Thank you for this post. My male will be 13 come the next rounds of vaccinations. I often wonder what I should watch for, caution/request from my vet and how that fits into the requirements that the state of Illinois dictate as mandatory. What should I consider non-essential at my boy's now advancing age? Any suggestions???
Good article, Dan. What I also see from this is that you have to be very communicative with anyone you come into contact with regarding the care of your dog, and be willing to get a second opinion on your dog's care - just like you would for yourself if you had a medical problem you needed to address - why should you be any different with your dog?
Personally I have never encountered a vet who did not abide by my wishes when it came to decisions about my pet's care. They might try to convince me that such-and-such was necessary but if I refused they abided by my decision.
I think if anyone is uncomfortable with a vet then you should find another (of course emergency situations are different).
Some vets are pushy but you have to stand your ground and be firm, "no I don't want to do that". Most vets just suggest and I just say "no I don't want to do that" or "not right now" so I can look into it or see another vet and that's the end of it.
I think it depends on whether your older B has contact with other dogs like at dog parks, kenneling, foster dogs, etc. Does your dog have an underlying medical condition that vaccines would affect?
You could have titer tests done on your dog to determine immunity instead of getting vaccines.
Jennifer
After the first few years of shots, I do the titers…no more shots except rabies by law
Otherwise, they don't get them.