Vaccinations and Training

Recently I received a couple e-mails regarding why a dog needs to be vaccinated to participate in dog obedience classes. I enjoy getting e-mails like this one, it gives me the opportunity to educated the public on issues that are important.

Why Does My Dog Need To Be Up To Date On Vaccinations???

To start off...

Dog vaccinations are an essential step towards a healthy immune system for your pet. Vaccines help prevent the spread of deadly and highly contagious diseases like rabies,parvovius, hepatitis and distemper (AKA Kennel Cough, which is an airborn disease).

Vaccinations are given to protect your pet from the life threatening diseases they come into contact with. When the vet injects your puppy with a vaccine, it "teaches" the puppy's immune system what a disease organism looks like. Your puppy's system will form anti-bodies to that disease making it possible for her to fight off that infection in the future and also to reduce the spread of disease in the dog population.

So why do we ask to see up to date vaccination records?

Easy, we want to make sure, we are responsible for our classes, that your dog and every other dog in the class has an opportunity to be in a safe environment.  Also, if your dog does not have their vaccinations it will increase the chances of catching a disease from something that may have been brought into the building/park by foot. Kennel cough for example is an airborne virus. This vaccination is not mandatory, it is suggested. Therefore, another dog may have the virus and be showing no symptoms. Ta-Da, your dog now has Kennel Cough.

If classes are being held in a park the trainer has no guarantee that the soil or grass may or may not contain a virus or disease. We also have to protect our equipment. Some trainers carry their equipment home or to other training facilities, therefor not wanting to spread the viruses or bacteria.

It has been found that even if a dog is vaccinated they still can contract the disease. Why would a professional want to put all the other dogs they come in contact with in jeopardy. It only takes one irresponsible owner to cause a facility to have an outbreak.

All professional dog trainers, groomers, and kennels should be asking to see if your dog is up to date on all their vaccinations. If they are not, ask why? It is your responsibility to take care and protect your dog, part of that is making sure they are from harms way of potential deadly diseases. To put it bluntly, it's being a responsible loving dog owner!

In conclusion, think twice before you pass up vaccinations!