Why are vaccinations important to a puppy??
People see “current on shots” and just assume that this means a puppy is fully immune to any diseases he is vaccinated against.
It is not that simple. The first thing you need to look at when you get a puppy from ANYWHERE, is when it got it first shots as opposed to when it was weaned from its mother.
When a puppy is born it is nursed by his mother, and it receives her antibodies through her milk.Antibodies are what dogs will produce because of the shots we give to them. When you give a vaccination to a dog, what you are doing is injecting a small amount of those diseases into that dog. The dog's body finds this and attacks it. It then sets up defense mechanisms to deal with this particular disease. Once these antibodies are in place, this is what defends the dog against exposure to disease. In other words a dog of a certain age, with vaccinations, develops a fighting force that will attack the disease when he is exposed to it in the real form.
Puppies do not have this at birth. They get maternal antibodies from nursing. Bottle raised puppies have none unless they fortunately received some or any colostrum from its mom prior to being hand raised. This is why it is also important that the dam is current on her shots and should have a booster prior to breeding...
This is the only thing that protects young, unvaccinated puppies from disease.
How many antibodies a puppy has is dependent on several things. A dominant puppy, one that hogs the nipples and gets a lot of milk, will have more antibodies than the puppy who is constantly pushed away from the nipple. A litter born to a female that was vaccinated just prior to breeding will get more. Antibodies from mom are needed to protect young babies.
But here's the problem. They interfere with vaccinations we, as breeders, give them. Each puppy will retain his antibodies for a certain amount of time, but we cannot be certain when he will lose them. If you vaccinate a puppy with mom's antibodies still in him, the vaccination is useless. The maternal antibodies will attack and kill the shot, and the puppy will not make his own antibodies as long as mom's are still in him. THIS is why it is important to know when your puppy was weaned, and when it received its first vaccine. If it was too soon, it was useless. We vaccinate at 6 weeks, and suggest you vaccinate again at 8 weeks if we don't keep your puppy to 8 weeks anyway. Some do go home at 6 weeks, depending entirely on size of litter and size of the puppy.
To make it easier to understand, let's say the Harmons have two puppies, Shiner and Witten. Both were raised with mom's milk. Shiner was a big puppy and got a lot of antibodies; Witten was smaller and got fewer because he ate less. Both puppies are weaned at 4 weeks of age, meaning they are on dog food now and not mom’s milk. If the Harmons vaccinate both with Parvo shots at 4 weeks old, it is a waste of time and money. Because both puppies still have maternal antibodies, neither shot offers any protection and is worthless. But because they are still protected by mom’s antibodies, it's OK. Now its time to move on ...
At 6 weeks of age both Shiner and Witten are vaccinated. It has been two weeks since they last fed from mom. Because mom had high level of antibodies, both are still protected by her antibodies, and again, this shot could be useless. We cannot know how many each has without blood testing, so we vaccinate at this time anyway, because if breeders tested the blood level of each puppy we produced, you would pay A LOT more for that puppy.
So now the Schlee family comes to visit Shiner and Witten at just under 7 weeks old. They are interested in getting a puppy. They choose Shiner because he is bigger and looks healthier. They are given instructions: do not take him to the park, stay away from places other dogs go, restrict his access to other dogs for a couple of weeks, carry him wherever you take him. The Schlees are told they must take Shiner to the vet; he is due for another shot in 8 days. On the way home, they stop at a rest stop and let Shiner out into the dog area to go potty. It must be ok..He is current on shots right? Well, now he has been exposed to a small amount of Parvo when he sniffed the grass. But right now, he still has some maternal antibodies, so he is not infected this time.
His antibodies from mom leave him a day later, and he is unprotected. He didn't get sick from the first rest stop, so he must be ok...but he is not due for another shot for 7 days still. The Schlees take him to the park since he is ok from stopping elsewhere and playing. They observe that there are no other dogs there and assume its safe.
Well here is the bad news, it doesn't matter if there were no other dogs there, because unknown to the Schlee's, one dog came to the park 3 weeks ago and was shedding Parvo, and Parvo doesn’t leave an area for over 9 years!! Shiner comes into contact again this time, and because his antibodies have left ,and the shot he got 7 days ago was attacked and destroyed by maternal antibodies, now he has no immunity because his next shot is not due for another 7 days and even that shot will not take effect for at least 10-14 days after it's given.
Plus he is stressed out. He loves his new home and the Schlees love him, but he has left Witten, his mom, and the Harmons, who were his whole world from birth, and he is stressed out. He barks every night from loneliness, and strives for human interaction every second...He has a bit of loose stool because of the water change and his stress. His immune system, which is underdeveloped because of his youth, is really compromised because of this stress. Parvo is setting up shop in his body by that evening. Parvo is a virus; it multiplies rapidly in the body.
The next morning Shiner is a little off. He does not really want to eat and his stools are looser. But he does not seem sick, just off.
By the second morning, he is full on sick. He has severe diarrhea now, and there is obviously something very wrong. The Schlees take him to the vet. The vet runs several tests for other infections that do cause diarrhea. He rapidly goes down hill, and the test for Parvo comes back positive.
LET ME ABSOLUTELY CLEAR HERE: There is no cure for Parvo. You can only support the dog with hydration and pray your heart out that he recovers. Its about a 60% fatality rate. One kind of parvo attacks the heart, the other the GI system.
Now...The Schlees are stunned and keep saying, “he was supposed to be current on shots! The breeder must have lied.” (Please note, some "breeders" do lie! But all good breeders will be certain that any puppy is vaccinated before it leaves them and give you these same instructions to insure you do your best to protect your baby after he leaves Harmolee. Also, there are instances where you take your dog to the vet and it will test positive for Parvo, that is because we just gave that dog its shots, of course it should.)
Meanwhile back at the Harmons', Witten is just fine. He has not been exposed to Parvo because the Harmon's haven't let him walk around in unknown grass, and he still has some antibodies left. When he is one day shy of 10 weeks old, his antibodies leave. He is given another vaccination at 10 weeks of age, and this one produces antibodies in a few days. Voila, immunity! Of course since we don't know this for certain, he will receive several more shots in the weeks to come.
Reading this you may be thinking you will have to keep your puppy in a bubble. No, but you must keep him clear of other dogs, parks, pet stores, and places any dogs visit for the first few weeks. Wooded areas where raccoons, fox or coyotes visit can also harbor Parvo.
Parvo is everywhere. It lives a very long time, and common disinfectants do not kill it. Freezing does not kill it; it preserves it. You yourself can carry it on your shoes into your home. This is why sometimes when you visit a kennel, you are restricted from certain areas. Granted there are some horrible people out there who don't want you to see their breeding places, but in most cases, it is this virus, and the people's knowledge of it, that restricts you. For breeders, this is a darned if you do and darned if you don't case. If you don't show people, it can be assumed you are hiding some horrible secret. Show people, and you may have just infected the entire kennel with Parvo, compromising the puppies for a long long time to come. Remember, it does not go away easily.
When you buy a puppy from us, he is current on his shots. He will get one every 2-3 weeks he is with us without fail. But until he is a certain age, when you take him home, please keep him safe. Limit his exposure to other dogs. Limit his exposure to people/places dogs go. Keep him in your arms if you want to go to any pet store where dogs are allowed inside. Do not let anyone touch him.
Its hard, but just say he is too young to be touched right now..can you wait a couple of weeks to come play with him?? This is why puppies get several shots. We are not certain when the maternal antibodies leave and the shot can produce immunity. This is why you must keep him current on his shots after he leaves us. A bottle raised puppy should have more shots than a momma raised one. But be wary of people who start puppies at 2-4 weeks of age on shots. They either have a disease problem or are totally ignorant as to the course of antibodies in a dog. Be also wary of people who have 10-12 week old puppies with only one shot; they are either trying to save money or are also ignorant of the best way to prevent disease.
When your puppy has been with you for a couple of weeks and your vet has put another shot or two into him, then you can socialize him. I highly suggest you do, especially with the Bull breeds. But until then, keep him safe.
This story can be applied to distemper as well but the distemper virus is not as prevalent in our environment as Parvo is.
Also, think this through. An 8-week-old puppy obviously has a higher occurrence for infection than a 10 or 12 week old, simply because of his age and gaps between maternal antibodies and vaccines. That's not to say a 12-week-old puppy cannot become infected, even if current on shots. Some puppies will hold their maternal antibodies until they are 20+ weeks of age. However, immunity is usually achieved around 10 weeks of age.
It also bears mentioning again that a young puppy has a faulty immune system. Just like an infant child cannot be exposed to much in the way of having too many people come visit or taking them out to social places like the mall, your puppy cannot be exposed to a lot of bacteria and viruses. He is also stressed out until he gets to know you, your home and your children, and feels safe in his new home.
(quoted almost entirely from Diamond Dogges Kennel, Thank you!)
People see “current on shots” and just assume that this means a puppy is fully immune to any diseases he is vaccinated against.
It is not that simple. The first thing you need to look at when you get a puppy from ANYWHERE, is when it got it first shots as opposed to when it was weaned from its mother.
When a puppy is born it is nursed by his mother, and it receives her antibodies through her milk.Antibodies are what dogs will produce because of the shots we give to them. When you give a vaccination to a dog, what you are doing is injecting a small amount of those diseases into that dog. The dog's body finds this and attacks it. It then sets up defense mechanisms to deal with this particular disease. Once these antibodies are in place, this is what defends the dog against exposure to disease. In other words a dog of a certain age, with vaccinations, develops a fighting force that will attack the disease when he is exposed to it in the real form.
Puppies do not have this at birth. They get maternal antibodies from nursing. Bottle raised puppies have none unless they fortunately received some or any colostrum from its mom prior to being hand raised. This is why it is also important that the dam is current on her shots and should have a booster prior to breeding...
This is the only thing that protects young, unvaccinated puppies from disease.
How many antibodies a puppy has is dependent on several things. A dominant puppy, one that hogs the nipples and gets a lot of milk, will have more antibodies than the puppy who is constantly pushed away from the nipple. A litter born to a female that was vaccinated just prior to breeding will get more. Antibodies from mom are needed to protect young babies.
But here's the problem. They interfere with vaccinations we, as breeders, give them. Each puppy will retain his antibodies for a certain amount of time, but we cannot be certain when he will lose them. If you vaccinate a puppy with mom's antibodies still in him, the vaccination is useless. The maternal antibodies will attack and kill the shot, and the puppy will not make his own antibodies as long as mom's are still in him. THIS is why it is important to know when your puppy was weaned, and when it received its first vaccine. If it was too soon, it was useless. We vaccinate at 6 weeks, and suggest you vaccinate again at 8 weeks if we don't keep your puppy to 8 weeks anyway. Some do go home at 6 weeks, depending entirely on size of litter and size of the puppy.
To make it easier to understand, let's say the Harmons have two puppies, Shiner and Witten. Both were raised with mom's milk. Shiner was a big puppy and got a lot of antibodies; Witten was smaller and got fewer because he ate less. Both puppies are weaned at 4 weeks of age, meaning they are on dog food now and not mom’s milk. If the Harmons vaccinate both with Parvo shots at 4 weeks old, it is a waste of time and money. Because both puppies still have maternal antibodies, neither shot offers any protection and is worthless. But because they are still protected by mom’s antibodies, it's OK. Now its time to move on ...
At 6 weeks of age both Shiner and Witten are vaccinated. It has been two weeks since they last fed from mom. Because mom had high level of antibodies, both are still protected by her antibodies, and again, this shot could be useless. We cannot know how many each has without blood testing, so we vaccinate at this time anyway, because if breeders tested the blood level of each puppy we produced, you would pay A LOT more for that puppy.
So now the Schlee family comes to visit Shiner and Witten at just under 7 weeks old. They are interested in getting a puppy. They choose Shiner because he is bigger and looks healthier. They are given instructions: do not take him to the park, stay away from places other dogs go, restrict his access to other dogs for a couple of weeks, carry him wherever you take him. The Schlees are told they must take Shiner to the vet; he is due for another shot in 8 days. On the way home, they stop at a rest stop and let Shiner out into the dog area to go potty. It must be ok..He is current on shots right? Well, now he has been exposed to a small amount of Parvo when he sniffed the grass. But right now, he still has some maternal antibodies, so he is not infected this time.
His antibodies from mom leave him a day later, and he is unprotected. He didn't get sick from the first rest stop, so he must be ok...but he is not due for another shot for 7 days still. The Schlees take him to the park since he is ok from stopping elsewhere and playing. They observe that there are no other dogs there and assume its safe.
Well here is the bad news, it doesn't matter if there were no other dogs there, because unknown to the Schlee's, one dog came to the park 3 weeks ago and was shedding Parvo, and Parvo doesn’t leave an area for over 9 years!! Shiner comes into contact again this time, and because his antibodies have left ,and the shot he got 7 days ago was attacked and destroyed by maternal antibodies, now he has no immunity because his next shot is not due for another 7 days and even that shot will not take effect for at least 10-14 days after it's given.
Plus he is stressed out. He loves his new home and the Schlees love him, but he has left Witten, his mom, and the Harmons, who were his whole world from birth, and he is stressed out. He barks every night from loneliness, and strives for human interaction every second...He has a bit of loose stool because of the water change and his stress. His immune system, which is underdeveloped because of his youth, is really compromised because of this stress. Parvo is setting up shop in his body by that evening. Parvo is a virus; it multiplies rapidly in the body.
The next morning Shiner is a little off. He does not really want to eat and his stools are looser. But he does not seem sick, just off.
By the second morning, he is full on sick. He has severe diarrhea now, and there is obviously something very wrong. The Schlees take him to the vet. The vet runs several tests for other infections that do cause diarrhea. He rapidly goes down hill, and the test for Parvo comes back positive.
LET ME ABSOLUTELY CLEAR HERE: There is no cure for Parvo. You can only support the dog with hydration and pray your heart out that he recovers. Its about a 60% fatality rate. One kind of parvo attacks the heart, the other the GI system.
Now...The Schlees are stunned and keep saying, “he was supposed to be current on shots! The breeder must have lied.” (Please note, some "breeders" do lie! But all good breeders will be certain that any puppy is vaccinated before it leaves them and give you these same instructions to insure you do your best to protect your baby after he leaves Harmolee. Also, there are instances where you take your dog to the vet and it will test positive for Parvo, that is because we just gave that dog its shots, of course it should.)
Meanwhile back at the Harmons', Witten is just fine. He has not been exposed to Parvo because the Harmon's haven't let him walk around in unknown grass, and he still has some antibodies left. When he is one day shy of 10 weeks old, his antibodies leave. He is given another vaccination at 10 weeks of age, and this one produces antibodies in a few days. Voila, immunity! Of course since we don't know this for certain, he will receive several more shots in the weeks to come.
Reading this you may be thinking you will have to keep your puppy in a bubble. No, but you must keep him clear of other dogs, parks, pet stores, and places any dogs visit for the first few weeks. Wooded areas where raccoons, fox or coyotes visit can also harbor Parvo.
Parvo is everywhere. It lives a very long time, and common disinfectants do not kill it. Freezing does not kill it; it preserves it. You yourself can carry it on your shoes into your home. This is why sometimes when you visit a kennel, you are restricted from certain areas. Granted there are some horrible people out there who don't want you to see their breeding places, but in most cases, it is this virus, and the people's knowledge of it, that restricts you. For breeders, this is a darned if you do and darned if you don't case. If you don't show people, it can be assumed you are hiding some horrible secret. Show people, and you may have just infected the entire kennel with Parvo, compromising the puppies for a long long time to come. Remember, it does not go away easily.
When you buy a puppy from us, he is current on his shots. He will get one every 2-3 weeks he is with us without fail. But until he is a certain age, when you take him home, please keep him safe. Limit his exposure to other dogs. Limit his exposure to people/places dogs go. Keep him in your arms if you want to go to any pet store where dogs are allowed inside. Do not let anyone touch him.
Its hard, but just say he is too young to be touched right now..can you wait a couple of weeks to come play with him?? This is why puppies get several shots. We are not certain when the maternal antibodies leave and the shot can produce immunity. This is why you must keep him current on his shots after he leaves us. A bottle raised puppy should have more shots than a momma raised one. But be wary of people who start puppies at 2-4 weeks of age on shots. They either have a disease problem or are totally ignorant as to the course of antibodies in a dog. Be also wary of people who have 10-12 week old puppies with only one shot; they are either trying to save money or are also ignorant of the best way to prevent disease.
When your puppy has been with you for a couple of weeks and your vet has put another shot or two into him, then you can socialize him. I highly suggest you do, especially with the Bull breeds. But until then, keep him safe.
This story can be applied to distemper as well but the distemper virus is not as prevalent in our environment as Parvo is.
Also, think this through. An 8-week-old puppy obviously has a higher occurrence for infection than a 10 or 12 week old, simply because of his age and gaps between maternal antibodies and vaccines. That's not to say a 12-week-old puppy cannot become infected, even if current on shots. Some puppies will hold their maternal antibodies until they are 20+ weeks of age. However, immunity is usually achieved around 10 weeks of age.
It also bears mentioning again that a young puppy has a faulty immune system. Just like an infant child cannot be exposed to much in the way of having too many people come visit or taking them out to social places like the mall, your puppy cannot be exposed to a lot of bacteria and viruses. He is also stressed out until he gets to know you, your home and your children, and feels safe in his new home.
(quoted almost entirely from Diamond Dogges Kennel, Thank you!)
