Do you vaccinate your dog?

[Kazzo]

There is no reason why you can not delay vax your puppy too if that is what you would like to do.

Dogs interact with other dogs and what other dogs leave dehind (#2's) a lot closer then humans and so they can pass on disease so much easier. If your dog is not going to be a social dog then you might be fine not vaxing. I would definately wait till your puppy is a lot older to take anywhere if you don't vax though.

I have worked in a vet clinic and only ever seen one severe reaction to a vax and that puppy was fine after a couple of days. They don't vax anymore, but their dog does not leave home anymore.

[Floweryfields]

If you are never going to take your puppy out, never let it have contact with other dogs, or even areas where other dogs have been, then it's fine not to vax. But parvo is a very contageous dog illness and I think no vaxing pets is a whole different thing to humans. Believe me, you don't want to see you dog get parvo.

[LuluHB]

We vax because our dog is out a lot around other dogs and the risk is just too high. Parvo spread through our area like wildfire last year and a lot of poor doggies died or had to fight off a really horrible disease.

As others have said, we also board our dog whenever we go away - only once so far but kennels have very stringent rules when it comes to the vaccinations they require.

We don't vax our puddy anymore. She's an old girl now and on the rare times we have gone away she stays home and my parents come around to look after her daily. She's a very anxious girl and would stress completely in a kennel situation.

[~ Mylitta ~]

If you are never going to take your puppy out, never let it have contact with other dogs, or even areas where other dogs have been, then it's fine not to vax. But parvo is a very contageous dog illness

Agree

In all the time I worked in a vet clinic, we never once saw vaccine reaction worse than some swelling and pain/itchiness at the injection site. But I've seen way too many puppies suffer (and often die) from parvo It's a horrendous illness and so easy for them to catch. Like AngelPants said, it can live in the soil for years and years, so if you take you pup anywhere another dog has been in the last few years there is a risk. One of our clients moved into a house where someone had had a dog 2 years earlier (it had since passed away) and the dog once had parvo. Our clients two doberman puppies both caught parvo and the owners had to use a powerful disinfectant on the entire backyard while the pups were hospitalised with us.

I always recommend taking puppies to puppy classes to help socialise them, so with the exposure to other pups I'd definitely vaccinate first.

Like mentioned earlier, the whooping cough vaccine is similar to the human flu vaccine. You have to actually catch it before your body can recognise it and build up it's defence. While the body is doing that you/the dog still starts getting sick, but hopefully only mildly as the body's immune system kicks in.

There are also some vaccines now available that last at least three years. It doesn't include the whooping cough component though so it's still recommended to get that one yearly (and also get a health check for your dog at the same time. A once a year health check is like a human only ever going to the doctors once every 6-10 years or so...). If you want a three year vaccine you'd have to ask the vet about it because many vets don't stock them as they cost more and also because they try to encourage yearly health checks anyway.

Having said all that, my fluffy boy isn't currently up to date with his vaccines. None of our neighbours have dogs though (whooping cough can be caught from neighbour dogs through the fence), and he doesn't leave the yard or come into contact with other dogs. The biggest risk for him would be someone bringing in bugs on their shoes (which is possible).

Enjoy your new little fluffy friend!!!

[Astrid]

We vaccinate when we first get them, and really only if required by the boarding kennels, or if they happen to be at the vet for something else.

We were ontop of it with our current dog, as she was underfed and abused when we first got her, so we wanted to make sure she was fully covered till she was 100%.

[Heaven]

Yeah, we vaccinate our dog. Mainly because I don't know much about it with dogs and just do what the vet tells me, lol. Don't worry, I'm the opposite with my kids though, haha.

[Shanti]

Thanks for all of your replies

Yeah I know how serious the Parvo virus can be, it's pretty scary.

Our dog we've had for nearly 7yrs now, she's always had her vaxx to schedule EVEN though she never leaves the house the last 3yrs due to her bad legs (arthritis ) and she did her crucial ligament in a while back so she isn't supposed to run around hard or anything. We just let her use the yard space we have which is plenty for her. If we take her out she runs crazy and her leg goes bad again so I suppose we could cut her vaccinations from yearly down to once every 3yrs perhaps...... something to think about.

As for our new little pup, I'm thinking because we want to take her out to the beach etc soon, we'll probably get her vaccinated but just every 3yrs......

Apparently the vaccinations (not sure which one's particularly?) DO last for more than 1yr but vets just advice getting it yearly to get people in the door more often for their annual checkups. I find that sad, that if that is the truth, these dogs are getting injections for something they are already immunised against for the next few years, instead they could be getting far less injections..... and dog owners would save $$$.

Someone told me the vaccinations only cost them like $2 and yet they charge us what $60 or so???? (can't' remember exactly but its expensive). It's wrong IMO.

[Astrolady]

We definitely do. Yearly when she was due. (in the case of our old dog, our new pup is only 7mths old but has had all her current vaccinations)

I read that Parvo can even be brought into the home on the soles of your shoes.

[~ Mylitta ~]

Apparently the vaccinations (not sure which one's particularly?) DO last for more than 1yr but vets just advice getting it yearly to get people in the door more often for their annual checkups. I find that sad, that if that is the truth, these dogs are getting injections for something they are already immunised against for the next few years, instead they could be getting far less injections..... and dog owners would save $$$.

Someone told me the vaccinations only cost them like $2 and yet they charge us what $60 or so???? (can't' remember exactly but its expensive). It's wrong IMO.

The tri-annual vaccines that are available are the only ones that have been studied and proven to be effective for at least three years. The annual vaccine has only been studied and proven to be effective for at least a year. In both cases the vaccines may actually last significantly longer than that but the drug companies can't make that claim because it hasn't been studied and proven. It also depends on the individual immune system as to how long it "remembers" how to fight each particular disease. It's similar to some human vaccines (like tetanus and chickenpox) where at some point the immune system "forgets" and you lose immunity.

In regards to the cost, no vet should ever vaccinate a pet without a health check first, and that is probably the majority of the fee you are paying. I know it seems like Vets make a lot of money because their fees seem so expensive, but healthcare in general is expensive and we are just lucky that for us humans we have medicare to take care of some of the costs. Vets actually make less money on average than a first year people nurse. Two of my bosses (of which there are three) that own the clinic have second jobs just to make ends meet. You don't even want to know what the pay rate for a nurse is, lol. I was a Senior Surgical Vet Nurse and I made less an hour than I could have at Coles.