Being pretty heavily involved in the dog world with eventing, training, and all of my wonderful dog friends means tons of information is shared and passed around on my social media. It can be overwhelming for dog owners so I thought I would begin a series called Food for Thought.
This series will share information concerning some of the latest ideas in dog nutrition, health, and training. As is always the case I am open for discussion on these topics as I am constantly learning and there certainly is way more information out there than one person can sort through by themselves.
First topic will be about vaccines, the Leptospirosis vaccine to be specific. Believe it or not there has been a shift in vaccine theory these days among dog owners, slowly it’s catching on with veterinarians too, the consensus is that less is more. By this I mean many are waiting longer to vaccinate puppies, they are giving less vaccines overall over the course of a dog’s life as more research comes out about the longevity of actual immunity concerning things like rabies, parvo, and distemper.
The other day I came across this article about lepto written by Dr. Jean Dobbs’ so I thought I would share as this is a vaccine I myself have debated over. Especially considering how active mine are in the woods and fields. There are several strains of lepto out there that are pretty commonly found in the urine of carrier animals which then ends up in water and can survive up to 180 days in the right conditions. Sounds kinda scary huh, mine drink water out in the woods more than I would like. I am not one to live in fear about things I can’t control but it’s still something to be aware of. It’s important to have an honest discussion with your vet about Lepto and how many cases they see a year in your area and what your dogs risk is based on lifestyle.
A few more articles to browse:
Lepto via theBark
Lepto via Dogs Naturally Magazine
General Vaccine discussion by two of the leaders in the newer vaccine protocols, Dr. Jean Dodds and Dr. Becker
Hope this helps shed some light on a rather confusing topic.