Why Your Puppy Needs Shots
Vaccines are given so that pets and people can be protected from potentially fatal diseases. Unfortunately, some pets (and people) are sensitive to a particular vaccine or a combination vaccine, and their sensitivity can lead to becoming sick from the vaccine itself.
Because of this, and because the formulations and types of vaccines are always evolving, it's important to understand why your dog should receive vaccines and whether they should be given individually, in combination, annually, for particular diseases, and so on.
Though there is a lot of debate around which vaccines to give and how often, no one will argue that vaccinating puppies is absolutely necessary. It wasn't that long ago that puppies and dogs routinely died from diseases like distemper and rabies. Now only unvaccinated dogs are at risk of developing a life-threatening case of either, especially since a rabies vaccine is required by law in most states.
The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) issued Canine Vaccination Guidelines for the General Veterinary Practice in 2006. You can access them through the website at www.aahanet.org.
In sum, vaccines have been categorized as “core” and “noncore” to assist veterinarians and owners in determining which are absolutely necessary, and which are recommended and why. The AAHA guidelines also give specifics about what age puppies and dogs should be when they receive the vaccinations.
Core and Noncore Vaccines
The core vaccines are those that are absolutely necessary. They are given to protect against the highly infectious diseases of parvovirus, distemper, adenovirus (hepatitis), and rabies.
A vaccination protocol is essential to the overall health of your puppy. A veterinarian gives this Lab pup a shot to protect him against potentially deadly diseases.
The noncore vaccines are those that have been determined to be advantageous in certain situations (for example, in kennels where many dogs live together) or that provide temporary relief in some cases. The vaccines listed as noncore in the AAHA guidelines are the distemper-measles vaccine, parainfluenza virus, bordetella, leptospirosis, and Lyme (Borrelia burgdorferi). It's important to note that the connotation of noncore doesn't necessarily mean your dog shouldn't receive it; rather, its use should be considered as relevant to the individual circumstances of the dog (for example, dogs living in areas of high Lyme disease exposure will benefit from the vaccine).
A puppy vaccination schedule should begin around the age of six weeks and continue through the age of sixteen weeks. Your veterinarian will provide you with the complete schedule so your pup can receive all his shots at the right times.
A vaccine is intended to work with the immune system to fight against invasive infections of bacteria and viruses. The injection contains a harmless amount of the organism the body may someday need to fight off. This “jump-starts” the immune system to respond to that organism again if it enters the body. Without vaccines, dogs are far more susceptible to contracting infectious diseases from other dogs and other animals.
