To Vaccinate Or Not To Vaccinate

Some say dogs should have vaccines yearly, some say they should never be vaccinated and some vaccinate to a certain age.

Personally I vaccinate until the age of 5. For me, I see no reason to vaccinate after that.

I have been hearing so much about vaccines lately and I am wondering what your take is on this.

OOOPS why did I post this here. Thought I was in the health section. Can someone please move this. Thanks. Sorry about that.

[Miakoda]

Vaccinate your puppy through the whole series. Do a follow up in one year. Then vaccinate every 3 years. Vaccine immunity does NOT last forever although many people like to wish it did.

Of course, when my dogs reach an old age, I no longer vaccinate except for rabies which is required by law.

my 7 year old had ONE puppy shot, a half dose of Parvo vacc. nothing else and Rabies as required by law. Still shows strong immunity for titers. Some vet's in the past couldnt' understand it, i'm glad I found one now that can. A strong dog has a strong immune system and is much better than any shot can do.

[Aussie Red]

Due to allergies I titer test now and have opted to not risk Whiskeys life for
Corona Bordetella or Gehardia. They are all treatable. as is lyme so don't take the risk. The other vacs will be given when needed. Exception is rabies which is mandatory.

[Melissa_W]

I will not be giving any more vaccines to Kai or Zoey unless a titer test indicates it's necessary. I believe that vaccinations may have caused Kai's IBD. I won't be taking the risk again.

[SummerRiot]

It is law here to have at LEAST the rabies vaccine.

Riot gets Rabies, DHPP, Lepto as well as Bordatella.. he will have to end up getting the Giardia vaccine as well because its a problem around here. (Every three years)

He gets his vaccines split though so its not too much at once.

He will always be vaccined for as long as hes classed as a "working dog".

He travels WAY too much to not be vaccinated.

When we lived in Kingston, his SAR partner had to be Titre tested though because of the reaction to the vaccines.

Once I get my discount at work I will look into titre testing as I do agree with this method much more.

I phoned our vet just now about the titer test and she said that a lady called about it the other day. They have to have the blood sent away and she said the people that do the testing didn't even really know about it. I take it this is something fairly new?

Regardless, Magnus is now 3 and he is done for vaccines. I am going to do Maisey's second set and then again at a year but then she is done.

[Aussie Red]

You can also request a mercury free vac. as I have done. These are a bit more costly because they have no preservatives but some vets will get them in for you. I believe they are safer then the others and I pay for them before the vet gets them. It was the only way he would do that. Given the reactions of dogs it is what I have chosen because I strongly feel that mercury is was is causing the problems. It is poisonous. I did note Whiskey did not have as bad a reaction to the non preserved ones.

[Red_ACD_for_me]

I did ALL of Caiza's puppy vaccines and now he doesn't need any shots for 3 years or unless the titer says otherwise Rabies is mandatory every 3 years.

[Melissa_W]

Who wouldn't want a mercury free vaccine? That's ridiculous. They should ALL be mercury free.