Pet owners are becoming increasingly aware of the long period of duration for vaccines and are vaccinating every three years, or not vaccinating their adult or senior dogs at all. Although it is becoming increasingly obvious that yearly boosters – or any boosters – are at best unnecessary and at worst harmful, the risks and benefits of puppy vaccination are much less clear. If you choose to vaccinate your puppy, you can limit (but not eliminate) the vaccine damage in your puppy by understanding a few things about vaccines and immunity.
As we know, puppies are given a series of several vaccinations, spaced two to four weeks apart. This practice might lead some people – and some vets – to believe that it takes more than one vaccination, or that vaccinations need to be boostered, for the puppy to be protected. This is simply not true: it takes only one vaccination for a puppy to be protected. So why are puppies vaccinated three or four times instead of just once?
Maternal Antibodies
When puppies are very young, they are protected from disease by ingesting their mother’s first milk, called colostrum. This rich milk contains maternal antibodies against disease which the mother passes down to her puppies. The puppy’s immune system is not fully mature, or active, until it is around six months of age, so the maternal antibodies provide passive immunity for each puppy.
When a puppy with a reasonable amount of maternal antibodies is vaccinated, the maternal antibodies will essentially inactivate the vaccine, just as it would a real virus. What they can not do however, is protect the puppy against the other toxins contained in vaccines such as the chemical adjuvants and preservatives which contain harmful chemicals including mercury, aluminum and formaldehyde. The adjuvants are designed to stimulate an exaggerated immune response, to make certain that the body responds to the small amount of virus contained in the vaccine. Unfortunately, this heightened reaction can also cause autoimmune disorders which are affecting an alarming number of dogs and can include allergies, cancer, thyroid disease, digestive diseases, joint disease and a rather long laundry list of common afflictions.
Vets and pet owners used to believe that ‘more is better’ when applying vaccines, but we now know that there are very real dangers associated with vaccination. So, when designing a puppy vaccination schedule, the goal is to catch the small window in time when the maternal antibodies are low enough that they will not block the vaccine, but the puppy is young enough that he is not put in unnecessary danger from exposure to viruses in the environment.
Maternal antibodies weaken over time but the rate of weakening differs between different dogs and even different breeds. The maternal antibodies for Distemper are fairly predictable and are usually low enough for vaccination to be effective at 8 or 9 weeks of age. The maternal antibodies for Parvo however, are much less predictable in their decline, and can last as long as 26 weeks in some dogs.
This lack of predictability is why puppies are vaccinated every two to four weeks until 16 weeks of age: vets are trying to catch the window in time when the maternal antibodies are low enough for the vaccine to be accepted. If you are concerned about the risks of vaccination – and you should be – then this vaccine schedule really doesn’t make much sense as vaccinations may be given too soon or after the puppy is already protected.
Intelligent Vaccination
Noted immunologist Dr. Ronald Schultz has addressed this issue and recommends a minimal vaccine program that includes one vaccination for Parvo, Distemper and Adenovirus, given at 12 weeks of age. Twelve weeks is not an arbitrary number – it is the earliest age where a combination parvo/distemper vaccine will have the greatest chance of protecting puppies.
Pfizer performed an interesting field study in 1996. C. Hoare, P. DeBouck and A. Wiseman assessed vaccinated puppies and split them into two groups. Group A received a single vaccination at 12 weeks and Group B received a first vaccine between 8 to 10 weeks and a second at 12 weeks. When titers were measured, 100% of the puppies vaccinated once at 12 weeks seroconverted whereas only 94% of the puppies in Group B seroconverted – despite receiving two vaccines as opposed to one. It would appear that if the first vaccine is given too early it could, in some cases, block the the second vaccine. So vaccinating your puppy twice not only increases his risk for adverse reactions to the vaccine, it appears to make vaccination less effective overall.
Vanguard also tested the Parvovirus response in their combination vaccine. They vaccinated puppies at 6 weeks, 9 weeks and 12 weeks of age and then measured their response to the vaccine by measuring their titers to Parvovirus. At 6 weeks, only 52% of the puppies had seroconverted, meaning that the puppies vaccinated at 6 weeks of age would get all of the risk from the vaccine and none of the benefit because their maternal antibodies inactivated the vaccine. At 9 weeks, 88% of the puppies showed a response to the vaccine. At 12 weeks, 100% of the puppies were protected.
It appears that 12 weeks would be the magic number where vaccines have a nearly 100% chance of working, meaning that your puppy should only need one – for his entire life. Dr. Schultz has done similar research with the distemper vaccine.
In his study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, designed to mimic an animal shelter environment, Dr. Schultz vaccinated with one dose of Distemper vaccine just four hours prior to the puppies being placed in a room with Distemper-infected/diseased dogs. All of the puppies (which were vaccinated at 12 weeks), were protected against distemper in this challenge study.
Although two and even 3 doses of vaccine were the original recommendations made in the AAHA 2003 Canine Vaccine Guideline, the research shows that the series of vaccinations is unnecessary. Puppies vaccinated once at 12 weeks of age with a high titer vaccine have a virtually 100% chance of being protected. If you feel you must vaccinate your puppy but want to reduce the risk as much as possible, vaccinating once at 12 weeks is a safe and effective approach. If you are not comfortable with just one vaccine, have your vet run a titer test three weeks after the vaccination. If there is circulating antibody (any amount will do), it is highly likely he has seroconverted and he will be protected for life. If you are not sure of this fact, you might want to read this article.
It is important to note that if you wait until 12 weeks of age to vaccinate your puppy, you should keep him away from areas where there is a lot of dog traffic. One such area is the vet’s office! If you must bring your puppy under 12 weeks to the vet, it is important to carry him in and out as this is likely the most likely place for him to pick up viruses. Your best bet is to get the first appointment of the day when you know the floors and tables will be at their cleanest. Despite the heavy vaccination schedules, 28% of vaccinated puppies still get Parvovirus. Part of the reason is that they are exposed to the vet’s office where it is highly likely that he will come into contact with Parvovirus or shed virus from vaccinated dogs on the property.
Vaccination has the very real risk of creating chronic, debilitating disease. Most vets and dog owners do not see the connection because it can take weeks, months or years after vaccination for these diseases to develop. Many holistic vets and dog owners avoid vaccinations completely. If you are not comfortable with this approach, the next best thing you can do to protect your puppy is to vaccinate intelligently. Needlessly stressing your puppy’s immune system with vaccinations every two to four weeks is no longer a safe option for many dog owners. Find a vet who agrees with this approach and you will reduce the risk of autoimmune disease in your puppy – now and in the future.
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In the studies, it would have been nice if they had also looked at a control group that had NOT been vaccinated at all. Natural immunity exists, and should not be over looked. As more breeders and owners choose not to vaccinate, perhaps researchers will take this natural immunity into consideration.
Our official stance is definitely in favor of natural immunity. I believe that even in the field, the unvaccinated control puppies would have a fairly high risk of infection as it does take some time for the immune system to fully mature – about six months. Having said that, immunity via vaccination turns the immune system ‘inside out’ and forces an unnatural humeral bias. IF you must vaccinate your puppy for whatever reason, here is the safest way to do it in our opinion. We agree 100% that natural immunity is safest in the long run, both for the dog and for the animal population as a whole.
Don’t you think if your puppy has natural immunities from Mom then being exposed to other “doggie” areas could boost those immunities as well by being exposed by shed virus? IMO the more protective you are of your pup the less likely he/she will be able to assimilate into normal dog society. Clearly I would not take him/her to a vets office anyway. But maybe a puppy class?
Every time your puppy leaves the house, his immune system is being primed and readied. The idea is to not over-challenge the immune system by taking your young puppy to areas with heavy dog traffic while his immune system is still immature. This applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated puppies really because we can’t rely on the vaccines being effective until 12 weeks – or longer with some vaccines.
I have serious reservations about puppy classes but that is from a trainer’s point of view, not a safety point of view. Most puppy classes are poorly designed and the puppies are over stimulated and only learn to become hooligans. Play times shouldn’t be much more than a minute or so at a time in a well designed puppy class…most of them are just free-for-alls where puppies can easily develop fears or learn to become too rowdy because they are all too riled up, either from anxiety or excitement. Dog training is an unregulated profession and there are far, far too many trainers who don’t have a good grasp on dog behavior and learning. Choose your puppy class carefully, just like your vet!
Sorry but we can not ever rely on any vaccine to be effective at any age.
http://www.naturalhealthysupplements.net/2010/12/05/vaccines-are-not-effective-and-vaccines-are-destructive-to-a-human-mind/ This article is just one of many out on the world wide web and it is about human vaccines. If they are not effective but destructive to humans what makes us think they are any better for our animals?
I TOTALLY agree with your statements – in particular the “training – puppy class”. ALMOST all the “puppy classes” I’ve seen are, as you say, “Free-for-alls”, and there is almost always a puppy or two who are overwhelmed by the action, and are “bullied” by other puppies – with no control what-so-ever by the “trainer”…
I am getting a puppy on Thursday. I feel bad after reading this article today because they of course already have given the first vaccines just the other day at 8 weeks. Now I
don’t know what to do? Should I give her one more at 12 weeks? Or just leave it at the one which may be too early?
thanks
I don’t normally advocate titers but in your case, they will be a great use of money. If you run the titers for parvo and distemper when your puppy is 11 weeks old, there will be circulating antibody from the vaccination. This is the best time to use titers – any amount of circulating antibody, no matter how small, means that your puppy seroconverted from his first vaccination. This is highly likely for distemper and you’ve got about a 50/50 chance for parvo. Adenovirus and Hepatitis are not really that common and Coronavirus doesn’t affect puppies older than 6 or 8 weeks of age so I would not worry about doing titers for them. So if there is any measurable amount of antibody for parvo and distemper, your puppy is protected for life. If he has responded to distemper, but not parvo, then I would vaccinate for parvo only – if at all – and would wait until 12 weeks. This would be the safest way to do it.
Best of luck with your puppy.
My dog received her vaccines when she was a puppy from the breeder. This was prior to me waking up and learning about vaccines and their toxic side effects. She has not had any vaccines since then, and she has been on an organic diet (100%) and I also put a little Colloidal silver in her water daily. She has never been sick, not in 6+ years, very healthy both physically and mentally.
The Colloidal Silver also seems to counteract the effects of the vaccines. I take it as well.
I am a dog breeder and groomer and am so glad you are writing about the vaccines. When parvo was so bad in the 80′s, I had my females titered when they delivered, used the result and divided by 2 every nine days. This would tell me when the pups titer was low enough to accept the vaccine. After I did that, I never lost pups to parvo.
Sadly, even ONE puppy vaccination sets up the puppy for disease as it compromises the immune system. I have been a NR breeder for over 20 years and have not vaccinated my dogs or their pupppies at all. I take my puppies out to dog shows, dog parks and other places to intentionally expose them to the viruses being shed by vaccinate dogs so they can build up a natural immunity. When I sell a puppy, they are asked not to vaccinate them but if they and/or their veterinarian want to see for themselves that they do not need to vaccinated to do a titer test. I have not yet had a puppy’s titer test come back with no titers showing. (even for rabies) I do of course feed and make sure my puppy buyers fed a raw species appropriate diet and do not use any chemicals in, on, or around the puppy. Vaccines do NOT protect, no matter what the veterinary and pharmacutical companies want you to believe. I have seem many vaccinated puppies contract parvo and most of them die. The very, rare few puppies that have not been vaccinated and contracted parvo recovered extremely quickly and well (did not die). The only way to take the risk out of vaccinating is to not vaccinate at all.
I have 11 danes, and i hobby breed/show some of my dogs, but they are all my big babies and are pets first. I have been worrying for a long time about this subject, especially when i mate one of my girls and there booster is due around the same time. The age of the puppy for its 1st inoculation is always changing…………..i never know where i am, and what to do for the best! some of my dogs have gone past the due date and i am about to start the whole process over again, i thought that like babies, puppies only needed there infant inoculation, as babies don’t have there’s done every year, i told my vet how i felt and she said that for sure they needed the Leptospirosis vac, she told me horror stories that scared the life out of me!! she said if one of my dogs caught this virus, i would lose all of my dogs and that humans can catch it too! since hearing this i decided to just have the combination vac with everything in, after reading this i just don’t know what to do!
I only want what is best for my dogs and puppies.
If we are now doing a single vaccination (I only do two anyway and will be changing protocol now – TYVM!) are we doing a combo vaccination? I only do two vaccines – Parvo (1 shot every 4 weeks) staggered with Distemper (1 shot every other week)
Which do we do first? If it takes 2 weeks, and we do stagger these, are we keeping the puppies until 16 weeks to give them the 2 weeks post vaccination window?
Also, Sharon, as a dane “hobby” (I hate that term) breeder you should know that Danes are HIGHLY vaccine reactive and NEVER should be givin combo shots NOR ever get LEPTO and that after initial vaccinations you do not need “boosters”
I encourage you to join your local club and to obtain a mentor.
Excellent question. It is always best to give shots individually. The more shots given at once, the greater the risk of vaccine reaction and/or vaccine failure.
The maternal antibodies for distemper are much more predictable in their decline – they are pretty much gone at 9 weeks for most puppies whereas maternal antibodies for parvovirus can be present at 26 weeks, depending on the puppy and the breed. For that reason, it might be best to vaccinate for distemper first then parvovirus three or four weeks later.
Great Danes are very susceptible to vaccines and diseases such as HOD. No breed of dog should be given the lepto vaccine, or the rabies vaccine, at the time of other vaccines. The 2011 AAHA guidelines recommend rabies at the same time as core vaccines in its minimal schedule but this is a dangerous practice and should not be done.
edit:
I only do two vaccines – Parvo (1 shot every 4 weeks) staggered with Distemper (1 shot every 4 weeks other week i.e. 1 shot every 2 weeks alternating)
My puppy has been given 3 sets of her combo shot. The last was given at 13 weeks. The vet is recommending one more round. Should he be given the last round?
Three sets of a combination vaccine before 13 weeks of age is a pretty aggressive schedule. If you want to know if your puppy needs the final round, run a titer test three weeks after the last vaccination. A positive titer means your puppy will be protected for life and won’t require any more core vaccines. Also, make sure the rabies is given separately from any other vaccines – at least four weeks away.
PS I give him Thuja after his shots because that is what my holistic vet does. He is very far away so I have not had him doing puppy shots.
Giving Thuja after a vaccine is pointless in most cases. There are many homeopathic remedies that are available for ‘never well since’, of which thuja is just one. Homeopathy delivered in this manner will almost never work. The principle of homeopathy is to treat like with like, so your vet should select a remedy based on your dog’s symptoms: unlike traditional medicine, homeopathy is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Many vets who practice homeopathy have only taken a weekend course and are able to treat simple, acute issues but are not prepared to deal with deeper issues including chronic disease caused by vaccine damage.
Im so confused and I would love it if someone could give me some advice. I adopted my 8 week old pup on 11-23-11 from NSALA, his papers say he received DA2PP on 10-14, 11-4 and 11-23, it says he is due for it on 12-14. It also says he received Lepto on 10-14 and 11-23 or just 10-14, he is due for Lepto on 12-14. Says he received Dewormer on 10-14(pan), 11-4(pan), 11-19(dro), and 11-23, he is due on 12-14. It also says Bordetella in 11-19 and due 5-20. His rabies is due at 4 months of course. I haven’t gotten his 12-14 shots yet. Will getting it late affect him? I read on here that I shouldn’t get them all together, that was my plan, those “packages”, I was going to wait till his rabies were due to give him all of his shots, now I’m wondering if waiting is wrong, I’m a new pet owner. Any advice or information on any shots would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
Crystal: This is very confusing, you need to find a vet that will work with you. If I were you, I’d wait until 2/1/2012 and have your vet due a teters test(blood test) for the levels of the vaccine in the little guy’s system already. He may not need any more vaccines. If you have access to a Homepathic vet they are usually easier to work with. Do not give the Rabies at the same time and stay away from PetSmart vets and the like.
I have a new Jack Russell puppy coming into my house in about 4 weeks!! The last JR I had died two years ago in my house from super parvo!! What can I do to ensure that my new pup is safe and healthy ??
Thank you for you time and info,
BJ MEEKS!!!~
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