The biggest item I have to educate my new puppy owners on-along with the raw diet-is the idea that you never want to over vaccinate your dog or cat. In my personal opinion, I believe that our long standing practice of over vaccinating our animals is literally killing them. We are compromising their immune systems to the point that they are routinely developing allergies, and cancers. I too, used to vaccinate my Shelties believing I was protecting them when in fact I was contributing to the problem. Now many purebred dogs have Aids, hemophilia, cancers, sterility, and all sorts of auto immune problems---and to top that all off, a vaccination offers no guarantee that your dog will not get the very disease you have vaccinated for!
But when I had my own child, I really started to question some things and put pieces together. And I find now that even the main stream veterinarians are changing their protocol concerning vaccinations. I am not anti-vaccination, but I think there is a proper time to give the least amount of vaccines at the most appropriate timing. Most schools of thought on the subject agree that once a dog reaches maturity, one vaccination should be good for several years. My personal protocol is to wait until the mother's milk immunity protection is gone by three months of age for the puppy. I then give one Parvo-killed virus if possible and not with any other vaccines. Three weeks later, I give the Distemper vaccine, again with as few other vaccines as possible. You have to ask questions--some vets still want the income from regular vaccine programs and put that above what your individual pet may need. And they give a vaccine that can have 7 or 8 different vaccines at once! Wow. I think a veterinarian should offer you sound advice and alternatives and let you make the final decision. Any professional who tried to pressure me with fear tactics would find me walking out the door-seriously.
Parvo is still a very serious disease and it is still around today. Distemper is not as prevalent, but still a very serious disease. Many of the other things included in the whopper vaccinations are things not really seen much today or not really a threat to the well being of the dog. Like kennel cough, there are many boarding facilities and classes that force you to vaccinate your dog or they won't take them. But kennel cough is not by any means a life threatening illness and the fact is, a healthy dog is not likely to get it. If they do, it's like getting a bad cold with bronchitus and is very treatable. I would rather take my chances that my dogs have a strong immune system and could handle that on their own with treatment. Again, it's a choice.
By law, you usually are only required to have a Rabies vaccine. Unfortunately, this is the vaccine that is thought to cause the most reactions in dogs. I never give any vaccine unless the dog is in perfect health, I give one vaccine at a time and never associated with a surgery. It is very common practice to spay or neuter a puppy and give the rabies at the same time. Any vaccine is a stress to the system. It's designed that way-to make the body react to it. So do it alone and allow the body time to adjust to the reaction.
If done in this manner, you should be good for 3-4 years before considering any boosters. Personally, I think if the vaccine performs in the manner it is supposed to, then a booster shouldn't be necessary. I check my dogs blood titers and it tells me if they still are forming antibodies to the vaccine diseases. There are all kinds of schools of opinions on the issue of vaccination and it's a pretty debated topic. Again, I encourage you to educate yourself and find the choices that make the best sense for you and your family. I do recommend that you find a vet who is educated in alternative methods as well as conventional, so that you get the most up to date information. Ask the tough questions and be ready for the answers. Ask about side effects of vaccines-each little vial comes with a pamphlet that tells you about all kinds of things that can go wrong. Many times I found that vaccinations were presented in a manner to make me believe that I not only must do them, but that they were completely safe. If someone had told me most creatures can be vaccinated and adjust to them, but there are chances of side effects and one of them may be death---well, it would make me take the situation much more seriously and with a lot more responsibility.
My pups have a good beginning here at SweetWater and from sound, healthy parents we love and socialize our pups weaning them onto a raw diet. Add to that mix lots of sunshine and fresh air and clean water and we hand to you a healthy, sane puppy with a strong immune system at nine weeks. As a practice, I do give homeopathic nosodes to my puppies to stimulate the immune system to various disease but in a very safe manner. We suggest you take a few weeks to acclimate the puppy to your home and new schedule and by three months take them for their vaccinations if you choose. Rabies is not recommended nor required until the dog is six months.
