I had a terrible experience with the last (and first) dog I ever owned. The first time my (now ex-) Fiancé and I ever took her to the vet, the bill was well over $300 - which I thought was insane. But, that had been our choice and it was a poor one - the dog came from a really bad breeding and was very (very!) unhealthy. This is going off on a slight tangent, but just bare with me. I really feel that [some] vets are in it for the money, and not just for the animals anymore and could care less what their owners have to say in all of it. The price of just simple yearly exam has nearly tripled since I was a little girl. It costs more money to take an animal to the vet than to visit your regular human doctor with no insurance.

But back on the vaccinations - in the future, I would definitely get all the puppy shots, then the first year booster shots. I would titer test after that, but still get a yearly rabies shot. I'm not for over vaccinating but I feel that certain immunizations would help give the animal a better life.

And back onto a tangent - I really think you get what you pay for. I think that this is where it pays off to find an excellent breeder and pay a little more up front for a healthy puppy (whose parents have been health tested) rather than scrimp and scrounge and then pay more overall for the life of the animal.