Levittown Animal Hospital Blog

I’ve made it clear to most people reading this blog that I don’t agree with the way most other veterinarians vaccinate dogs and cats.  They give too many too often, and their entire preventative care plan revolves around vaccinations.  This awful cycle begins as soon as puppies are born.  Unfortunately I have also seen breeders and puppy stores subscribe to a philosophy of massively over-vaccinating puppies -starting them as early as 5 weeks of age and repeating multi-valent vaccines as often as every seven days!  And we wonder why there are so many dogs with chronic kidney disease, hypothyroidism, and arthritis…

No situation has bothered me more than a recent clash between my consulting dog trainers and some other veterinarians on Long Island.  Responsible owners of several puppies have enrolled for Puppy Kindergarden (socialization) classes -but their veterinarians have advised them not to bring their puppies until they are “fully vaccinated.”  Perhaps these other veterinarians are afraid of losing their clients to me (the puppy classes are at my facility).  More likely, these veterinarians have just proven that they simply do not understand the importance of early socialization or the real-world risks of infectious disease transmission between healthy dogs.

Here are the facts:

• Behavior problems are the #1 reason why dogs are surrendered to animal shelters.
• This, in turn, makes behavioral issues the number one cause of death for dogs under three years of age.
• The overwhelming majority of these behavior problems can be either corrected or prevented in the first place.
• The socialization period of dogs ends at around 12-14 weeks of age.
• Most puppies will not be “fully vaccinated” until they reach 16 weeks of age.
• The risk of death from Parvo or Distemper infection is far less than the risk of death due to a behavior problem.

Properly socializing puppies and protecting them from infectious disease do not have to mutually exclusive.  Can I guarantee that no puppy will ever get sick at on of my classes? Of course not.  But this is not just a random gathering of puppies at a local dog park.  All puppies that enroll in our puppy classes are carefully screened to minimize the spread of disease among classmates:

• New puppies must have spent at least 14 days in the home of their new owner.
• Puppies must have received at least one round of Distemper-Adenovirus-Parvo vaccine following a complete physical examination by a veterinarian.
• Puppies must have received an intranasal vaccination for Bordetella-Parainfluenza.
• Puppies must have a documented fecal examination with a negative result.
• Puppies must be free of any obvious clinical signs of infectious disease, including coughing and sneezing.

If veterinarians continue to ignore the facts and insist on a complete vaccination series before puppies are allowed out of a home quarantine …they will be directly responsible for increasing the population of shelter dogs.  It’s time to live up to our Veterinary Oath and actually use our scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health, and the relief of animal suffering…

I’m not alone in this fight against antiquated vaccination vs. socialization viewpoint.  Here are a couple of expert links:
http://www.vet.purdue.edu/animalbehavior/forms/pc_letter_vacc.pdf
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/puppy%20socialization.pdf