Over vaccinating



Are we killing our dogs?  Yes, and the statistics are growing.  When my husband got home from a meeting the other night he had much to tell me.  He had sat with some old friends when the topic went to dogs.  One of the guys he sat with had told him about a dog he lost due to vaccinations.  He had taken in a dog from the neighbors on the day they were packing to move.  They didn't want it anymore (another blog) and asked him if he did?  He took the dog and the following day brought it to the vet.  There they filled the dog up with every vaccine possible.  The dog died in the yard the very next day.  The poor dog's body couldn't take it and shut down.   My husband then shared what he knew about over vaccinating and titer testing.  (Am I proud?)  Shaking my head as the story unfolded; I was so sad for the dog.  "How do we let people know?" I asked my husband.  So many still do not know.

This dog and many others die needlessly each year due to pumping them full of vaccines.  Why?  Because the big pharmaceuticals push them on the vets and the vets push them on us.  That is unless you've got one of the great vets out there.  In light of the fact that many of us now know that we are giving our dogs too much vaccines, those very companies that we think are trying to save our pets are  doing even further damage.  They are coming up with new illnesses to use more vaccines for.

I could fill this page with articles on over vaccinating, here are just a few.  

New illnesses, more drugs

Do Vaccinations affect the health of our pets?

Not harmless

Being in the thick of the dog world I often read about new rescues picked up, saved, or placed in foster.  I shudder when I read, recently brought utd on vaccines.  This means that the dog was refilled with vaccines.  Titers should be given before giving dogs more.  I know that it is common protocol to shoot them up as soon as they are brought in but we should stop and think.   When I volunteered at the local shelter here (don't even get me started on that) I watched as they injected vaccines into dogs as soon as they came in.  I asked once "what if they already have all their shots?"   "They all need these," was the reply I got.  The idea was that they might infect the other dogs in the shelter.  Many of these lost dogs were already getting to many vaccines by their owners thinking that they were being good owners by getting their yearly shots.

Let's just think for a moment; something we humans tend not to do much of.  When a vaccine is given, the body attempts to fight it off, this is how immunity is created more or less.  But if we give a whole cocktail of vaccines the body is taxed and the immunity that the shots are meant to build up is lowered creating a dog that is now susceptible to many diseases as the body has no fight left.  There is much research about young dogs getting the very diseases that they have been vaccinated for due to receiving too many vaccinations or too early.

Many young shelter or rescue dogs become ill because as young as 6 weeks old we alter them; which means they have a full on surgical procedure far too young.  Then we fill them with all sort of vaccines for their body to process and we are surprised that they get ill or worse?  If a dog comes into a shelter carrying some sort of illness with them; giving them a vaccination is not going to get rid of it.  What it will do is prevent their body from healing itself or being able to heal at all.

If just one dog can be saved from me writing about over vaccination again, great.  Please share what you know about vaccinations and our dogs.  So many do not know, many dogs die because their owner just didn't know.  Sadly there are vets out there that close their eyes and either refuse to learn or ignore.  Many of you have these vets that are pushing yearly vaccines.  Do you research, your dog deserves it.    

4 comments:

  1. You expressed some important points here, Sherri, and I hope many dog owners read, research and discuss vaccination protocols with their vet instead of simply agreeing to whatever is in the syringe. Having lost a dog to an immune system disorder brought on by vaccinations (and a susceptible immune system) I have changed my entire approach to veterinary care. It is now a collaboration and not blind trust. There is one point in your blog that I would like to highlight and offer a different opinion. Shelter medicine is decidedly different than pet medicine. The protocols are different as well, due to the extremely high risk of infectious disease within the colony of sheltered dogs and the devastating effects that occur when an unvaccinated dog of questionable history is brought in or relinquished. In this case, the lean is towards the greater good for the group and not the individual dog being vaccinated. Ronald Schultz DVM is at the forefront of limited vaccination protocols and his scheme for shelter dogs is not the same as for pets. You can read the entire paper and it's protocols here: http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/CanineVaccineGuidelines.pdf

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  2. You expressed some important points here, Sherri, and I hope many dog owners read, research and discuss vaccination protocols with their vet instead of simply agreeing to whatever is in the syringe. Having lost a dog to an immune system disorder brought on by vaccinations (and a susceptible immune system) I have changed my entire approach to veterinary care. It is now a collaboration and not blind trust. There is one point in your blog that I would like to highlight and offer a different opinion. Shelter medicine is decidedly different than pet medicine. The protocols are different as well, due to the extremely high risk of infectious disease within the colony of sheltered dogs and the devastating effects that occur when an unvaccinated dog of questionable history is brought in or relinquished. In this case, the lean is towards the greater good for the group and not the individual dog being vaccinated. Ronald Schultz DVM is at the forefront of limited vaccination protocols and his scheme for shelter dogs is not the same as for pets. You can read the entire paper and it's protocols here: http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/CanineVaccineGuidelines.pdf

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  3. I was wondering what your thoughts are on puppy vaccinations? How many sets should they get and by what age? Our recently acquired pup already has 2 sets (at ages 6 and 10 wks) he is now 14 wks and I am not sure if he should go for more. I have read so much contradicting material as to vaccinations my head is spinning. I would hate to do anything to cause him harm. I would be heartbroken if anything happened to him especially at my own doing... any thoughts or comments would greatly be appreciated. Thank you

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  4. I would have three sets being that your pup had shots at 6 weeks. Elsa did as well and that is too young for shots. What typically happens is that Mom's immunity gets rid of the vaccination. I got three sets with Elsa.

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