Vaccination Regimen

[rockllews]

Does anyone here have vets that follow/utilize the 2006 AAHA vaccination guidelines or utilize them themselves? Just curious.

[jetto]

yes our vet goes by those guidelines...She wasn't happy about it at first and she insists on deciding on core vaccines on a case by case basis as to what your dog does, where the dog goes, etc. She devised a way to pretty much make sure she sees your dog every year. She puts them on a staggered schedule. Example- she doesn't want to give Rabies in the same 3 year interval as the core vaccines so this year two of my dogs might need a Rabies shot but not their core vaccines and maybe another needs the core but not rabies, etc. So she worked out a way to make sure people were bringing their dogs in for a yearly checkup.

the only thing she and I fight about anymore is that once the dog turns 9 or 10 I don't like giving anything but Rabies and she still wants to do the core vaccines. So we argue about that whenever I have a dog hit that age range. Sometimes I let her win- sometimes I win, lol...

She is very cooperative in splitting up the vaccines for our dog who has an autoimmune condition. I made the mistake of forgetting to tell a substitute vet one time to split them up and sent him into a tailspin when he got all his core vaccinations at one shot. We don't forget anymore. Kristi

[rockllews]

Thanks Kristi! How long have your dogs been on this type of schedule? And if you breed, what age do you start vaccinating the litters and with what interval?

[CherrystoneWeims]

Rock,

I give the first vaccines to my pups at 8 weeks of age. I use Pfizer Vanguard Plus5 and I also give Bordatella. The next vaccine is at 12 weeks and then 16 weeks. I don't give rabies until the pups are at least 20 weeks. A friend who is a vet at NC State and also a fellow Weim breeder recommended this protocol and it has worked well for us.

I don't believe in giving vaccines every year. I do give Lepto (pfizer 4 way) vaccine to my dogs starting at a year old and DO give that yearly. We have Lepto cases in my area. I stop vaccinating my dogs at about 7 yrs. of age. Even Rabies. Ronald Schultz DVM has found in studies that the Rabies vaccine is good for up to 6 yrs. He thinks that it may be good for even longer than that.

[jetto]

Our vets been doing this since 2005 I think. I'd have to look on records to be positive but I know my older dogs are on their second round of 3 year cores as of 2008- so it had to be 05 or before possibly. I asked her about it as soon as they were announced because at the time I had an older sick male I really wasn't liking vaccinating and our autoimmune dog also.

I will say we've had NO problems doing the 3 year schedule. We do vaccinate our healthy dogs for Lepto because this area has seen a few cases.

We don't breed (so far at least) other than allowing the use of our stud dogs- so no litters at our house yet. However our youngest was vaccinated using the Continuum vaccine so after his 12 week shot he doesn't need another core set for 3 years. His breeder followed the protocal on the label I believe which is: Initial vaccination of healthy dogs may be given as early as 6 weeks of age, with booster injections administered every 3-4 weeks until 12 weeks of age.
Kristi

[jetto]

Cherrystone- how do you get around state/local laws as far as the Rabies shots? We travel so much i carry all the dogs tags, vet records, etc. with us just in case.

I did win the battle this year with my 12 year old. They wanted to 3 year core-vaccinate her - I said NAH....We didn't even do Lepto with her- and that's a first because she's a swimmer. But I don't let her go in the pond anymore for fear one of us will have to go in after her, lol...

Kristi

[CherrystoneWeims]

The one who doesn't get Rabies vaccines anymore pretty much stays at home. He's 8.5 and my husband likes to have him here when I go somewhere to a dog event. I also have a letter from my vet. One year he had a lump from a Rabies vaccine (no other reaction and the vet contacted the drug company because he had multiple dogs who had the same reaction from the same batch) so the vet wrote me a letter stating that the dog has reactions to the Rabies vaccine even though he doesn't really have a "reaction". My vets have been very good about not over vaccinating dogs especially Senior dogs.

I give all of the other vaccines myself.

Besides I have quite an advantage! My dogs ALL look alike

[jetto]

Ok thanks! LOL on all looking alike....

We travel together so everyone travels with us....He handles. I'm unpaid kennel help and walk'em to the line person, lol...Just bought the old girl a coat- I've never bought a dog a coat in my life but sitting in the van at field trials she gets cold and I don't want to overheat the competition dogs by running it the entire time...So bought her a coat. She can stay in the camper when we have that along but we don't always pull that for the close to home trials....

When we had rescue foster dogs I gave all our own shots cept for the rabies but got away from it when we stopped fostering. Not enough of a turnover of dogs to make it worthwhile to buy the shots in bulk anymore. Kristi

[rockllews]

Thanks for the input ladies

[Kiki's Mom]

Chelsea....you got a new pup coming yet? How about and IRWS? <GGG>

we give the full core series starting at 6 weeks - 20 weeks , give Rabies at 18 weeks, booster at 12 months for core, 18 months for rabies and then booster at age 3 for everything ( split up core vaccines then 3 months later Rabies) We booster everyting again at age 6 and call it good. Past that we titer.

[rockllews]

Helen, Those IRWS pups of Wendy's are cutie pies Our new pup should be born Easter weekend and home in early June- looking forward to it of course.

Thanks for the info on your vacc protocol. It's nice to see some variation here from the standard. We decided to go along with the 2006 guidelines when they came out; I just don't have the litter/pup schedule decided upon yet.

BTW, do you remember the minimum amount of time that you make sure has passed between vaccinating and breeding a female?