"Stop the Shots!" ???

As Elegy said, Rabies is required by law. However, check with your local officials (State Health Department) and see if titers are acceptable in your state.

There is a lot of paranoia these days about vaccines in both humans and animals, and it ranges from the sensible (overvaccination) to the silly (vaccines cause disabilities in children). I interrogate my vet about the necessity of certain vaccines and trust the answers I get . . . but then, I have a sensible vet. I will say Sarama is vaccinated against kennel cough, because my dog day care requires it . .. even though the vet says its pretty much useless

I have a friend who thinks Dr. Dodds is God ..... talked to her constantly !!! Luckily I have vets that don't like to over vaccinate and we talk about every shot every year . I've never gone titer .......may look into it , but my one vet says they aren't 100% .

Are there any bad reactions to rabies shots that any of you know of? When I bring him in next I'm going to talk to the vet and probably let him get the shot. I am just a worrier.:yikes: I'm also guessing if he did not have a reaction when he was little he won't have one now.

Sadly, since you're bound by law to give it, there isn't much you can do.

Here's a good site to visit for more info on rabies, and the rabies challenge fund (A project Dr. Dodds is heading to challenge lawmakers to change their policy on the frequency of required rabies vaccinations)

http://www.rabieschallengefund.org/page4.html

Irotas, I know you live near me and I go to Dr.Looby.....I forget where you go? He has two or three holistic vets that work for him. They only do shots every three years now and told me they have no problem doing a titer test on Caiza before he gets any other vaccines in the future. I stopped giving shots to my Bandit who got put down in March when he was 8 years. He died when he was 12 years and he had tumors/lumps where he was given shots over the years Though it may have been coincidence I am starting to wonder....................I am definately looking into this book, sounds good Oh, FYI! I am working at Dharma dog http://www.dharmadogwash.com/ on Sundays You should stop in so I can meet you...FINALLY LOL!

Vacc's are not required to cross the Canadian/U.S border, but you are required to have Rabies (if they ask, which they often don't).
I do 2 puppy vacc's and Rabies, after that Rabies every 3 yrs, no Vacc's.
Never had a sick dog and my dog's are well travelled. Competing both indoors and out.

When I booked the appointment to spay one of my retired girls (she was 6 yrs), they wanted to do Vacc's first, she hadn't had them since she was a year old except for Rabies........I told them 'No'. I also told them, if they didn't want my money for the spay, then I would find a Vet that would without the vacc's.......they spayed her. No problems, no concerns, no sick dogs........ever.

I really don't understand why some people get so upset about Kennel Cough (never had it though), its a Cold, its not life threatening. Good Grief, I have Kennel Cough right now, I warn people that I have a cold, I stayed home when I was at my worst and people made their own choices as to whether they wanted to be exposed to Me. The only person that was relieved and worried along with being thankful (and she stayed away) was a new student...........she informed me that she has a Brain Stem Tumour.

Well, its a pretty nasty cold, with pleursy . . . but the reason I think my doggie day care requires it is because its bad business to have people leave their dogs with your and get them back sick, even with a fairly minor illness. That's why I didn't object to the requirement, even though the vaccine is pretty ineffective . . . even a pretty ineffective vaccine, if introduced to an entire population, will decrease the risk of illness. I'd rather Sarama not get it, though I'm not sure I would vaccinate her every six months against it on my own. But I realize that they are running a business, and preventing people from getting their dogs back sick is part of thier business . . . it also protects them from getting sued if there are complications. Frankly, if I ran the place, or was their lawyer, I'd make the same call.

it's not life threatening in a healthy, uncompromised dog, but it can turn into pneumonia in a dog who is otherwise unhealthy. it can also run through a boarding kennel like wildfire, so i totally support giving it to dogs who are going to be boarded or go to doggy daycare. no it's not 100%, but it does help.

luce got it from harv when i brought him home from the shelter. harv had been vaccinated and never showed a single sign. luce was coughing so hard it made her vomit. yeah, it only lasted about a week, but it was a pita and i couldn't take her anywhere for several weeks until i was sure she wasn't contagious anymore.