[JennyLeroux]

Originally Posted by fannie

I was going to switch to Dr. Dodd's vaccination schedule. However, after meeting with my vet we decided that it was best to stick with the schedule I had. And no, not everyone will agree with this. Vaccinations in dogs are as much as a debate as they are in humans.

I vaccinate with Vanguard +5 at 7, 10, 13 & 16 weeks. This is why:

Puppies get the immunities from their mom within the first 48 hrs. of nursing. (colostrum) No one knows for sure when those immunities wear off. It depends on the individual puppy. We do know that it happens somewhere between 6 & 10 weeks. That is very general.

The first shot may not do much for the puppy if it still has immunities from its mom. If it is a puppy that the immunities wore off quickly, then it will. It takes more than 1 shot to give them immunity. The 10 week shot may be the same way. It depends on where that particular puppy is in regards to immunities received from mom. The 13 & 16 week shots are very important.

You have decide how much of a chance you're willing to take. You can certainly take them to the vet and have a titers test done on them and see where they are before you vaccinate. It's very costly to have this done.

The same goes for vaccinating adults. If you choose to not vaccinate every year, you absolutely need to have a titer test ran to see where they are. Say you vaccinate with a 5 way. 1 of those things in it may not last for 3 yrs. So you run the titer, find out that the numbers are low for one and you end up vaccinating anyway.

And no, I don't have time to go into detail... this is very general. That's why you need to go discuss it with your vet. If you're not comfortable with what they have to say, then find another one.

Thank you very much. I appreciate you taking the time to share that with me.