be given at least yearly). I time the Lepto for the spring because we have hard winters and we are less active then- this way I know she is covered for the months we spend the most time outside.

We do not do kennel cough, unless required for something like boarding, and then only for that trip.

We also don't do Lyme, but I made that decisions some years ago, the info on that may have changed since then.

My dog is 13 now, and got her last vaccines last year. If she is still with us when it is time for the next round, I'm not sure if we will vaccinate again. i'll have to evaluate the situation at that time. I believe the research shows most viral vaccines last 7+ years, so I feel confident she's protected.

My vet was recommending yearly when I switched too. He tried to talk me out of it, but respected my opinion, and I gave him the guidelines (they are AAHA accredited). By the time she got her next shots, he'd switched his practice over.

You can find the AAHA guidelines here- https://www.aahanet.org/publicdocuments/caninevaccineguidelines.pdf

I asked a vet friend about titers, and my understanding is, they show immune response, which means in order to show the antibodies, your dog has to have been exposed to the virus recently (not contracted- just come in contact with to stimulate the antibodies) My own vet said similar. So I think all it really tells you is if your dog has had an immune challenge recently. ie- low titers can me he just hasn't come across the disease lately OR that he's not responding to the vaccine.

I do all puppy shots up through one year, then every three years after that.
I do not do lepto as dachshunds are known to have reactions. I also do not do bordatella (kennel cough) as it is like the flu vaccine and doesn't cover all strains. Even with traveling to shows frequently with one or more of my dogs, I have yet to bring home kennel cough.
I also don't do monthly flea/tick or heartworm prevention every month. I do a blood test every January for heart worm, far enough after the season they would test positive but early enough to only treat with monthly preventative dose. If I lived near water or had a lot of Mosquitos I would likely do the monthly prevention.
I use diatomaceous earth for flea prevention and only do the monthly stuff when I find a flea or know we will be out in the fields or woods soon.

I know there are a lot of opinions but this has worked well for me thus far- and I have had discussions with my veterinarian regarding it.

We vaccinated our dogs every year when they were younger, but now that they are a little bit older we have slowed down on doing them. Rabies and deworming we do quite often because they eat vermin as well as other dead animals and are just natural farm dogs, but the others they lack since they never leave the property and rarely come in contact with other dogs.

We also do 3 year vaccine schedule, but that's also my vets preference.
I do monthly heartworm/parasite prevention, and use a topical spray for flea/tick when we are going somewhere it's a concern.
Where I live we don't have a big concern with fleas or ticks unless in the woods, etc. we also don't have a concern with lepto here so my dogs don't get lepto and I don't do Lyme either as we don't have alot of tick concerns here.

When my dogs reach an older age, I do titer instead of vaccinate for some vaccines. My vet is ok with what I choose to do and she isn't one to over vaccinate at any rate. She definitely judges on a case by case basis.

Thank you to all for sharing your ideas and opinions. Currently we don't do the lepto, lyme, or flu vaccines. We only do rabies, distemper/parvo and bordatella. I was thinking about stopping the bordatella except for the fact that we come in contact with a lot of other dogs so I'm not sure. Will have to think about that one if it's really necessary or not. I don't use the topical flea & tick treatments either. I really don't like putting those chemicals on the dogs and we don't usually have a problem with that. I do give a monthly heartworm/parasite preventative because I have had my dogs pick up stuff at shows recently. I sometimes worry about bringing stuff home from work but I would like to possibly try a 3 year vaccine schedule so I'll have to read more into it. Thank you for posting that link to the AAHA guidelines Lilliput.

I have been wanting to go the 3 year plan with my dogs, but how do you handle city registration with that? It is required the dogs are registered yearly with proof of rabies, do you just not register or dose your vet give some sort of pass?

I would really like to have my crested on the 3 year plan as he reacts badly to shots...

Where I live (Washington state) the vets give a certificate saying how long the rabies shot is good for. My boys are 7 now, so they get the rabies every 3 years.

I do the rest of the shots myself. I get a 7 way shot from the feed store yearly, for the dogs since that's what the packaging says to do.

When the fleas start to get bad, I give the dogs some garlic in their food and it has kept them flea free for the 5 years we have had them. (I did extensive research on the topic of garlic and talked with my vet about giving them garlic. He ok'd my dosages I found online. For us, the pros outweigh the cons.)

All that said, my dogs are FAR from showdogs.

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posted by Lilliput
I asked a vet friend about titers, and my understanding is, they show immune response, which means in order to show the antibodies, your dog has to have been exposed to the virus recently (not contracted- just come in contact with to stimulate the antibodies) My own vet said similar. So I think all it really tells you is if your dog has had an immune challenge recently. ie- low titers can me he just hasn't come across the disease lately OR that he's not responding to the vaccine.

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To my knowledge (I work in a blood bank performing antibody workups for the purpose of finding compatible blood for people making antibodies to antigens/markers on blood), no one really knows how long antibodies remain in circulation in the body, which is why if a person is making an antibody to a red cell antigen, they will forever be transfused with blood negative for the antigen, even if the antibody isn't detectable. Titers for vaccination purposes are performed to see if the antibody is still circulating within the body at a high enough level. If a titer reads high enough, then it is evidence that the person/dog still has immunity against whatever virus/organism the antibody is directed against. If the titer reads too low, then it's time for a booster shot to "boost" the antibody numbers circulating within the body to raise the immunity levels.

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posted by Skandal
I have been wanting to go the 3 year plan with my dogs, but how do you handle city registration with that? It is required the dogs are registered yearly with proof of rabies, do you just not register or dose your vet give some sort of pass?

I would really like to have my crested on the 3 year plan as he reacts badly to shots...

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Here, there is no city registration, so no concern. Also, 3-year rabies is legal in my state.I read something that suggested it is now legal in ALL states, but that some municipalities may require it more frequently.

Does your city require proof of ALL vaccines, or just rabies? If it is JUST rabies, then you can easily skip the others to 3 years no issue.

For me, when I have to prove my dog is vaccinated- say, for my apartment complex paperwork, or to board somewhere etc. Usually all they really want is a letter from the vet saying the dog is up to date on her vaccines. I did ask at our boarding place specifically about 3 year vaccines before it was widely known, and since my boarding place is run by "dog people" they already knew about, and were ok with the AAHA guidelines.

I'd guess, if all they need is "proof of rabies" you just need to prove your dog is up to date- and if they have a 3 year vax, they're up to date for 3 years- just bring the paperwork from the vet that shows they are still current and you're good to go.

But talk to your vet about it- they would be more familiar with your local laws.

It is also worth pointing out- if your dog reacts, you MAY be able to get a medical exemption. Some states offer them, with a note from the vet that vaccinating is harmful to the pet's health. I had a pet go into anaphylaxis from rabies once, and we just never vaccinated him again. Although, this pet was a ferret, which has a different risk profile than a dog.

You also probably already know this, but especially for reactive dogs, separating out the vaccines and sometimes pre-treating with something like benadryl before the vaccine (ask your vet first!) can help.

I ALWAYS make sure our combo vax does NOT contain Lepto. We vax for that separately, at a completely different time. Lepto, particularly in combo vaxes, causes a higher number of reactions in small dogs.

We also give Rabies separately. I have my schedule staggered actually-
One year, in the fall- Distemper/Parvo
Next year in the fall- Rabies
Every year in the spring- Lepto

This way she never gets more than one vaccine at a time, and so we can better pinpoint which one might cause an issue, and I believe by giving them separate, she is less likely to react.

I *think* if its an issue for your dog, you can also separate out parvo and distemper rather than using a combo

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Last edited by Lilliput on 7/11/2014 3:11:46 AM

I only do core puppy shots and that's it. Even then I make sure to only get ONE at a time to lessen the chance of overloading their body. Other than that they get Rabies every three years ONLY because it's required by law. Even JUST one shot has the propensity to cause harm. Giving boosters every year DOES NOT boost the immune system. Here is a great article on how long vaccines can last. I have many more articles if you would like to see them.
www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/lifelong-immunity-aaha/

WishMaker

Exactly the same as Wishmaker, puppy vaccines only! I was around when the first parvo vaccines were being developed and trialled, had far more trouble with the vaccines than the disease. Taught me a lot about the hit and miss nature of vaccines.

Vaccines are important! Not only do they protect your dog they also protect dogs who cannot be vaccinated due to reactions and may even reduce levels of the pathogen in urban wildlife through herd immunity.

If a small number of people refuse to vaccinate then they can get by because of herd immunity because almost everyone else does (so the pathogen cannot spread in the dog population). However once enough people stop vaccinating the pathogens will begin spreading again and there will be outbreaks and epidemics (it is already starting to happen with measles in people). Then those people whose dogs react badly to vaccines will face a really tough choice.

True many vaccines last longer than a year but this will depend both on the efficacy of the vaccine and the evolutionary rate of the pathogen so please consult your veterinarian or the national veterinary association!

We do yearly vaccines including kennel cough (our dogs is boarded usually about once a year and they usually require it) since she has never had more than slight swelling at the vaccination site. We don't usually do Lyme (mainly because it isn't very effective) but I think we will this year because someone we know was in the hospital with Lyme disease a few months ago. (Also my mother's first cat died of a vaccine preventable disease because they didn't bother getting the regular vaccines so she has sworn to never let that happen to another pet).

grif,

PS "Boosting the immune system" is not meaningful clinical/medical outcome. Activating immune system with no viral/bacterial antigens to detect is called auto-immune disease. Vaccines present an antigen to the immune system so that it can learn what it should be on the look out for, boosters remind it to stay vigilant. "Boosting the immune system" is a phrase used by the supplement industry to imply their product has some kind of health benefit but which is vague enough that the regulatory bodies don't require them to prove that their product does anything beyond what a sugar pill does (because 99% of the time it doesn't).


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Last edited by griffin on 7/11/2014 5:27:22 PM

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Last edited by griffin on 7/11/2014 5:33:02 PM