Rabies Vaccines..

[Spiritwind]

My dogs (with the exception of Skya as she's not old enough for the shot) are all current on rabies shots. What I have been doing is getting them all of the puppy shots then the booster the next year...after that mostly just rabies shots. It doesn't seem with current studies that the other vaccinations are needed yearly like most vets do. Nebo and Keva both have had 3 year rabies shots, so they are good for a while.

I agree! I've started to not do "yaerly" shots as well... just puppy shots and a boster 1 yr later and thats pretty much it... besides rabies every 3yrs. I agree with you on the rabies as well! Its basicly a legal issue for me too... because of the high number of rabies cases each year in this area, animal control is VERY strict about rabies vaccines... and if something were to happen I don't want my dogs taken away from me. Down here even if you are bitten by a dog that is current on rabies they still are required to be quarintined for 10 days -- which I found out when a friend of mine got bit by a dog at work (vet clinic) a couple years ago!...

I'm not Anti Rabies and I don't belong or join anti rabies groups. But we do live in the country and we have had 3 years of scares with rabid animals here but I still preferred to not vaccinate because of the side effects. We had a fox in the yard with my horses, never went near them, would sit and watch, not afraid of the dogs either, but would walk away slowly, giving us time to snap pictures. Never found out if it did have rabies, it just stopped coming around as spring wore on. Our dog yard is totally fence in, no way for anything to get in except a bat, not many asround here luckily. I don't do any shots - but I don't advise others as to what they should do - this is just my choice. Most people here still put great faith in the shots and that's fine by me, Ijust don't want them. In over 15 yrs, I haven't had one sick dog.

Well the list I joined is "Just Say No To Vaccines" its not really anti rabies as much agaist all vaccinations... they also talk about non-chemical dewormers (diatomaceous earth) etc... and more natural ways to treat animals for things...

As far as rabies.. the side effects worry me as well, but I would be just as worried if I didn't do rabies vaccines with my dogs because of the area I am in. THe dogs are in a fenced area MOST of the time they are outside, but not always... I have 17 acres of mostly wooded, rocky, hilly terrain for the dogs to run in... very little of it is yard and we go hiking in the woods a lot!... as far as the annual shots, I do not do yearly shots anymore either!... but do do the puppy series (but not everything - no lepto or corona)...

Earlier this spring I too saw a couple foxes.. I havent' seen them in several months. THe dogs were in teh back of their fenced yard looking into the woods barking so I went to check and there was a fox just slowly walking thru the woods.. the dogs didnt' seem to scare him and neither did I when I came to the back of the fence to see what he dogs were barking at.... the fox would walk for a while.... then just stop and look around, sniff the ground and finally he walked out of sight.... then a few weeks later we saw 2 more foxes coming out of the woods down at the bottom of my driveway....

It is hard to find a vet in the area who will treat your dog without a rabies vaccine! If you don't have proof of rabies vaccinations they won't treat the dog unless they give them a rabies vaccine first.....