Do you vaccinate your dog?

Yes. The pet hotel won't take them if they aren't vaccinated and I wouldn't leave my dogs at a place that would accept unvaccinated dogs.

Yes. The pet hotel won't take them if they aren't vaccinated and I wouldn't leave my dogs at a place that would accept unvaccinated dogs.

That's the only hitch if you don't vaccinate annually. We use housesitters to babysit our pets when we go away instead. If we needed to, we would get a vaccination done before putting him in a pet hotel.

Yes that's true, it's another thing DH and I have discussed. We rely on a local dog kennel to mind our dog whenever we go away (twice a year) & they require up to date vaccination records. Sometimes we can leave our dog with our MIL if they aren't away travelling at the time but we can't rely on them.

It's looking more towards vaccinating her at this stage!! Particularly if we want her to socialise with the dogs down at the local dog park eventually.

It just sucks that the injections aren't given based on 'weight' of the dog.... so our 30kg dog receives the same dosage as our tiny 1.4kg pup will how is that right???

It just sucks that the injections aren't given based on 'weight' of the dog.... so our 30kg dog receives the same dosage as our tiny 1.4kg pup will how is that right???

I asked one of our drug reps about that once. She told me that medications are a bit different to vaccines. Medicines need to reach what they call the "effective level" to work which is dependent on weight, whereas vaccines need to stimulate an immune response which apparently does not depend so much on weight.

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.

I used to work in an animal shelter and one month we euthanised at least 20 dogs with parvo. It is very infectious and an extremely painful way to die. Plus kennel cough is still always around and just goes on and on. I vaccinate my dog up to a C5, but there is some overlap of time so I don't do it strictly each year. I would vaccinate according to the schedule for puppies though.

We vaccinate. My sister and mum are vet nurses at have seen enough to show that there is a very real risk for animals who are not vaccinated. The vaccinations themselves cost around $10-25 depending on the vaccine, supplier etc, so vets do make a mark-up, but ours also does a vet check-up when our dog gets her vaccinations, so it's sort of like paying parts and labour at the mechanic. You pay for the vaccination, the vet taking the time to do the vaccination, and the check-up that I imagine most vets would do, so you look at around $60+, it's once a year though so not a massive expensive really. I pay that much for every 4 months flea+worming treatment, the vaccinations are probably the cheapest part about having a dog!

I'd be interested to know if those are the breeders true intentions (not vaccinating for health reasons) because it's actually very unusual. Is the puppy micrchipped? Did the breeder worm the puppise? In Qld, it's against the law to sell a dog or cat without microchipping it, and no good vet will microchip before 8 weeks without a very good reason, and it's quite frowned upon among reputable breeders to sell without vaccinations (and worming, and before 8 weeks). Not sure where you are but is it possible this was a money issue on his part? Some see visiting the vet for vaccinating and microchipping a litter as too 'expensive'.

Some see visiting the vet for vaccinating and microchipping a litter as too 'expensive'.

In which case it's a very good possibility they are puppy farmers/backyard breeders, only interested/concerned about the profit margin. Any legitimate registered breeder should sell pups vaccinated and most definitely microchipped, health checked etc. breeders that breed because they love their chosen breed and have a desire to improve the genetics of the breed/breed to breed standard would not hesitate at providing an exceptional level of veterinary care, and sell their puppies vaccinated to help give them the best start to a happy & healthy and life

im a irresponsible pet owner. I am also a vet nurse (been out of the game for 5 years since kids though).. I don't vaccinate my dog & cat. If I got a puppies or kitten I would for the first year but doubt I would keep it up after that. I don't give heart worm medication either.

Part of my reasoning is that they don't socialise & part is I think vets DO rip you off (15 years of vet nursing behind me) & part is because Im lazy.

In which case it's a very good possibility they are puppy farmers/backyard breeders, only interested/concerned about the profit margin. Any legitimate registered breeder should sell pups vaccinated and most definitely microchipped, health checked etc. breeders that breed because they love their chosen breed and have a desire to improve the genetics of the breed/breed to breed standard would not hesitate at providing an exceptional level of veterinary care, and sell their puppies vaccinated to help give them the best start to a happy & healthy and life

Yeah that ^^^^ is what I was getting at

We vaccinate. My sister and mum are vet nurses at have seen enough to show that there is a very real risk for animals who are not vaccinated. The vaccinations themselves cost around $10-25 depending on the vaccine, supplier etc, so vets do make a mark-up, but ours also does a vet check-up when our dog gets her vaccinations, so it's sort of like paying parts and labour at the mechanic. You pay for the vaccination, the vet taking the time to do the vaccination, and the check-up that I imagine most vets would do, so you look at around $60+, it's once a year though so not a massive expensive really. I pay that much for every 4 months flea+worming treatment, the vaccinations are probably the cheapest part about having a dog!

I'd be interested to know if those are the breeders true intentions (not vaccinating for health reasons) because it's actually very unusual. Is the puppy micrchipped? Did the breeder worm the puppise? In Qld, it's against the law to sell a dog or cat without microchipping it, and no good vet will microchip before 8 weeks without a very good reason, and it's quite frowned upon among reputable breeders to sell without vaccinations (and worming, and before 8 weeks). Not sure where you are but is it possible this was a money issue on his part? Some see visiting the vet for vaccinating and microchipping a litter as too 'expensive'.

Just in regards to the breeders true intentions, if it's a breeder registered with the ANKC, they must follow the rules and regs for vaccinating puppies, microchipping etc in order to register the pups with the ANKC. however, it is not uncommon for many breeders to vaccinate 3 yearly or more on their adult dogs. Also pups can be microchipped anytime from 6 weeks particularly the larger breeds, so there isno excuse for any pup coming from a reputable registered ANKC breeder to not come with a microchip, wormed and vaccinated.

Personally I follow the vaccination policy for pups however after their booster at 12 months that is it for at least 3 years. I also only vaccinat with a C3. The C5 has cover for kennel cough, which I have found to be quite ineffective based on personal experience. I have 4 dogs. Once, when I only had 3 dogs, they came into contact with Kennel Cough, the one that had been annually vaccinated got KC worse than the other 3. A more recent case with my pup from last year, where it came into contact with Kennel Cough (caught it at the Royal Show). Her brother and a friends pup (same age) were both there. Her brother had the nasal kennel cough vaccine and showed the symptoms of KC quite severely and needed antibiotics, my friends pup had the vaccination by injection and also had the serious cough (but didn't need ABs). My pup had only had a C3 and didn't have the KC nasal, and she didn't show any signs at all of having KC. kennel cough is not fun, but it's easy to treat and easy to see if they need to go to the vet for Antibiotics if it gets too bad. It's easy to manage just like a cold in humans and the reason so many vaccinated dogs get it is because it has many strains just like a common human cold.