GLOSSARY OF TERMS
 Antibodies: Proteins made by the immune system that attach to disease agents to signal the other parts of the immune system to negate and destroy it.


Vaccination: Altered disease agents that do not cause disease but do allow the body to develop protective antibodies to the disease agent conferring immunity to the disease.


Infectious Canine Hepatitis aka Adenovirus:  Is a viral disease spread by contact with infected animals, their feces, urine, or saliva.  It affects the liver, kidneys, and cells lining the blood vessels.
Symptoms include high fever, thirst, inflammation of nose or mouth, diarrhea, abdominal pain and tenderness, liver damage, loss of appetite, hemorrhage, and depression.
Vaccination provides excellent immunity. Initial vaccinations are given as a series beginning as early as 6-8 weeks, followed by annual booster shots. The vaccine for canine hepatitis is usually combined with one for distemper.


Bordetella: (Kennel Cough) in dogs is similar to the common cold in humans.  Although this disease is rarely fatal, it can lead to other diseases such as pneumonia which can shorten your dog's life.  Kennel cough occurs more commonly in puppies and young adult dogs, and in dogs that have recently been in shelters or exposed to many other dogs.  Since kennel cough is caused by an airborne virus, normal cleaning and surface disinfecting cannot eliminate the cause.   Kennel Cough can occur with Distemper, Adenovirus Type Two, Parainfluenza and other respiratory infections.  Antibiotics can prevent or cure a secondary infection.  Cough suppressants can be used to control the cough.  To help prevent pneumonia or other diseases, dogs with Kennel Cough should be kept in a warn environment.  Keep infected dogs away from other dogs to prevent further transmission of any disease.  Like the common cold, Kennel Cough cannot be cured but it has to run its course.
Symptoms include harsh dry (honking) cough that is often followed by gagging and coughing up foamy mucous, with nasal discharge of clear turning to milky white, and then to green.  Most infected dogs do NOT have a fever and otherwise the dog appears alert and generally healthy. 
Vaccination is minimally effective. There are some 40 plus strains of Kennel Cough and the vaccination provides protection against approximately 12.  However, if your dog is shown, to be kenneled, or is to be around a number of other dogs it is wise to have your dog vaccinated.  The intranasal vaccine is pretty fast acting, providing some protection in as little as 5 days.  The injectable version of the vaccine may provide longer immunity.  Some vets use both to get maximum protection.  Please do not assume that any cough is Kennel Cough. If your dog has a fever, is less active than normal, has a decreased appetite, has a discharge from the eyes and nose, has difficulty breathing or is older than three years, the above-named symptoms are signs of a more serious problem and you need to see a veterinarian as soon as possible
 

Corona virus: Takes only 24 to 36 hours to incubate.  This virus spreads rapidly through exposed dogs.  Corona virus is an intestinal infection resulting in diarrhea, vomiting and depression.  Corona virus can affect a high percentage of dogs, and can cause death in young puppies.  Corona virus infection can also make an animal more susceptible to other intestinal diseases.
 Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea (sometimes bloody) and this leads to dehydration.  Unlike Parvo, the mortality rate is low and affected dogs generally feel better in a few days, though fluid treatment may be needed.
Vaccination is the only effective control.  Initial vaccinations are given as a series beginning as early as 6 weeks, followed by annual boosters.  Corona virus vaccinations are usually given in combination with vaccines for other diseases.
 

Distemper: Is a highly contagious and often fatal virus that affects a dog's respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems.  It can be spread as an airborne infection or through contact with an infected animal, its feces, or its urine.  Because a puppy's natural maternal immunity may wear off before he is vaccinated, reduce risk of exposure by limiting contact with unfamiliar dogs until vaccination series is complete. 
Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, nose and eye discharges, fever, depression, vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite, and seizures.
Vaccination is the only effective control.  Initial vaccinations are given as a series beginning as early as 6 weeks, followed by annual boosters.  Distemper vaccinations are usually given in combination with vaccines for other diseases.
 

Leptospira: is an extremely contagious bacterial disease that spreads through contact with nasal secretions, urine, or saliva of infected animals.  Early signs are not apparent, so infection can go undetected.  Recovered animals can continue spreading the disease, which can also affect humans.
Symptoms may include inflamed kidneys, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and listlessness.  Liver damage can also occur.  Note that early signs of the disease may not be readily apparent.
Vaccination is available for Leptospirosis.  Initial vaccinations are given as a series beginning as early as 6 weeks, followed by annual boosters.  Leptospirosis vaccinations are usually combined with vaccinations for distemper and hepatitis (DHL).

 
Lyme Disease: A disease complex caused by a spirochete called Borrelia burgdorferi that has acute effects of flu-like symptoms of fever, malaise, impedance and more chronic effects of arthritis, muscular disease, and neurological disease.  It is highly responsive to treatment if caught early.  As the disease progresses it becomes less and less responsive.  It is transmitted by ticks, and, thus, tick prevention is considered the optimum prevention program.  In the US the only area of significant risk at this time is considered to be the Northeastern states.  This will probably change as more information is collected.
 

The immune system of the dog is designed to produce antibodies, a type of protein, to disease agents (such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi, etc).  These antibodies protect the body from infection and disease by binding to the disease agent and marking it for destruction by other parts of the immune system like killer cells, phagocytic cells, and the complement system.  Thus, antibodies are the body's protection against disease.
 

When do antibodies form? Antibodies form ONLY after an initial exposure to a disease agent.  During this initial exposure the dog has no protection from the disease agent, and, therefore, the disease must run its course.  In addition, antibodies are very type specific -- antibodies to a type specific virus such as the Parvo virus do not protect the dog from any other disease agent except Parvo.  Thus, a dog must experience each disease before it will become protected against that disease.  For some diseases this is not significant because the disease is mild and has little effect upon the dog.  Other diseases, however, are more significant and can lead to serious sickness and even death.
 

This is how Mother Nature has designed the immune system to work.  The drawback to her plan is that the dog has to survive the initial disease exposure in order to develop protective antibodies, ie become immune, to the disease.  As mentioned earlier with many diseases this is not a significant problem because they are mild and cause little lasting effects.  There are, however, life-threatening diseases that the dog may not survive the initial exposure to.  Human ingenuity came along and said what if we could expose dogs to the disease agents of these serious illnesses in such as way as to allow them to develop protective antibodies but not develop disease.  And so the vaccine was invented.  All a vaccine is is an altered form of a disease agent such as Parvo that can be given to a dog (or other species) in order to stimulate the dog's immune system to produce protective antibodies without the concurrent development of disease.
 

With the introduction of vaccines, many devastating canine diseases like Rabies, Canine Distemper, Infectious Canine Hepatitis, and Parvo were rapidly reduced in occurrences and canine mortality rates plummeted.  We today do not fully appreciate the impact that these diseases had on canine populations pre-vaccination and can be without the puppy hood vaccine regime.  An unvaccinated dog has absolutely NO protection against any of these disease.  Do not be fooled into thinking that these diseases have been eradicated and are no longer a significant health threat.  These diseases are still maintained at significant levels in wildlife reservoir hosts (raccoons, foxes, coyotes) and in feral dog populations.  And as more people choose to never vaccinate their dogs these diseases will begin to increase among the domestic dog population as well.  Thus, the risk of disease exposure is present and is present at a very significant level.  Vaccination is our way of using Mother Nature's brilliant system of disease protection to maximum benefit -- protection without the need for initial disease.

When does this window happen?  Anywhere from 3 weeks to 24 weeks with average being 6 to 15 weeks and at different times for different diseases.  Therefore, we are left with two options: (1) wait until puppy is 6 months old to vaccinate and leave puppy at great risk for developing life-threatening illness like Distemper or Parvo or (2) vaccinate puppies at regular intervals beginning at 6 to 9 weeks so that we "catch" the puppy during its window while at the same time minimizing the time that the puppy is at risk for developing disease.  The latter option maximizes protection while minimizing risk and is, consequentially, the safest and most appropriate method of vaccinating puppies.  This is the rationale behind the need for series of repeated puppy vaccinations beginning at 6 to 9 weeks and continuing every 2 weeks until the puppy is 4 to 6 months old.

It is absolutely critical to vaccinate puppies if we expect to continue to see reduced incidence of fatal canine diseases like Distemper and Infectious Canine Hepatitis.  Parvo already claims thousands of puppies a year and will claim thousands more if puppies are not vaccinated properly.  These diseases are out there and an unvaccinated puppy has absolutely NO protection from them; failure to vaccinate a puppy puts it in a great deal of unnecessary danger.  Once puppy vaccinations have produced antibodies to disease agents, frequency of vaccine boosters is something to be discussed with your veterinarian.  Ample scientific data suggests that current canine vaccines give protection in most dogs for 2 years.  Whether you opt to vaccinate yearly, every other year, or check antibody levels via titers and only vaccinate as needed is a matter of personal preference in adult dogs.  Regardless of your decision regarding vaccination of adult dogs, every puppy needs to be vaccinated and every adult dog needs an annual physical exam to detect any health problem as early as possible.  And also be sure to consult local law before deciding upon frequency of Rabies vaccination most places allow 3 year vaccines but some high risk areas have counties that require yearly Rabies vaccine still.
 

Two weeks later -- 8 weeks of age: One Distemper, Parvovirus, Parainfluenza, Adenovirus, Leptospira 1 and 2 vaccine +/- a Coronavirus vaccine. This is usually all in one injection called a 7 in 1 or a 7 way vaccine.
 

Two weeks later -- 12 weeks of age: One Distemper, Parvovirus, Parainfluenza, Adenovirus, Leptospira 1 and 2 vaccine +/- a Coronavirus vaccine.  This is usually all in one injection called a 7 in 1 or a 7 way vaccine. 
 

Some things to note:

1. The new parvovirus vaccines claim full protection at 12 weeks of age.  If your veterinarian is using one of these products you can, theoretically, stop parvovirus vaccination after the twelve week vaccination.
    
2. Lyme, Corona virus, and Bordetella vaccines are all considered optional vaccines.  The decision to vaccinate for these diseases needs to be made after assessing risk of disease for your pet and what activity your pet plans to engage in.  For example, a pet to be boarded needs a Bordetella vaccine.  Those not to be boarded within 6 months have no need for it.  Discuss with your veterinarian the appropriateness of these vaccines for your pet.
    
3. An unvaccinated puppy greater than 3 months of age needs two vaccinations 2-3 weeks apart for Distemper, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus, Adenovirus, Leptospira 1 & 2, +/- Corona virus and one Rabies vaccination.  Lyme and Bordetella are optional.
    
4. This vaccination regime holds for puppies in the United States and Canada.  Dogs in other countries have different disease risks so my advice is to consult your veterinarian for appropriate disease prevention for your area.
   
   FINALLY LET ME REITERATE THAT YOUR PUPPY WILL BE EXPOSED TO DISEASE NO MATTER HOW CAREFULLY YOU ISOLATE OR SEGREGATE IT. 
   
   THE QUESTION IS WILL THE PUP BE PROTECTED VIA VACCINATIONS OR WILL IT BE VENERABLE AND SUSCEPTIBLE TO DEVELOPING LIFE-THREATENING DISEASES BECAUSE OF YOUR CHOICE NOT TO VACCINATE???