Vaccination Help/Opinions

lori

lori

Well-Known Member
Owned by
2 cockers
I have a question about vaccines for Teddy. The vet's office keeps sending me emails that Teddy is due for Lyme and Bordatella vaccines. I personally feel that my dogs don't need these 2 vaccines, but was wondering what your thoughts might be? If Teddy does need them, can't he wait until spring when he actually gets outside more? It's dead cold winter now for at least another 2 months so I don't think that Teddy or Chuck need these. I only got the Bordetalla before for them when they went to a doggy daycare once, but that was a special occasion, and not something I plan to do in the future.
 
There are lots of folks who will disagree with me, and some will have excellent reasonto do so. But unless you have specific reason to think that Teddy will have a bad reaction to the vaccine, I say take advantage of modern medicine.
 
There is no reason medically they can't have them, just thinking maybe since they aren't at that much risk that possibly they don't need them. Thanks, Deborah for your opinion :)
 
I vaccinate my dogs. Apollo has an allergic reaction to his rabies, so he also gets a Benadryl shot with it. Other than that neither of them or any of our previous dogs had issues.

I take my dogs to get groomed, we go to dog parks, and other dog events. I feel more comfortable with them having their shots than not.

Just my opinions.


Edit; yes you can wait until spring. During the winter I usually don't do heart work protection because there is 2ft of snow on the ground.
 
Farley got Bordetella. He made it throught fine but he was pretty sick. He had even gotten the vaccine however, I still make sure that he is UTD. From what I understand the Bordetella vaccine is sort of like the flue vaccine. There are different strains of Bordetella and they try to come up with a vaccine for the most likely strain. I also don't know where Farley even got it but it could have been at the groomer or just from another dog in the park. I guess it's easy to spread.

I don't think we do Lyme around here but there are no ticks.
 
Both Lyme and bordatella are non core vaccinations, meaning it is an individual choice. The AVMA haS updated the protocols on vaccines you can find the reccomendations on their website. The Bordatella vaccine does not stop a dog from getting the disease, just like a flu shot it only makes it milder. Just like people with the flu most handle it ok but some may have more serious illness. I chose not to put my dog at risk of reactions, I have had reactions to vaccines in several animals and my children . I know nothing about the Lyme disease but it seems unnessecary . Do you have lots of Lyme disease in your area ? There are natural things you can put on the dogs to repel or kill the creepy crawlers if going into an area with a problem. Weigh the seriousness of the disease against the risk of vaccination IMHO.
 
There is ticks here in the summertime, yes, but doesn't the Frontline take care of repelling ticks? (I actually used a non-medicated herbal solution for the dogs last summer. I found no ticks on Chuck and a couple on Teddy after using this. I agree of weighing the risks/benefits of these vaccines. I also got the flu type A after receiving the flu vaccine several years ago :(. Teddy is groomed at his former foster mom's own home. She has 2 cocker spaniels also and I feel that he is not at risk of getting kennel cough there. I do Chuck myself as he really only needs a bath every few months and his nails trimmed and that's it.
 
I also don't do heart meds in the winter for the same reason.
 
I follow whatever Dr Jean Dodds recommends. I never gave Amelia a bordatella vaccine. Sometimes dogs can have an allergic reaction to it, sometimes they can get sick from it. I believe I did give it to Fenway once years ago. Fenway will be 9 in May, I do not vaccinate him anymore. He stays home, he does not need them. Amelia I do Titers on, last one showed she had more than adequate immunity. As for the Lyme disease, I don't have ticks in my area. If you want to see Dr Dodd's protocol, go to hemopet.com. She does have a list what she does recommend. I am very careful with dogs and vaccines ever since I lost my first one to IMHA. Yes that was 20+ years ago but I will never forget that. Any questions I have I ask Dr Dodds, she is great.
 
Like Nicole, I choose not to vaccinate my dogs once they are middle aged. The only shot they get is rabies, that because it's required by law. To tell you the truth, my Pepper hasn't even had that, I just go to my county animal control website and renew his license there.

Pye, who is now 6 months old, had the full regimen of shots. I took him in once a month for the shots, then the last shot he got was the rabies alone. And, I insisted and paid for a benadryl shot each time. I will more than likely have him titered from now on.

I have never had a dog with IMHA, but, I have seen what it does to the dog and the family thru the various forums I have belonged to thru the years.

So far, this has worked very well for me.

We also don't get out much LOL.. I do use frontline on my dogs since I do live in a forest.

We went to the dog park a week ago Thursday to meet some friends, they wanted to meet Pye. As a group, we decided not to go anymore. Dee Dee didn't bring Patch, he hasn't been well. Norma, her husband Dennis, Vern and I decided not to go anymore either. When we want to get together, we will just meet at one of our homes. Don't get me wrong, the parks are lovely, and very well maintained and clean for the most part. But, you have no control over the other dogs. And, like most, I have seen dogs with diarrhea there. We have just chosen not to take a chance. My Pepper is at least 14 and Pogo will be with us 10 years this year. I don't want to chance it.
 
I never go to dog parks, too risky for my crew, and there is stuff even vaccines don't stop. I was walking our dogs in a baseball park close by last summer, they loved it but I had to stop that also. There was an unknown virus going around my area, it acted like Parvo but was not, and it was killing dogs, both vaccinated and un-vaccinated.
It was prevalent for about 3 months, testing was done but they still don't know what it was, the vets are just calling it mystery virus. My dogs got awful hairy waiting it out , no grooming, and I cancelled the dental cleaning.

I feel bad but I am just not willing to risk taking them where other dogs go. The parasite, bacteria etc. in the poop alone is enough to keep us away.

Chase has immune issues from the vaccines he got when showing, Dr Marty Goldstien said no more vaccinations for him, I follow his advice.
 
My son uses a private dog park. It is owned and maintained but the place where Knute goes to doggy daycare. Since people have to pay to use it the dogs are much better behaved, have been to obedience, and the owners really care about the dogs and keeping the park nice.
 
karenwalksthedogs said:
My son uses a private dog park. It is owned and maintained but the place where Knute goes to doggy daycare. Since people have to pay to use it the dogs are much better behaved, have been to obedience, and the owners really care about the dogs and keeping the park nice.
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The dog park I used in Kalamazoo was private as well. It was well worth the money to know all the dogs going in had been temperament tested and if something happened you could report an owner.

I don't do the Lyme disease shot because it's not prevalent in my area. I do get my dogs the Lepto vaccine because I do live around standing water (hello, Michigan!).

My vet has never really given me any sort of an issue for choosing not to do a vaccination that day, or choosing not to do one in general. I think you should be comfortable telling your vet no.
 
Pumpkin doesn't get any shots. Her vet writes a letter when I need to renew her license that she can't get the rabies shot. Due to health issues. She already gets sick a lot don't need her to get something new from the shots.
 
I don't go to dog parks either. I do take my dogs to stores to walk around for socialization. Amelia has gone to day care and classes, will start back with classes in the spring. We do go to dog shows. She picked up a little bug last year at one of the shows. Her brother had picked up something in December at those shows. It is a chance that you take, when you go. Thankfully those little bugs did not last long. I am always very cautious when it comes to any kind of things with the dogs. So much so that I wash my hands after being out before touching them, I also put my shoes away. Maybe I am a little paranoid. Lol.
 
I do the entire round of shots when I get a puppy...rabies last and by itself after 6 months old. After that I may go up to two years before getting more shots. I have a Bulldog that I may never give another Rabies shot to as she has a reaction to them. I keep my guys in a very controlled environment,no dog parks,never off leash when we are out at stores and VERY careful at the Vets office as I feel this is the place with the most germs of anywhere my dogs go. My Cockers sit on my lap at the Vets, I have even sat in the car with them if the office is crowded. I take wipes for their paws and disinfectant spray for the bottom of my shoes when I go...the Vets is a place they go where I know sick animals have been so I try to use lots of precautions there.
 
I dont do either of those shots. In general, I do 1 set of adult vaccines and call it good. Except for rabies which I give according to the law. Dogs that I've gotten that are <1yr I do a set of titers 1-2 years after their adult fax to make sure they are sufficiently immunized.

Before I give a vax, I think about the likelihood of my dog getting that particular disease and what the outcome would be. Then I make a decision based on my opinion of risk/benefit.

I do generally take the dogs to the vet every 18mo or so just for a quick checkup even when I know they're perfectly healthy.
 
Do you know why I love this forum? We all do things differently but there's never an issue of who is more right than another way.

As a side note my vet now only requires every five years so whoo-hoo! One less vaccination --- and one that Apollo doesn't do well with.
 
ApolloShadow said:
Do you know why I love this forum? We all do things differently but there's never an issue of who is more right than another way.

As a side note my vet now only requires every five years so whoo-hoo! One less vaccination --- and one that Apollo doesn't do well with.
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I think that's because on this form first of all we're all nice! Also we all really care about our dogs and it shows. Everyone here is in a little different situation and we're all using our best judgment about what's best for our individual dogs our environments and the lifestyles we all individually live. We are also all pretty smart and know there isn't any one size fits all answer. I've learned a lot by reading on this forum and I hope everyone else has also.
 
karenwalksthedogs said:
I think that's because on this form first of all we're all nice! Also we all really care about our dogs and it shows. Everyone here is in a little different situation and we're all using our best judgment about what's best for our individual dogs our environments and the lifestyles we all individually live. We are also all pretty smart and know there isn't any one size fits all answer. I've learned a lot by reading on this forum and I hope everyone else has also.
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I couldn't agree more Karen.
 
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