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You Must Vaccinate Your Dog

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Vaccinate Your DogThe need for vaccinations for dogs is a highly controversial topic. Many question if some should be done and also the timeframe for doing them. You need to speak to your vet about your dog because it’s sometimes an individual choice.

In 2003, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) published their controversial recommendations for vaccinations. The report suggested that some are critical, others are only needed in certain circumstances and some shouldn’t be used at all.

This article has been written based on the AAHA findings. The annual vaccine has been recommended to only be given every three years. In 2006, they repeated this particular statement.

It’s agreed that every dog must have four vaccines and these are: Rabies, Distemper, Parvovirus and Adenovirus.

Vaccines that are only needed if the dog is likely to be exposed to the specific disease are: Lyme and Parainfluenza.

The Bordetella vaccine only protects a dog for between nine and 12 months so it must be done every year or even sooner if the dog spends a lot of time in dog day care places or dog parks because these are regarded as high risk.

Unnecessary Vaccinations for Dogs:

There are some vaccines that are deemed unnecessary for various reasons. These include:
• Coronavirus is a disease that very few dogs every face. If a dog does become infected with this disease, it’s self-limiting and very mild.
• The Leptospira vaccines don’t offer protection for current strains and don’t always help dogs with older strains.
• Giardia vaccines sometimes stop shedding of organisms through a dog’s urine but they don’t stop dogs becoming infected.

How often a vaccine is administered has also been a controversial topic for the last few years. Rabies needs haven’t changed and that’s given to puppies, then a booster is given the following year. After that, the vaccine is given every three years.

The opinion regarding the frequency of Distemper vaccinations. Some vets still recommend them to be done yearly. Others suggest it be done every three years.

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