Quote:

I do know that one day after his 3 year rabies shot he started frantically itching and it's never really subsided since then.

Frankly, and you can call me crazy, a bout of parvo seems the lesser of 2 evils compared to 6 months of constant biting, scratching, hair loss, skin sores, bacterial skin infections, ear infections, anitbiotics, antihistimines, prednisone, allergy injections, bi-weekly baths, and expensive vet visits. None of this is going to end, it can't be cured, and he won't get over it. Seeing all this, I wish I had never vaccinated him in the first place.

What she said.

My dog is 98% better than he was at his worst, but it only took 2.5 -f-ing years. I intend to keep it that way.

In fact, the longer it goes between seeing a vet, the better things get!

 Quote:

I think i'm going to compromise. At the moment (and I've been known to change my mind on occassion ), he's already had his puppy shots. I think I'll get his first set of adult shots, then I'll probably not get anymore, other than rabies

That's what I thought. Thing is, it's not as if annual boosters or any better or worse than the first round. I'm guessing here, but it seems cohesive, that if a dog has ZERO (apparent) reaction to rabies the first year, the odds are good he'll have no apparent reaction the second year. It's not comparable to slow poisoning, rather a single sudden shock which gets things out of whack right away.

I was under the impression of vaccinations being a bigger problem when giving year-after-year. So I thought I'd take an "economized approach". Turns out, all it takes is is a single one with a dog's system which doesn't agree with it.

Good ol' rabies....the one required by law. That's what caused the biggest problem!

 Quote: cameron feathers

God knows I was anxiously awaiting my dog to burst into flames spontaneously after I fed the first raw meal, after the first raw chicken bone, first skipped vaccine...

I laughed so hard when I read this. This is the picture I think many people have in their head when I tell them my dogs eat raw meat, bone and organs.

 Quote: kori bigge

I called my vet and discussed titers, vacc, at length with him yesterday. I read a lot of info on titers before I called him, and he basically stated the same thing that some others have stated, which is that the titers aren't all that reliable, as they can't measure "memory" in cells, and that one dog might have a certain level of antibodies, which is enough to protect that dog, but another dog might be protected with a lower number. So the titers aren't that beneficial. He goes with a 3 year vacc schedule normally, on the core vaccines, along w/rabies. BUT, he normally doesn't go to 3 years until the dog has had yearly shots til 3 or 4 years of age.

Here is an article that may help you in your quest for more information. Dr Schultz is very well known in the world of animal vaccinations.
The only flaw in this reasoning is that it doesn't appear that giving shots to already-immune animals "boosts" much of anything. You cannot make an immune animal "more immune." Re-vaccinating an already-immune animal has little or no benefit; the previous immunity will act like maternal antibody and inactivate the vaccine, and immunity is not "boosted" at all. So you have all the risks of the vaccination, and no benefit. (Schultz, R.D., "Current and Future Canine and Feline Vaccination Programs." Vet Med 3: No. 3, 233-254, 1998.)
http://www.caberfeidh.com/Revax.htm

Here are the results of a vaccine study at Purdue University
This means that the vaccinated dogs -- ”but not the non-vaccinated dogs”-- were attacking their own fibronectin, which is involved in tissue repair, cell multiplication and growth, and differentiation between tissues and organs in a living organism.
http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/scienceVaccineDamage.html

Shannon

 Quote: shannon reed

Here is an article that may help you in your quest for more information. Dr Schultz is very well known in the world of animal vaccinations.
The only flaw in this reasoning is that it doesn't appear that giving shots to already-immune animals "boosts" much of anything. You cannot make an immune animal "more immune." Re-vaccinating an already-immune animal has little or no benefit; the previous immunity will act like maternal antibody and inactivate the vaccine, and immunity is not "boosted" at all. So you have all the risks of the vaccination, and no benefit. (Schultz, R.D., "Current and Future Canine and Feline Vaccination Programs." Vet Med 3: No. 3, 233-254, 1998.)
http://www.caberfeidh.com/Revax.htm

That Caberfeidh site is a great one; very clearly explains about titers and immunity. (and why titers are not very reliable in predicting immunity)

So here's my plan regarding titers (again, I will get them in case I need to kennel my dog):
Before I get the titers done, I will take her to the vets (like a week or two ahead of time).
If there's anyplace where she will likely be exposed to parvo and distemper, it's going to be there. Then, a week or 2 later, I will have the bloodwork done. That will maximize the chances that the titers will register a higher level of antibodies, which I am assuming a kennel would want to see.
('course, it might be cheaper to just hire a pet sitter than to fret about the titers! )

Speaking from personal experience and opinions based on my own research and learnings... I find that adult dogs with parvo is very rare. You menioned that you saw dogs die of parvo, and I know that it is very poweful to see that, it can be a horrible death. However, You would need to look further into the dogs health history- were the properly cared for? Were their immune systems build up naturally through a natural raw diet and proper supplements? Or were they left neglected in the backyard all day or exposed to unsanitary conditions? I would also like to mention that dogs who HAVE gotten the vaccine can still die of parvo.

I do not do titers, for the reason being even if my dog does not show immunity in a titer, I still will NOT vaccinate them anyways, so why waste my money and time. However, they can be accepted at some places for boarding. I do not know how much I would rely on them, it depends which virus. If you are doing titers, it should show if the dog has immunity. Vaccines are not magical immunity themselves, immunity comes through the dogs own immune system. He will likely have immunity from his puppy vaccines. Some studies show vaccines providing immunity that lasts years, or even a lifetime.

As far as Rabies, please get the 3 year if you must get it. The 3-year vax is the exact same vaccine as the 1 year. It is another possibility to get a waiver from a vet, such as given if dogs are prone to allergic reactions from vaccines. http://www.rabieschallengefund.org is great info.

ok im new to this topic, but i am verry concernd with my puppy i have a 145 week old cane corso, and he has had many shots already

before i picked him up he had 2,4,6,and 8 week worming shots including a safeguard

9 weeks he had his first distemper/parvo shot and he had another on tuesday, he has also had two lyme shots.

now i was reading the article on here about vaccines and the horror stories literally brought tears to my eyes if anything happend to my pupp from a vaccine i would prob kill my vet or seriousely hurt him..

he had a pretty bad reaction to his shot on tuesday about an hour after his shot he was in alot of pain at the injection site, he didnt want to walk, and when he did he yelped in pain, even when i touched him there he yelped. i was nervouse. but he is fine now.

im wondering if he needs more shots, if so what shots does he need, or should i just stop all shots from here on out?

i really dont want anything to happen to him.

thank you

 Quote: Jennifer N. Hack

Speaking from personal experience and opinions based on my own research and learnings... I find that adult dogs with parvo is very rare. You menioned that you saw dogs die of parvo ....

You addressed this to me. Perhaps you meant someone else?

 Quote: Michael curry

9 weeks he had his first distemper/parvo shot and he had another on tuesday, he has also had two lyme shots. ...

If you go here:

http://www.caberfeidh.com/PuppyVax.htm

and here:

http://www.caberfeidh.com/Revax.htm

and here:

http://www.weim.net/emberweims/Vaccine.html

and here:

http://leerburg.com/965.htm
http://leerburg.com/pdf/vaccinosis.pdf

then I believe that you will get a pretty rounded idea for someone who is already vaccinating (you). Note that Lyme's isn't recommended by the Dodds protocol.

About titers, QUOTE from caberfeidh: Although titers as a measure of ongoing immunity aren't all that useful, as a measure of whether or not an animal formed immunity from a recent vaccination, they are very reliable. END

You may decide that you don't want to vaccinate any more, or that you want to do the puppy series but then no more, or something else.

Only rabies is required by law.

The big thing is that reading and assessing for yourself is vital. That way you will know that you did what you researched and decided was right.

 Quote: Michael curry

... he had a pretty bad reaction to his shot on tuesday about an hour after his shot he was in alot of pain at the injection site, he didnt want to walk, and when he did he yelped in pain, even when i touched him there he yelped. i was nervouse. but he is fine now.

I know that you have mentioned what the vet said about that, but I forget. There is no lump, right?

How many weeks old was he Tuesday, Michael? (145 weeks was probably a typo. )

When I talked to my vet about titer tests. It seemed very expensive to me.

One vet I talked to, probably in her late 20's, said she had only seen one case of distemper in her career, and it wasn't in a dog.