All of You-shots and the likes

[Gina Heitz <brier@oregonsbest.com>]

Hi guys I have just spent the past hour reading all your posts.

Some cute stories and one horrific one.  Hunter...  Carol this story was 
much worse in print than it was on the phone at 10:30 PM Friday night. 
<grin> I am glad you found out what it was that he got his lips wrapped 
around.  Ok now that Carol has come clean about her adventure with Hunter 
pup and camping I am going to give you all my spiel in print.  Most of you 
have heard this but as my good friend Judy Spink says write it down...

On vaccines:  The info I give you about them is on your go home sheet.  Got 
ya!  Leigh and Lyn!!!  <smile> It says to take this sheet with you so your 
vet can advise you of their chosen protocol.  I do this for some very 
specific reasons:  Vaccinations and disease are to some degree a 
geographical issue.  For instance on the West Coast we hardly ever see in 
the pet population Lepto, how ever back east Lepto is a concern.  Vets 
differ in shot protocol as far as frequency of vaccinations.  For instance 
the shot protocol Leigh's vet uses appears to me to be a 4 week protocol, 
where my vet recommends a 3 week protocol.  Both are acceptable and both 
are taught depending on where your vet went to school or has continued 
their education.  Also shot protocols are a hot Buzz topic in dog right now 
with several vet schools announcing modified shot protocol for adult 
dogs.  Colorado State has adopted a policy that basically says you do the 
puppy series and again one year later then from there you vaccinate every 
three years.  I believe that UC Davis in CA. has also just released a 
similar protocol.  There are also those who don't vaccinate beyond a 
modified puppy schedule and do titer testing there after only boosting for 
what titers come up low.  Linda and Perry I believe do titer testing and 
they could tell us more about it from their personal research and 
experience.  BTW a titer  a measurement of the immunity to disease.

  I personally vaccinate in 3 week intervals at: 8, 11, 14, 16 with DHLPP 
being the first shot and the remainder I give the 7 way which includes 
Lepto and corona virus protection.  I vaccinate for Lepto and corona 
because my dogs go to dog shows and are in contact with dogs from all 
over.  I vaccinate every three weeks to be sure I do not miss the fall of 
the titer. I want to hope that I am boosting when the titer is on the down 
side but not too low.  Airing on the side of caution and true western 
medicine.  I boost one year from the last shot and then try to get everyone 
on a schedule where I boost everyone at the same time each year.

On taking your puppies out:  This is the hardest thing to discuss as I know 
how hard it is to keep them "under wraps".  For the most part I do 
discourage interaction with other dogs that do go to unknown places and are 
allowed the freedom to run at large even if you know the dogs.  Reason 
being that most puppy disease are passed via nasal contact.   A dog who is 
vaccinated won't get sick but can harbor the disease and an simply sneeze 
on an unvaccinated puppy.  Poop (do I dare use this word with this 
group???)  is another offender.  A well dog walks through affected poop and 
brings it to the grounds of the unvaccinated puppy.  That puppy walks in it 
licks it's feet and gets sick.  At the same time you can not have puppy in 
a bubble.  So I suggest you take your puppy to non dog places or places 
dong's don't frequent often to get them use to things beyond your own back 
yard.  Every time you go in the car take the puppy, carry it around in 
shopping centers and some stores that do allow dogs.  This interaction is 
beneficial, might not be as much fun as allowing them to romp with neighbor 
hood dogs but is stimulation.  We take our puppies lots of places we just 
don't set them down in unknown places.  Home Base Home Depot, most hardware 
stores, banks, some shopping centers...  But we do not take our puppies to 
public parks, camp grounds, beaches.  As IIene points out the vets office 
is a real big concern.  I never set my puppies down on the floor at the 
vets.  I also do ask if there have been any parvo pup's in lately?  Making 
my vet aware that I am concerned and jogging them too.  I agree that the 
shot series should be completed before you relax, but at the same point 
there are always exceptions to the rule.  Use common sense.  If you think a 
situation is safe question it one more time and if you still think your ok 
then go for it.  If you have second thoughts then don't.  Sorry if you feel 
as though I am not really answering the question but I really can't beyond 
agreeing with your vet that your the safest if you follow the protocol they 
prescribe and the rules they subscribe to for the area in which you 
live.  I know here in Oregon (Oregone) for IIene,  in the spring vet 
clinics see more puppies with parvo than they do in the late 
summer/fall.  Why this is I don't know but I venture to think this is 
because as nature does there are more puppies born in the early part of the 
year and in spring they are out and about in numbers.  With numbers things 
come up:  Shit happens.  (Can I say shit on this list?)  So my advise is be 
cautious and ask around in your community about outbreaks or parvo and the 
likes.

Ok guys, I have to go play with TRiX and Scout now. :-)

Gina