Are Annual Canine Vaccines Necessary?
Vaccine-Hesitant Adults Also Hesitant to Vaccinate Their Pets
A 2023 study conducted by Boston University School of Public Health found some not-so-surprising results when they looked to investigate vaccine-hesitant adults’ views on canine vaccines. It’s estimated that 45 percent of US households own a dog. According to the survey, almost 40 percent of dog owners believe that canine vaccines are unsafe, over 20 percent believe these vaccines are ineffective, and 30 percent consider them to be medically unnecessary.
In the US and Canada, almost all states and provinces require domestic dogs to be vaccinated against rabies legally. This is important – rabies, while not common, has a close to 100% fatality rate. More than 59,000 people die from canine-mediated rabies across the globe each year. It’s important for domestic dogs to be vaccinated against rabies for this reason – especially as veterinary professionals are at high risk of contracting the disease if a dog carrying rabies is brought in for treatment.
However, most people don’t realize that the recommended ‘core vaccines’ of parvovirus, distemper, and adenovirus, amongst others, are not legally required – they are simply recommended.
History of Annual Canine Vaccinations
Dr Ronald Schulz spent a large amount of time researching canine vaccines and their efficacy and longevity over the span of 40 years.
Annual vaccinations were first recommended by the AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) and AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) in 1978. According to Dr Schulz, this recommendation was made without any scientific evidence of the need to boost immunity so frequently. “Few or no scientific studies have demonstrated a need for cats or dogs to be revaccinated.“
It wasn’t until 2017 that the AAHA recommended re-vaccinating every 3 years instead of annually. However, this is again not based on any evidence and many vets continue to recommend annual vaccines.
Don’t get us wrong. Vaccines are necessary and important medical tools that help to prevent disease and death for both humans and animals. Vaccines that puppies receive routinely until 16 weeks of age are important and recommended for a reason and we support that view to keep your dog happy and healthy.
However, vaccines can contain a number of other ingredients that aren’t well processed by the body, used mostly as preservatives and other chemicals to allow the vaccines to be stored and transported for long periods of time. Vaccines can also have severe side effects in some dogs, ranging from allergic reactions, lethargy, all the way to seizures, myocarditis, and more. Stop and also think – humans don’t get vaccinated annually for the same things over and over again, so why do dogs?
In 2010, Dr Schulz published the following results on studies with newer generation canine vaccines:
The results demonstrated that dogs vaccinated 4-6 years ago had 100% immunity even after that period of time. If immunity is that strong, why are we re-vaccinating so often?
What’s The Best Thing To Do?
If you don’t want to vaccinate every year for no reason but want to protect your dog, you have options! Personally, we do one thing every year when we take our dog to the vet for his annual checkup. Titer testing.
What Is Titer Testing?
Titer tests are blood tests that can tell you whether your dog has responded to his vaccines and acquired immunity. Now, some vets may be able to offer this service in-house, while others may need to outsource it to a third party. We are based in Ontario, Canada, and our vet has previously been able to take blood samples and send them to a third party (that they found) to do titer testing at our request.
Now, this can be expensive and not everyone can afford it (a few hundred dollars was what it cost us last time). However, vaccines annually also cost money. We found that our dog Jax had immunity to every single virus he had been vaccinated for as a puppy and at 1 year old. Once we determined that, we didn’t do annual vaccines for him. We get him tested every year to give us peace of mind that he is protected, because our main concern is that he doesn’t get sick. If his titer tests show his immunity to something has been lost, we would re-vaccinate. When it comes to rabies, we follow the legal requirement for when to re-vaccinate.
If You Choose to Vaccinate Annually..
Vaccines are a personal choice that should work for you and your family. There is no solution that works best. If you do choose to vaccinate annually, make sure to feed your dog a good probiotic (such as kefir and bone broth) that helps to boost their gut health and help their body process the vaccines.
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