# vaccination protocol



## Kerry Foose (Feb 20, 2010)

I had a conversation recently with a breeder of Sarplaininas and her thoughts and theories on vaccination protocol and vaccines in general was an interesting discussion. 
She maintains that her original seed stock from the Sarplaininac mountains ( later imported as mature adults raised in Eastern Europe) were far healthier specimens of her breed with no vaccinations than the litter that were born there and later imported as juveniles who were vaccinated and those are better yet than the ones that were born here in the US.
I can see it plainly myself...vaccinations can interfere with the natural antibodies and immunities that a dog is developing. My question would be how to effectively use these viral infections to benefit the dogs immune system rather than get in its way.
So who uses what? live, modified, killed - from what lab, why and when and for how long, etc... thoughts?


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

I give the first two vaccinations, both 7 way and never give another to my personal dogs. I give the 7 way because the dogs are going to areas where I have no idea what is endemic to the area. I quit follow up vaccinations years ago.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Kerry Foose said:


> I had a conversation recently with a breeder of Sarplaininas and her thoughts and theories on vaccination protocol and vaccines in general was an interesting discussion.
> She maintains that her original seed stock from the Sarplaininac mountains ( later imported as mature adults raised in Eastern Europe) were far healthier specimens of her breed with no vaccinations than the litter that were born there and later imported as juveniles who were vaccinated and those are better yet than the ones that were born here in the US.
> I can see it plainly myself...vaccinations can interfere with the natural antibodies and immunities that a dog is developing. My question would be how to effectively use these viral infections to benefit the dogs immune system rather than get in its way.
> So who uses what? live, modified, killed - from what lab, why and when and for how long, etc... thoughts?


Part of the reason is not just for the health of the individual animal but herd health (you must have a certain percentage of the population have exposure and immunity through wild virus or vaccination to keep the overall level in the population down) AND human public health. In places where there are no vaccinations, approximately 55,000 people die each year from rabies, mostly from dog bites. Rabies is a truly horrible way to die. I've posted this video multiple times, but this is what dying of rabies looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yVw0BBlxK4

Doesn't sound really so idyllic, does it? In the US, there is an average of about 2 people a year who die from rabies because we vaccinate our domestic animals. Distemper is another example of a disease that used to be quite common, but is now uncommon.

Now, I'm a minimal vaccinator myself (meaning my dogs get the puppy series if I get them as puppies, but get titers taken for parvo/distemper and a rabies vaccination every 3 years as by state law), but there is no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Vaccines are not inherently evil, but they do have risks and so they should just be used judiciously and most importantly, tailored to the individual dog's needs and geographical area for what's endemic.


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## Alice Bezemer (Aug 4, 2010)

I only vacinate as they are pups and the 1st year of age and no more after that......

the only thing i do vacinate for is rabies and only if i know that in that year i might go abroad to like france belgium germany or the uk with my dogs but if im not planning it then no rabbies either...

they do however get leptospirosis shots since they have to swim a lot in the summer and there are a hell of a lot of rats in the area where we swim.

reason i dont do more shots is that i had a dog that went to bits 3 years in a row when he got vacinated and after that i decided that even a vacination isnt a failsafe so i stopped....funny enough after all these years (23) in the first 13 years were regular vacinations with dogs falling ill at random intervals for no apparant reason what so ever...and the last 10 years I have hardly had to visit the vet for anything appart from scratches, cuts and bruises.....all my dogs are healthy and happy so in my view vacinations are highly overrated.


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## Harry Keely (Aug 26, 2009)

Heres a full blown educational version on Rabies ( Not a joke and not graphic ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX2EvXkn8OM&feature=related


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## Alice Bezemer (Aug 4, 2010)

Alice Bezemer said:


> I only vacinate as they are pups and the 1st year of age and no more after that......
> 
> the only thing i do vacinate for is rabies and only if i know that in that year i might go abroad to like france belgium germany or the uk with my dogs but if im not planning it then no rabbies either...
> 
> ...



forgot to mention that we dont have the same issues here as much as they do in the states so my views would probably not go for people in the USA


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## Adam Swilling (Feb 12, 2009)

I'm with Don. I have stopped dong anything beyond the first 2 sets, as far as my personal dogs go.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Alice said,


> only if i know that in that year i might go abroad to like france belgium germany or the uk with my dogs


Love it Alice. Maybe it is my warped sense of humor, but obviously, we think of going abroad in totally different terms. Takes about 9 hours for me to go from her, the geographic center of Calif, to the northern border of Calif. Going abroad to me is like going to Eu. or something. Ignore me and just continue. LOL


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## Alice Bezemer (Aug 4, 2010)

Don Turnipseed said:


> Alice said,
> 
> 
> Love it Alice. Maybe it is my warped sense of humor, but obviously, we think of going abroad in totally different terms. Takes about 9 hours for me to go from her, the geographic center of Calif, to the northern border of Calif. Going abroad to me is like going to Eu. or something. Ignore me and just continue. LOL


LOL....i can drive from one side to the other in 3 hours...thats how big the netherlands is....am 20 minutes from belgium border and about 3 hours from france, 2 hours from germany and the UK well takes a boat but wont take me more then 6 hours tops....the netherlands are TINY !!!! trip on you shoelace and land facefirst in gemany if ya aint carefull 

damn come to think of it...the netherlands probably fit in the smallest USA state many times over :lol:


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

The "going abroad" made me chuckle. Thanks


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Alice Bezemer said:


> LOL....i can drive from one side to the other in 3 hours...thats how big the netherlands is....am 20 minutes from belgium border and about 3 hours from france, 2 hours from germany and the UK well takes a boat but wont take me more then 6 hours tops....the netherlands are TINY !!!! trip on you shoelace and land facefirst in gemany if ya aint carefull
> 
> damn come to think of it...the netherlands probably fit in the smallest USA state many times over :lol:


Jeez, and I'm driving 10+ hours just to go 2 states over to be home for Christmas! It's 756 miles from my driveway to my moms. Then again, the county I'm from is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. 

But, to be on topic, it is a good question. My new pup got his initial vaccination from the vet at 6 weeks - I'm bringing the monster home next week sometime. I'm not sure how much vaccinating I want to do, but since we're going to AZ and he'll be around my mom's dogs, is it ok on just the initial set? All her dogs are vaccinated and AFAIK they've never had parvo or distemper in any of their dogs.
He'll be about 10 weeks on the 24th - give the booster while I'm home or wait until I get back?

I don't give annual boosters at all, so the 10-12 week shots will be the last minus the rabies at 16+ weeks.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Usually an every 3-4 week protocol is used, but depends on the practitioner. Did he just get the one at 8 weeks (like you said he was 8 weeks on the other thread)? My dog had a vaccine reaction as a pup at 12 weeks, so his last DHPP (the distemper/parvo) vaccination was then. At like 6-7 months, I drew blood and submitted titers on distemper and parvo to make sure he was suitable for both (which he was). So now the only vaccines he gets are the 3 year rabies. My Rottweiler is required to still get DHLPP vaccines, including lepto, to be a visiting therapy dog, but usually mine just get the rabies once they have acceptable titers as adults. No one can tell you for sure if he is protected or not, not even the titer level, but there is no rule that two vaccines are "enough." Titers cost me $25 a piece from the vet school diagnostic laboratory.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

They got vet checks at 6 weeks and first round of vaccinations during their check (I'll double check the breeders paperwork stuff on Saturday to make sure but that's when they'd been scheduled for their appt) - so he'd be due up again around 10 weeks - again, I can't add, he'll be over 10 weeks while I'm on vacation - so I guess he'll get his second set before I leave. I just don't want to drag him down to my mom's house and expose him to 10 other dogs and have him catch something - though they had a litter of pups over the summer that didn't get vax'ed until late (12+ weeks) and no parvo or anything else.

I'm not concerned about the rabies thing. My adult dog only got a 1 year due to shipping regulations (and then didn't end up going, PFFT) and she'll get a 3 year next year.

God, I really am pretty dumb with math, lol. Back to counting on my fingers I suppose!


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