Aloha All,

We have a wonderful 12 week old Presa Canario puppy. She was vaccinated in the UK by the breeder at 8.5 weeks with DHPPi and Lepto2 (both Nobivac brand). My vet is recommending 2 more vaccinations (@ 13 weeks and 17 weeks) and I am worried.

I am concerned about possible negative effects of vaccinating. On the other hand, we live in Hawaii where parvo and lepto are common. We are very active and take our dogs hiking often--in Hawaii lepto is present on virtually all of the trails. In fact, my last dog almost died of lepto. If it wasn't for the prevalence of parvo and lepto here, I would not vaccinate.

Now I am torn. I would hate to see my puppy suffer through parvo or lepto (when my other dog had it, I slept on the vet kennel floor with her for 4 days.....it was heart wrenching). But also, I would hate for her to suffer the effects of vaccinosis. I certainly will not vaccinate yearly. I feel like I'm in a catch 22.

I have researched this ad nauseum but don't know what course of action is best. You all are so knowledgeable, I would love any input, advice or comments.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Sacks
Honolulu, Hawaii

About revax and about which are core vaccines:

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

http://www.wellpet.org/vaccines/dodds-schedule.htm

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

It's hard to say, since it sounds like a personal decision you will have to make. She may or may not have immunity from just the one shot that was done at 8.5 weeks. I can just say that either way, try to build up the dogs natural immune system through a natural raw diet and proper supplements. Another small help is you DO vaccinate, to get each one done separately, giving time in between, as to not overwhelm the immune system.