Bulldogs World

BTW she is also my Vet.  Both my dogs are vaccinated, however from here on out they will both only get a yearly Rabies; as required by law and injectable Bordetella vaccine but only yearly, since they do go hiking, to the Vets, etc. and we want to keep them from getting kennel cough which can turn ugly with these guys.  We will keep an eye on the Distemper for breakouts etc. and vaccinate ONLY IF NECESSARY.  My cat has Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) he no longer gets any vaccines.  He is strictly indoors, and vaccines make him flare so we quit doing them all together.

Neither one of my dogs get vaccinated for Lyme disease, it is the most common reaction vaccine and the disease is treatable, but they are both on flea/tick prevention as well.  Ida, our Boxer got it once and had a HORRIBLE reaction so we decided no more and we are not going to risk it with Farley. 

not required by law. The vaccines have been PROVEN to last 5-7 years. Yep, 5-7 years! I read the minutes from a veterinary conference that had this listed, ALL the vaccines had these wonderful long term benefits, then guess what they recommended? Yearly shots. Why???? Because it is a SIGNIFICANT source of income for them. Not just the shots themselves, but they figure people would skip the yearly visit altogether if they knew their dog did not NEED the shots. My vet knows how I feel about it, and does not push it. He is the one that told me distemper is not a concern here, and her parvo titer proved she is immune.

then you can point at the report and say look she doesn't need them!

They changed their recommendations in 2006.  Once the dog has had it's full set of puppy shots....they recommend core vaccines be possibly given every 3 years or LONGER.

http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/VaccineGuidelines06Revised.pdf

My Vet does not recommend anything but the 3-year Rabies and Bordetella if necessary depending on their lifestyle. 

Thanks everyone for all the responses, this has been a HUGE help.  FWIW, I haven't had one person, other than the vet, that has told me that vaccines are a good idea, that speaks volumes.  I'm going to just have them do the fecal exam and the annual physical, if they give me any crap, I'll take my business somewhere else.

Thanks again

Keith

is a decision that each dog owner has to make for themselves, hopefully with lots of research and discussion with a vet, each owner will come up with a schedule that they feel comfortable with. I choose not to vaccinate my dogs. All of them have had the full series of vaccinations prior to coming here, so we have chosen not to continue the shots. I began to question the necessity of yearly vaccinations years ago, most vets couldn't give me an answer that made any sense to me, so I stopped having them done. My current vet has a 5 to 7 year protocol and excuses my older dogs from the 3 year Rabies vaccination. He writes a letter to the town clerk so that I can register my dogs. If your vet is resistant to your concerns, find another vet. They are supposed to work with you to develop the best/healthiest plan for your dog, not dictate.

Good luck with whatever decision you choose.