[Hound Dog Mom]

It is the law that a dog needs a rabies shot by the time it’s 4 months old, so it’s not a matter of should you wait or shouldn’t you. If you don’t vaccinate the dog by 4 months of age and you don’t have an exemption from a vet you’re breaking the law. For most states rabies vaccines are only required every 3 years. You get a 1 year at 4 months, then a year later you can get a 3 year, then every 3 years thereafter. IMO – the benefits of being able to bring a dog to work (and to many other social settings such as obedience classes, daycare, boarding, etc. etc.) FAR outweigh the very very small risk that your dog will suffer a negative side effect to the rabies vaccine. I do think dogs should be vaccinated for rabies, I just think it’s unfortunate that they must be re-vaccinated every 3 years (probably not necessary) but because the rabies vaccine requirements are state law any opinions on the matter really are irrelevant. 4 months, 1 year and 4 months, then every 3 years period.

Concerning the lepto vaccine – I personally do not vaccinate my dogs for lepto and unless a dog was at a particularly high risk for contracting it I probably wouldn’t recommend it either. The lepto vaccine is short acting, only protects against a few serovars (as patty pointed out) and has a higher incidence of adverse reactions than many of the core vaccines.

This is from “Angry Vet”:

Leptospirosis: There are hundres of serovars of leptospirosis, and vaccination for one serovar does not necessarily protect against the others. It is also transmissible to people from their pets if infected thru infected urine. Leptospira organisms prefer warm, moist, alkaline environments. They are more likely to be found in stagnant or slow moving water. Lepotospirosis is a bacteria (not a virus) and bacterial vaccinations do not provide long term immunity. You must booster yearly. Some have suggested that the protective immunity against leptospirosis is even less than one year. Anecdotally, the leptospirosis vaccine is known to cause the most frequent and violent reactions. With these facts in mind, except in environments where leptospirosis is a severe threat, the benefits, in the opinion of Angryvet, do not outweigh the risks. Limit your pet’s contact with rodent populations and limit your pet’s exposure to stagnant water or flooded soil to minimize chance of infection. If there are known outbreaks in your area, you may re-consider. We don’t use this vaccination on our own pets and rarely recommend it to our patients. – See more at: http://www.angryvet.com/vaccinations/#sthash.eWUk6ju7.dpuf

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Hound Dog Mom.
• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Hound Dog Mom.