I have had conflicting advice about booster vaccinations for dogs?

a vet once told me that yearly booster jabs for dogs are uneccessary and simply a money making exercise for vets.He also told me there is evidence to support this.Other vets have said this information is wrong.Apparantly dogs initial vaccinations are similar to humans and provide protection for life but it has to be accepted that like humans some dogs will still become ill and like all living creatures this is unavoidable.Has any one else heard of this and if so do you no longer get your dog vaccinated.I am undecided who to believe and am playing safe rather than risk being sorry but like a lot of people i often feel ripped off by vets.Is this another rip off or a vet talking rubbish?I have had conflicting advice about booster vaccinations for dogs?
Well I feel strongly about this subject with the information that I have seen. We are being ripped off by vets in this area. Yearly re-vaccination is completely unnecessary and in fact may be harmful in the end. I know people who advise completely against vaccinations however from my experience you need three vaccinations to keep your dog safe. Parvo, Distemper, and Rabies. These three will protect you from anything that can be transmitted. They should be given around 14 weeks or so with one booster set and from that point on are unnecessary. Rabies given yearly is complete crap as they have proved the vaccine to be good fro seven years and possibly for life. Get a blood titter done to avoid the necessity of giving the shot. If you would like more information I have several documents that prove these points. Just e-mail me with your e-mail address and I can send them over to you. Same goes for anyone else who is interested.I have had conflicting advice about booster vaccinations for dogs?
i have just had my dogs boosters done, it is something they need and could save there life. the vet is talking rubbish, i am a trainee vet and i know full well that boosters are needed.
Believe me you do want to have your pets vaccinated because the alternative is horrible.Everyone is not lying about vaccines.I vaccinate my puppies at 6,9,12,and 15 weeks.You can do it yourself if you do not trust your vet.Go to your local feed or grain store and you can get puppy shots and vaccines.You can get your vaccines on line and get expert advice with Foster and Grant pet suppies they will advice you on how to administer them.If you love your pet you will give it its shots and deworm and deflea it. also never feed from the table, always feed good dry food.
I have done lots of research on this subject. Most vaccines have been proven to be good for at least 7 yrs and up to 15 yrs. so far; also just because a pet has been vaccinated for a certain disease is not a 100% guarantee that they aren't going to contact anyways. I no longer vaccinate my dogs yearly. My dogs get all their puppy shots, they get their one year booster and then they don't get vaccinated after that (except for the rabies shot that is required every 3 yrs). They do however eat an excellent food to keep their immune system in good shape and they still get their yearly checkup at the vets.





Check out Jean Dodd's vaccine protocol http://www.doglogic.com/vaccination.htm





and this google search will give you a list of more sites on this subject. http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en%26amp;q=over鈥?/a>





You do the research and then do what you think is best for your pets. I believe that if we ';humans'; only get vaccinated for all the childhood diseases and they are good for our lifetime, then why would our pets systems be any different?
since you have already have an honest vet tell you this, why are you doubting it.


For the last 20 years I have had puppy vaccinations done, then apart from lepto which I have to have done every year as I live in the fens (lots of rats) I only have them done every 3 years until they reach 7 or 8 years of age, then I never have them done again. All of my dogs live to a very good old age.
I've heard theories like that, and don't know what to believe.


at the end of the day a booster only cost roughly 拢30?


and just to have the piece of mind and absolute confirmation that my dogs are protected, being a con or not, i think it's worth it.


another pro to the yearly boosters is that rarely will you be able to board your dogs into kennels without their vaccination certificates that hold proof of kennel cough and their boosters being up to date and to be honest, i wouldn't board my dogs anywhere that didn't ask for these.


it's a matter of personal choice, but i have my 3 dogs kept up to date for these reasons.
To tell you the truth I don't know what to believe anymore, some vets says its unnecessary, whilst others insist its best for your dog, I just don't know of any kennel that would allow you to take your dog in as a boarder without its up to date booster certificate, we were told by the lady we got our golden retriever off that they can become immune to the booster as they get to about 5 years old, our vet told us otherwise, who do you believe, me, our vet hes a close friend and we trust him impeccably and hes qualified to know what hes talking about too.
Whether you do the booster thing or not depends on several factors.





Are you in an area (or do you allow your pet to play in an area) that provides a breeding ground for certain diseases? How much do you care for your pet ... versus the ';cost of doing business';? Are there other veterinary services that give different rates and/or separate out the vaccines - or do they all ';lump them together';?





If your pet doesn't ever go to a kennel (or have other dog friends that s/he plays with that do), then bordatella isn't on the list of things to be boosted. Other things (like rabies, leptovirus, parvovirus, and so forth) are far more common, and therefore should be administered.





We don't ';booster'; our dog's rabies shots. We get a good quality, 3-year version and redo it every 35 months. Other ones, it's a different story.





Our labrador retriever is the only child we're likely to ever have, so he gets the best of everything - just like a human child would.





Talk to several vets in your area (and I mean the old-school, field vets ... not the chain-store modern ones) about combining medications. I bet they tell you the boosters relevant to your area are necessary, and that - just like humans - it's a bad idea to mix medications.
There is a lot of conflicting advice about vaccinations. I follow a holistic program for my dogs, which means they eat a raw diet and do not recieve meds. It is believed that over vaccination (yearly) causes many of the problems dogs have such as allergies and various diseases. If you think about it years ago dogs did not get all the vaccines they do today and years ago it was rare to hear of some of the issues dogs have today, such as allergies. I do not vaccinate all my dogs regularly, they mostly only recieve the rabies shot and only because it is required by law, two of my dogs I do vaccinate yearly but only because they are therapy dogs (they go to hospitals and nursing homes)and they have to have them in order to participate in the therapy dog program and out of 5 dogs the only one with an allergy issue is one of the dogs being vaccinated yearly. I do not ever put flea preperation on them because I just do not understand how you can put this stuff on your dogs skin but if it touches your skin you should wash it off immediately if it is toxic to us then it is reasonable it would be toxic for our dogs and I do not give heartguard or any other heartworm medication. I do have them tested 2x a year. I have not had a problem with fleas or heartworms or any kind of worms. There are several books that you can get on the subject one that I liked a lot was Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs %26amp; Cats. It was good for when I first began investigating holistic remedies. I hope this helps.
yeah i read all about this when i had to start making decisions about it with my dog. I weighed up the pros and cons and decieded to go with the vacinations as i would one day like to bring my dog abroad with me or may be forced to have her stay in a kennel for a short time and both require up to date vacinations.


My mums dog never had any of these vacinations and she is very well and is 10 years old next june i think.
We had our dog vaccinated every year she died at 11 year old shortly after her ';jab'; at that time there had been a T.V. program


concerning dogs boosters and as you said there are conflicting stories,so when we brought home two pups we spoke to several vets and decided to have the vaccinations up to 5 years,both dogs are fine 8 years old now,but you have to keep up with the injections if they are going into kennels and like us whatever you do just hope we are doing the right thing.
Like people, some dogs just have a better immune system. You can have a blood titre test done to check for the level of anti bodies; but you need one test per vaccine (eg one for parvo, one for distemper etc) and it costs as much as the vaccine.


I've seen unvaccinated dogs die of parvo and distemper; they are preventable diseases and its just not worth the risk.





I had one dog who was sensitive to the vaccine and I went for 4 years without, then saw a new vet. He suggested giving the booster as two shots as for puppies; as they san sometimes react when given all together. I tried that and it worked.
Okay well I HATE to hear that people think their vets are ripping them off :( There is this new trend to not trust anything vets think and it's very frustrating going into the profession new to begin with and trying twice as hard to save animals lives and defend your profession. Only SOME vaccines provide over one year immunity. These can range from three to ten years immunity. I currently vaccinate my dog every other year because of this. My dog lives indoors, not near standing water such as a pond, is not around stray animals or animals that are not vaccinated or taken care of. When I'm in practice (which will be shortly) I will try my best to assess the environment of the animal from the owner's explanation if this is a concern for them and only vaccinate when necessary and for what is a risk in that area. The your main concern as to why vets tell owners to vaccinate yearly is that many owners would never bring their animal in to be checked if it wasn't to vaccinate for disease that they themselves thought they could get. The puppy shots are so essential with Parvo especially and since puppies are immune compromised. But if we only saw animals at puppy shots the next time we would see them would be when they were really ill with something that could have been easily cured if noted at a physical exam. Although my dog is vaccinated every other year he is normally physically examined (by myself and other vets) more than once a year.


When you work in an animal hospital you get to see cute puppies and kittens but you also see the owners who bring in their pets when it's too late. And they consistently say the same thing, 鈥淚 wish I had known and brought them in earlier.'; Often cancer, progressive diseases, and even curable diseases can be easily observed by a trained veterinarian that an owner might think was incidental. Often there are things that observative owners can catch quickly since they know the behavior of the animal but there are many things that a veterinarian who has experience and training will pick up on.


I know this is long winded but this is a debate in all medicine animal and human as well. Vaccinations are normally given to animals who have caring owners who bring them in and are concerned for their well being. But there are people who don't vaccinate their animals. There is truly nothing sadder than putting an animal down for something that could have easily been treated, cured or PREVENTED at an earlier date. My thought is: you only get 10-15 years with this friend, probably the best friend you will ever have, why take the chance.


Also keep in mind that although you might not be paying full price at the doctor's you are getting charged sometimes 100 times or more that than you are at the vet. Often the same medicial equipment and supplies are used on animals that are used on you. Medical equipment and supplies are very expensive. Veterinarians pay the same, or more, to go to vet school that human doctors pay to go to human medical school but only get paid a third of what human medicine doctors get paid. We often do five times the amount of work they do since they refer many things out and have nurses to do alot of the work. You never hear about vets on their yachts or taking expensive vacation. Most can't even take a day off during the week. Alot of what goes on at an animal hospital most clients don't see, and you probably don't want to see it. Next time you pay $30 or $40 for a office visit there is alot more that goes into that exam then a stethoscope and mysterious palpation of your dog. If you have concerns with your veterinarian I highly suggest you discuss these concerns with them. They can then show you what all goes into what you are paying for.


I truly am excited about entering the veterinary medical field in the next year and even more excited that I will be working with educated and conscientious clients such as yourself. Keep investigating new trends in everything you purchase, it will make you a well educated consumer and a vet's dream client :)
i also feel strongly about this matter it has been found that some dogs after being vaccinated become ill and can die there immune system is weakened as they are jabbed yearly.my own dogs only had there puppy jabs which every pup should have but they dont get jabbed yearly my 3yr old has never been ill in her life {touch wood}humans dont get jabbed yearly so why should our pets?i let there natural immune system protect them and develop normally.
There are shots that the dog need annually rabies for one. If you board the dog, it needs distemper and kennel cough shots. I keep mine UTD with the Rabies shot for sure. Depending on where you live, you should take the advise of the vet. Not all vets are rip offs. Some states require rabies shots every 3 yrs, others require them every year. Check with the state and city you live in as to what the requirements for shots are for animals.
I heard much the same but don't take the risk. Vaccinations don't cost much and they can save your dog's life. Kids have booster jabs so it's feasible that dogs need them too. It's up to you of course but I'd prefer peace of mind.
This is true and its your call to decide what the risks are. The vets just haven't really explained it properly.


The initial vaccination gives your dog the immunity to the disease. That teaches your dogs immune system to recognise that disease and react to it. The immune system will probably recognise the disease for ever, but some forget it or don't remember it so clearly after a period of time. The result is increased risk of contracting the disease. This varies from dog to dog as every immune system is different. Some immune systems won't respond to the vaccination at all anyway and so will fail to protect the dog from the disease.


The booster is designed to stimulate the immune system to remember that disease. So its memory is fresher should it be required to recognise and fight that disease.


Manufacturers of vaccines generally recommend boosters every 3 years. However, many vets say better safe than sorry and recommend every year as we don't really know how to judge the quality of response by the dog's immune system in learning to recognise and fight that disease. Most dog owners follow the norm and give boosters every year but increasing numbers are happy to follow the 3 year cycle. I would not recommend the once only course as there is greater risk that your dog's immune system will not respond sharply to the disease.


Better safe than sorry although its your call to decide for your dog!
we have a kennel and we give our dogs a 7 in 1 shot every year (parvo shot)
I was also told this by a vet who used to work for the RSPCA no less! She said that if you have the initial inoculations done when a pup is very young and then get the booster done after a year then no other boosters were necessary, the vet I use now gives boosters every 3 years, obviously if you board your dog in kennels when you go on holiday then all vaccinations need to be up to date!