How often do you get your dog vaccinated?

[1MOREPLZ]

your dog is at an age where their previous vaccinations have 'built' up and it you don't wish to vaccinate any more ask your vet to check your dogs 'titre' levels and if they are at sufficient levels then you won't need to vaccinate

[~ Mylitta ~]

I was going to mention the 3 year vaccine like MummyTummy, and a lot of the info I was going to write is exactly what she wrote too The vet clinic I work at (well, used to work at before I had DS, now I just do some work from home for them) keep a few of the 3 year vaccines in stock in case anyone requests it, but they don't recommend it. The main reason is because people become less compliant when it comes to the yearly check up and also it's much harder for a pet owner to remember that the vaccine is due 3 years later (yes, there is a reminder system that sends out a letter, but a lot of people move house fairly often). The few people that still chose the 3 yearly vaccine rarely came in the next 2 years for the canine cough vaccine and health check. Although a health check might not sound terribly important, we always remind people that if your dog only sees the vet once a year, it's similar to if we only saw a doctor once every 7 years or so.

Katones is right that you can have your dog's titre levels tested to see if you need to vaccinate. It involves getting a blood sample from your dog and having it sent to a lab for analysis. Generally you will be paying for a consult, blood sampling fee (if the vet charges one) as well as the lab fee, which I'm sure will cost significantly more than the actual vaccine. I think the only person I've ever seen have the test done is someone that had a dog with a compromised immune system (therefore she didn't want to risk the dog not being immunised) but she was concerned about giving a vaccine and potentially overloading the dog's immune system.

Anyway, it sounds like you want to do what's best for you dog and that's fantastic. My furbaby was sort of our trial baby too hehe

[1MOREPLZ]

with my older retired show/breeding *****es who don't ever leave my yard i have titre levels checked every 2 years and don't vaccinate them unless absolutly necessary.

[~ Mylitta ~]

Ooh, I hope I didn't come off sounding like I thought that someone that wanted to test the titres was mad or something. If I did, sorry Katones, it was definitely not my intention. A lot of people tend to be more concerned with cost so I thought I would just put it out there

The funny thing is that I vaccinate my dog regularly, and yet we still haven't vaccinated DS because we're not comfortable with it yet (for a number of reasons including family history).

[1MOREPLZ]

KL nooo hun didn't take it the wrong way at all

[christy]

KL I too don't vaccinate my children within the right schedule (DD1 is on delayed vacc and DD2 has yet to have a vaccination) but my dogs are fully vaccinated. One of my dogs is a blood donor so has to have everything up to date n' scratch in order to continue her good works, my other dog is 12 now and only now are we slowing down the schedule and vax every 18 months instead of yearly.

I work at a vet specialist centre and my girls come to work with me most times I go. They get checked over a bit too much iykwim. But I still find that the older one needs a good check over as she has arthritis and other issues that need to be watched closely.