The Lepto vaccine is a VERY short lived vaccine, just like kennel cough vaccine. It only lasts approx. 3-4 months. SO, peolple who give it to thier dogs 'yearly' are actually only covered for less than 1/2 that time.

The Lepto vaccine is also the vaccine that has the MOST vaccine reactions, with the most serious being anaphalactic shock.

This vaccine also only covers 3 strains (the newer vaccine I think covers 4-5 strains) of Lepto. There are over 80 strains of Lepto. Further more, the strains that the vaccine does cover are not the current ones found in the environement.

So, if you vaccinate you are not really covered for most of the strains in the environment, it only lasts 3-4 months and it is a VERY hazardas vaccine. Why would anyone give it??????

Excellent information on this thread guys. I am going to add this thread to the article I wrote on vaccinosis. Actually I read someplace where there was 130 different types of lepto and the vaccines only covered the three strains for 3 months.

I don't agree with the vet that gives police service dogs this vaccination. He should be recommending a raw diet and then let the dogs own immune system deal with any bugs he comes in contact with.

This is a BAD BAD vaccination

My sister's puppy just had this vaccination, a booster I think and it was limping on its back leg for almost 3 days. It is normally a very spunky and super active dog but about an hour after getting this vaccine it was sleeping and did not want to get up. It was pretty scary, and it always seems like there's a laundry list of vaccines I must give my dog. My vet lists due dates and vaccines on each invoice and the lists are always very long.. I feed my dogs a raw diet and I always feel uncomfortable with them getting so many vaccines, but I have the feeling if I don't get them, they will just think I'm too lazy/too cheap to buy the vaccines and I use this vet as my vet reference

Vaccine protocols are changing....verrry slowly...and many vets are either not current on the new protocols or they just don't care. Many still insisit on that "laundry list" of vaccines despite the growing body of evidence that many/most of them do more a lot more harm than good.

Having worked on the other side of the counter, I am unaware of any vet's office (mine or others) slapping a scarlet letter on a client's chest for not vaccinating. :wink:

YOU are your dog's advocate. YOU have every right to refuse some or all vaccines without getting a bunch of attitude for it. But you are also responsible for doing the research and basing your decision to vaccinate or not on what you find and, in the case of rabies, on your state's laws.

There is a wealth of information about vaccinosis on this site and on the web that I would urge you to take some time to read up on it...if only to reaffirm your conviction that so many vaccines can't be good.

I would also suggest a switching to a holistic vet, if you have one close by. They are usually a lot more understanding (and current!) on the whole subject of vaccines.

All JMHO

It can be hard to fire a vet, especially when they are used to unquestioned authority. Personally for any vet who requires lepto, KC, or gets snotty about owners choosing to vaccinate their own dogs I'll fire them on the spot. I think the major difference in this with owners is that we have to be assertive with vets to the why will will no longer be seeking their advice or services.

The last vet I fired was for telling me they required a KC and Rabies vaccine on a 4 month old puppy before spaying. They were willing to do it same day as the spay. I asked to see the vet office manager who confirmed the policy and I told them I would not be seeking their services again or recommend them to anyone because of this dangerous policy. The office manager looked downright baffled on why I just wouldn't go along with this idea. My hope is that they decided to move the baffled look into research on why this was a bad idea.

My current vet happily is a great guy with about 25 years of experience under his belt. I think I interviewed about 20 or so vets to find the right person, right clinic, and right staff. It may take 45 minutes to get there but every time I go I feel better about the choice.

If you do decide to go with another vet please inform your old vet why. Hopefully they'll take the constructive critique well and do some research.

I was told by my vet (former vet I should say) that I should get my lab the Lepto vaccine, right after we had found out that he had hypothyroidism. I couldn't believe that the vet wanted to give my dog something that has more negative reactions than positive. Needless to say, I now drive over 70 miles to take all my dogs to the vet, rather than 2 miles to someone who isn't up to date.

I wouldn't give the shot, just because, like others have said, there's more bad than good to it. Switch vets, I did and I couldn't be happier because they don't push vaccines (they know I only do rabies shots for my dogs) and are more open minded about a more holistic approach (food, vaccines, etc.).

I'm wondering if there's any current info about the lepto vaccine or if the same (old) info in this thread still applies. Thanks - Matt

I found this thread which is much newer. All of the links Connie posted except for one are still good (and fairly recent -- in one case with a 2015 update). I'm sure there is more information out there; this is just what I found here on this board.

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=34038&page=1#388833

Dogs in the woods, in funky water, around cattle, around sea lions, any where lepto is active, vaccination is likely to be helpful. Perhaps not in kenneled dogs, dogs whose lives are highly controlled, who have mostly crate and cement and leash and mowed lawn time.

In SE Minnesota, my cattle are vaccinated yearly for 7 strains of Lepto, in the fall. I vaccinate my dog every few years.

If I moved to a more gentile environment I probably wouldn't vaccinate for Lepto. On the farm, there is such a wildlife resesvoir--my experience is I need Lepto vaccine. Every few years, I loose a fetus to lepto---abortions, usually when I don't get around to vaccinating the dam. I've had horses with eye lesions from lepto, and seen goats and calves on farms around here with the disease. It is not always straightforward to treat --

So my experience is --- if it's around you, vaccinate. If not, don't.

To add a personal anecdote to Betty's very sensible advice: for many years I've gone the minimal vaccination route and I had never vaccinated my dogs for lepto. Didn't think I needed to, plus I was put off by the short-term limited efficacy of the available vaccines and their poor reputation for side-effects.

Then last year we moved out to a more rural area, and the first week in the new house the Buzzdog caught a vole and ate half of it before I could intervene. 72 hours later he started to look unwell and he became very ill very fast - he would have died if we hadn't had an alert vet who immediately suspected lepto, plus excellent lab diagnostics at the CSU veterinary hospital. With immediate intravenous antibiotics, plus support for kidney and liver function over the following few weeks (first his kidney numbers, then his liver enzymes, peaked and then declined back to normal as the infection and related toxins worked through his system) Buzz recovered well and is completely back to normal. But it was a genuinely scary experience - and this with a fit and athletic dog, raw-fed for years, with zero history of health problems. So don't kid yourselves that a healthy immune system is sufficient to prevent lepto.

Now both dogs get the 4-way lepto vaccine annually. I time it for early spring, so protection peaks through the months around here (April through October) when they are most likely to be exposed to infected water or wildlife, plus the 4-way covers the leptospirosis serovars reported for this part of Colorado (gryppotyphosa and canicola) The newer vaccines apparently have been cleaned up a lot and don't have nearly as many side effects as the older vaccines - we haven't seen any problems so far. I'm curious about Betty's comment that she vaccinates her dogs only every few years - because it's a bacterial vaccine, my understanding from my vet and my own research is that protection is short-lived (like bordatella) and annual boosters are necessary?

Anyway, I just wanted to say don't underestimate lepto - it's nasty. Do your research and seriously consider vaccinating if - as Betty describes - your dogs are likely to be exposed.