Information on Vaccination
Is it necessary or safe to give a five or six week old puppy a combination vaccination containing five or as many as nine different viruses? How about a seven or nine week old puppy? Is there any reason to vaccinate a puppy younger than ten or twelve weeks old? Should dogs be vaccinated on an annual basis? In my opinion and that of many others, no.First of all, no puppy or dog is going to be exposed, naturally, to five or more different viruses at the same time and except for rabies (which can be introduced by a bite) no virus is going to enter directly via the blood stream. How can anyone in their right mind expect the immune system of a five or six week old puppy to mount a defense against five or more different viruses injected into its blood stream? The immune system of a puppy that young is just beginning to function and may have difficulty fighting just one virus introduced in a normal manner. This type of vaccination protocol, while it is practiced by breeders and veterinarians every day, is simply nuts!
Puppies receive maternal antibodies from their dam while nursing. Maternal antibodies wear off at different rates. Since there's no easy way to test whether maternal antibodies are still present or not, conventional breeders and veterinarians typically vaccinate every two or three weeks to make sure the vaccine eventually "takes." If maternal antibodies are still present at the time of vaccination, they will block the vaccine and prevent vaccinated "immunity" (I put "immunity" in quotes because I do not believe vaccination offers true immunity) from taking effect. This is why the parvovirus virus vaccine often fails. Maternal antibodies to parvovirus can be present for as long as 22 weeks after birth.
If maternal antibodies are present for that long then why not vaccinate the puppy just once at a later date such as 10 or 12 weeks old at which point, the vaccine may have the chance of working? Research by Dr. Ronald D. Schultz, shows that a vaccine received at or after 12 weeks of age provides immunity in over 95 percent of dogs. He also states that the less than 5 percent which did not have immunity would never get immunity regardless of how many vaccinations they received.
Another consideration is which of the diseases that puppies and dogs are normally vaccinated for are really dangerous or commonly seen today? In my opinion, if I were to give puppy vaccinations, parvovirus is the only disease I'd consider vaccinating against. There is available what is called high titer parvovirus vaccine. This type of vaccine is designed to overcome maternal antibodies. If, after giving the vaccination you are concerned about whether or not it took, have a titer test run by your vet to see if antibodies are present. This is a much saner approach to vaccination. If you are concerned about distemper, give a parvovirus-only vaccination and then a few weeks later, give distemper or the other way around. Do not give any type of combination vaccine as it is only going to overwhelm the puppy's immune system and possibly cause chronic disease down the road.
Regarding annual vaccination, there is no scientific evidence backing up annual vaccination. This practice was instituted as a means to convince caregivers to bring their animals in for annual check-ups. There is scientific evidence that indicates that puppy vaccinations provide seven, if not more, years immunity against disease. Most veterinarians are not going to tell you this. Vaccinations make them a lot of money. Speaking of veterinarians making money, don't waste money on annual titers. The only thing that a titer will tell you is if there are antibodies present or not. The presence of antibodies does not equal immunity and really means nothing when it comes to an adult dog. If, however, your training facility requires proof of vaccination and they will accept titers in lieu of actual vaccination, then the money would be well spent.
Unfortunately, because it is the law in the United States, rabies vaccinations cannot be avoided. If your dog suffers from any type of chronic disease or condition or has had a previous reaction to a rabies vaccine, speak to your veterinarian about getting a written waiver. If your veterinarian will not write such a waiver, look for a different veterinarian. All vaccine vials carry the warning that vaccines should only be given to healthy individuals. Keep this in mind should you take your dog to a veterinarian due to illness and he tries to convince you to vaccinate the dog "while he's there." I hear of this happening all of the time and it is nothing short of malpractice on the part of the veterinarian.
You could keep yourself busy for weeks reading up on vaccine concerns as they relate to dogs. Simply do a Google search using the words "over vaccination dog."
In addition to avoiding most vaccinations, I do not administer monthly heartworm medicine to my dogs, nor do I use flea or tick prevention. Instead of using monthly heartworm medicine, I test my dogs every six months and if mosquitoes are prevalent, I use an herbal mosquito repellent. The reason for testing every six months is that if my dogs were ever to test positive, I would catch the infestation early enough to treat it using natural methods. There are several natural treatments available for heartworm infestation such as Paratox, one using Paratox and a homeopathic nosode and Ambertech's HWF. Like everything else, parasites are more of a problem in dogs who are fed kibble and vaccinated. My dogs do pick up ticks which I remove on daily basis. They never have fleas, nor do my cats. I know fleas are a problem in my area because my neighbors' dogs have them. A healthy animal is simply not a receptive host for parasites of any kind. For more information on the type of mosquito that can spread heartworm and prevention of heartworm, read this article.