If you’re anything like us here at Wise Woofs you care about your dog’s health just as much as your own. However, where dog owners fall short is not lack of enthusiasm, but lack of information, recent research and vaccine updates. That is why we’ve taken a deep dive into recently published scholarly articles from vets and other scientists investigating vaccines, the diseases concerning them and the pro’s and con’s that accompany them.
Let’s begin with the most important question: Why do we vaccinate our dogs?
The main reasons we vaccinate our dogs is to help stop the spread of diseases and protect our dogs from potentially fatal ones. Vaccinating allows us to stop the production of new diseases; this happens when viruses mutate over time, forming a new strain and spreading to others. Vaccines control the risk at which a disease can be spread between human-dog contact. This is most apparent in the near elimination of rabies among canines in the U.S. whereas in some undeveloped countries it’s a legitimate health crisis.
One important thing to note about canine vaccines is the core/required vaccines differ based on geographic locations. In America there are four Core Vaccines: Canine Distemper Virus, Rabies, Canine Parvovirus and Canine Adenovirus. The differentiation between Core and Non-Core Vaccines relates to health risk inherent to a virus’ properties itself. For example, the environment you live in contains different levels of risk to acquire a disease. These risk variables include wild canine populations, other non-domesticated animals, weather, insects, transport, finances and lifestyle. For example, lap dogs in a city may not need the same vaccinations as a working dog on the farm where ticks or poisonous snakes are present. Since working dogs typically have more interaction with other people or species, we need to make sure they are protected from diseases we may not always consider. From this, countries have created core vaccines for canines. “Core vaccines are those that all dogs, regardless of circumstances or location, should receive. They protect the animals from severe, life-threatening disease,” states the National Center for Biotechnology Information. To explore more non-core vaccines check out these articles here.
| Distemper | Rabies | Parvo | Adenovirus |
| Affects the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract in addition to the nervous system. [remains one of the most significant and lethal viral diseases of dogs.] | The rabies virus affects the central nervous system of mammals, ultimately causing disease in the brain and can be fatal. [Can spread between human and canine] | CPV is one of the major causes of canine acute gastroenteritis. [Young puppies 2-6 months of age are most susceptible, but cases are increasingly recognized in adult dogs.] | Adenovirus has two types: CAV-1 and CAV-2. CAV-1 attacks the respiratory tract. CAV-2 attacks multiple systems and is far more serious. |
