Ok, I spoke to my friend about the vaccinations.

She said that there is a changing culture about the vaccinations and that you can now get a 3-year vaccination. But there are a number of issues that are connected with it which I think have all been mentioned in this thread.

  1. People forget to go back for the next booster shot
  2. Kennel cough is not included in those shots, it is only the most basic vaccination
  3. Annual health checks are still needed. Lumps bumps and tumours (not always cancerous, but can cause other health issues) etc can grow quite significantly in one year, let alone 3 years. Older dogs are prone to more health issues and often need these check ups more often. Teeth can be a big issue too, it can affect their health greatly.


So basically her answer was yes you can get away with not doing the vaccinations so often any more, but the important things to remember are that if your dog does come in to contact with other dogs at the park (even possibly the groomers, sadly) etc then they need the annual shot including the kennel cough (C5 instead of C3 vaccination). If you do decide to go with the less frequent shot, you still need to book in at least annually for a health check-up for the reasons above.

I hope that helps? I didn't ask her about the price difference between the two options, but I can't imagine there would be too much difference balanced over the 2 years. In which case it may just be easier to stick with the annual shot and check-up for convenience sake.