How often do you get your dog vaccinated?

Hi,

We've got a 9 year old dog who we have vaccinated yearly since we got her as a pup.

Recently I was talking to our dog groomers (who we've had for many years- and all their other advise has been pretty reliable)- said that especially now that our dog is getting older and cause we've done the yearly vaccines all her life- that we don't necessarily need to continue to have the vaccinations yearly anymore, we could wait 18months to 2 years. That its just another way for the vets to get more money from us. They had been told this from their retired vet friend.

So now I'm not sure what to do- as I they do care for our dog- and I don't think they would want to cause her harm and they did bring up a few what seemed to be valid points. Of course her vaccination is due this month too.too.

So how often do you get your dog's vaccinated and what are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Our dog is 15 years old. We vaccinate him ever year - same with the cat (who is 7).

This is mainly because both the dog and cat go into a boarding kennel when we go away, so it is not just worth the risk to us to let them go unimmunised.

Also we trust our vet to do the right thing - we have been with them for 15 years and they have treated all our animals.

Depending on the vaccinations your vet uses, generally vaccinations can be given every 16 months. BUT in saying that, once a pet reaches 7 years they are considered geriatric and need yearly check ups to keep on top of diseases.

Also, as they get older their immune systems weaken, so if they are kennelled, or regularly visit dog parks, they should be on top of those vaccinations.

There were some vaccinations out for a while there that were every 2 years, but a lot of people kept forgetting, and it wasn't going too well, most people chose to vaccinate yearly due to the cost of the other vaccinations anyway. Imagine the yearly ones are expensive enough! Then double the price, even if it is only every 2 years, it still hurts when it happens.

We have 2 Boys, my enormous adorable sooky babe Rottweiler "Kuma" & a very cheeky and ****y Bull Mastiff "Major" both are 4 years old and get vaccinated annually...

I think I'd be inclined to take the "Just in Case" path and still get your precious pup vaccinated every year, it's just not worth her possibly getting so ill over an $80 vacc :(

Very interesting though isn't it?! I'll have to hit my vet up next time I brave Kuma dragging me in there :)

I would keep getting your dog vaccinated every year just to be on the safe side. Our dog will be vaxed every year as she will have regular stays at a boarding kennel

I have to see my vet friend very soon so I will ask her....she is a personal friend first and vet (to us) second so I will trust what she says. She will tell it to me straight!

Annually. We live in a heart-worm area, and have the annual heart worm injection. there is also the risk of parvo (which is known to be carried in the local dog-pond), which DH's corgi had when she was little because he was very dim on vaccinations (didn't know they were needed).

I'm not worried about Kennel Cough as regardless of vaccination, they manage to pick it up anyway. And like the flu vaccine, it comes in multiple strains, and you're relying on your dog coming in contact with the strains you vaccinated for. Never our luck! But our dogs don't get really ill from it anyway.

Thanks for your responces.

MummyTummy - that'd be great if you could ask your vet friend - it'll help with the decision.

Still undecided though, but it does kinda feel like its possibly better to be on the safe side. Whats still playing on my mind and the other couple of points the groomers had mentioned is that our dog doesn't really see other dogs anyway (there is dogs next door and behind, but they don't really interact through the fence either) and she has never been in a boarding kennel and probably never will - she always goes to Nana's - yeah - she knows it as Nana's - she was our trial baby...lol! And she would still get her vaccination, just not as often - if we delay it, it would probably be for the 18months.

Thanks again and if there is any vets out there would love to hear your responses too.

Hi Bec,
I would do it every year. The reason is that I used to work at the dog pound in the Tweed which is not so far from you. And we would see parvo at least three times a year. It is pretty rife in that area. And I know one of the gold coast dog parks had parvo in it the year that I was there. I was warned not to go to that one. It can stay in the soil for years.
HTH

Our dogs almost never see other dogs, and they still get kennel cough.

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. :dunno:

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 :)

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 :D

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.

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).

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

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.