Shots & safty

[Gina Heitz <brier@oregonsbest.com>]

Hi All,

Personally I think it's best to be prudent with your puppies as I told 
Peggy on the phone until they have at least 3 shots under their belt.   But 
I do not mean puppy in a bubble either.  As I have said before I am not a 
big advocate of puppy kindergartens mostly because you never know where the 
other puppies have been.  Parvo is our biggest scare with the young and the 
very old and this virus is passed by nasal  inhalation, eating infected 
material, licking paws that have had contact with infected material: dirt, 
grass, gravel, concrete, wood, anything porous and poop.

Puppies immune systems work like peaks and valleys and immunities for each 
puppy can vary, even in the same litter.  Adult dogs that are vaccinated 
and their titers are up high [immunity is high] won't get sick but if they 
so much as sneeze on a puppy or an older dog who's titer is down that pup 
or older dog might get sick.

It's my best recommendation to call your vet and inquire how much if any 
Parvo they have seen recently.  If they are reporting parvo cases coming 
into the clinics in your area I would forgo contact with the unknown as 
much as possible.  Parvo is a killer and you do not want to risk this 
disease.

Here is a link to some information on 
parvo:  http://www.peteducation.com/dogs/parvovirus.htm

So with that I am back to diligently working on the Casino Go Home Books :-))

Gina