[yhlr]

Hi,
I am a new dog owner, a Female Golden Retriever, "Holly" that I got 3 weeks ago, at the age of 9 weeks.
She had already received a shot of DHHPI vaccination before I got her, and she received the second round of vaccination (DHHPI as well) last week.

The veterinarian told us that regarding Parvovirus, these 2 vaccinations were enough and that 7 days after that second round, our puppy would be able to go outside normally.
The third vaccine being only for rabies.

I read everywhere that for parvovirus, 3 shots are necessary. And it is not like I don't trust my veterinarian but I'm curious to hear about other dog owner's experience.

What's your opinion about this?

Thank you all

 

[storyist]

You really need to have a relationship with your vet where you can question and discuss. There's no harm is saying, "I'm on dog forums and everyone there talks about their vet requiring 3 DHPP or even 4. Why do you feel differently?

Since you're asking for opinions here, my feeling is your vet is probably right. My puppy only had two parvo/distemper vaccinations and won't be getting more. However, I had blood drawn two weeks after the second vaccination and sent out for titer testing to be sure those two were enough. I'm sure you've heard of testing for antibodies for Covid in people who had it or those who've been vaccinated. That's what titer testing does - checks for levels of antibodies to parvo, distemper, and adenovirus. My puppy tested high on all those.

My understanding, which you should also check with your vet, is that puppy shots are not cumulative. In other words, for the Covid vaccine, one Pfizer or Moderna shot gives you something like 70% protection and the second ups that to 99+%. With puppy vaccinations, either the vaccination protects adequately or it doesn't. The reason so many are given is that natural antibodies from the mother's milk interfere with what the vaccines do and make the vaccination ineffective if there are still maternal antibodies in the puppy. So the series is given to be sure to catch the puppy after the maternal antibodies have cleared, which means the second shot is enough for most puppies, but the third is insurance.

Talk to your vet about this so you aren't left wondering and worrying.

 

[Canyx]

That is quite a big thing for your vet to say! If you are worried you should get a second opinion from another vet. But a lot of vaccination schedule planning depends on where you are located and what you are doing with your puppy. For example, my vet advised me to give my puppy a DH2PP vaccine every 2 weeks up to the 5 month mark. She got a LOT of vaccinations. I don't love that, but I have my reasons for my plans and I totally trust the vet that I worked with. Other puppy owners I worked with (so living in the same area) may have gotten their puppy vaccinated every 3 weeks, or every 4. Almost without exception vets will recommend the final vaccination around the 16 week mark. But maybe your vet has other reasons - I recommend asking!

How it works for puppies is, most puppies have maternal antibodies, or natural protection against common diseases like distemper or parvovirus. However, this is not guaranteed, and it depends on if the mother has antibodies for those diseases to pass on, AND if the puppy drank the colostrum (first milk), AND how much colostrum the puppy got. So you can have puppies from the same litter who will lose maternal antibodies at different times depending on how/when they nursed from the mom. So just think, the mom's milk may or may not offer protection but only if the puppy drinks enough of the milk at a very certain time.

Maternal bodies block efficacy of vaccinations though. So theoretical situation... if a puppy still has maternal antibodies at 9 weeks of age and is vaccinated at 9 weeks of age, the vaccine will not be effective but the puppy is still protected from certain diseases. But when the puppy is, say, 10 weeks of age and the maternal antibodies drop off, and the puppy does not get another vaccination, the puppy is completely vulnerable and can contract the diseases.

This is why puppies are vaccinated multiple times. Like storyist said, it's not that each vaccine makes the puppy more protected. The idea is to offer multiple opportunities for the vaccine to take effect. And vets/owners are trying to catch that very small window when the maternal antibodies first drop and the puppy is first vulnerable. Regardless if it happens at 7 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks... WHEN the vaccine is delivered after the puppy's maternal antibodies are gone, it is effective and the puppy does not need further 'boosters' technically, until the recommended regular schedule like every 1-3 years. However, I did a lot of digging into titering puppies (basically, "can I find out if my puppy's vaccine worked at X weeks of age so I don't need to do another one?") and the short answer is no. The safest, most effective thing to do is to vaccinate regularly. And the most recent research is suggesting that the absolute maximum cutoff for maternal antibodies is around the 5 month mark, not the 16 week mark as commonly believed.

Disclaimer - I'm not a vet or in the medical field. I just work very closely with a lot of puppies and vets and I need to know this stuff for my job.

Also, I live in an area where parvo and distemper are rare. But I can think of two unique cases in the last year... One where an older puppy did not finish it's vaccination schedule, contracted parvo, and died. And one where a 9 month old dog with unknown vaccination history contracted parvo, and was fine after 1 week of treatment.

 

[emlopre]

thanks for posting this! my puppy only got 3 rounds..which I am fine with the amount but the last one was at 15 weeks which I was very concerned was a bit early. I assume I could ask for a titer at this point since she is 8 months? it's still a worry for me so not sure why I didn't push it at the time. I did ask if they thought it was too soon but vet assured me it wasn't necessary to do another round. I am definitely a worrier so I figured I was just being paranoid and let it go but do you think it would be worth doing a titer or maybe just vaccinating again earlier than the 1 yr mark?

That is quite a big thing for your vet to say! If you are worried you should get a second opinion from another vet. But a lot of vaccination schedule planning depends on where you are located and what you are doing with your puppy. For example, my vet advised me to give my puppy a DH2PP vaccine every 2 weeks up to the 5 month mark. She got a LOT of vaccinations. I don't love that, but I have my reasons for my plans and I totally trust the vet that I worked with. Other puppy owners I worked with (so living in the same area) may have gotten their puppy vaccinated every 3 weeks, or every 4. Almost without exception vets will recommend the final vaccination around the 16 week mark. But maybe your vet has other reasons - I recommend asking!

How it works for puppies is, most puppies have maternal antibodies, or natural protection against common diseases like distemper or parvovirus. However, this is not guaranteed, and it depends on if the mother has antibodies for those diseases to pass on, AND if the puppy drank the colostrum (first milk), AND how much colostrum the puppy got. So you can have puppies from the same litter who will lose maternal antibodies at different times depending on how/when they nursed from the mom. So just think, the mom's milk may or may not offer protection but only if the puppy drinks enough of the milk at a very certain time.

Maternal bodies block efficacy of vaccinations though. So theoretical situation... if a puppy still has maternal antibodies at 9 weeks of age and is vaccinated at 9 weeks of age, the vaccine will not be effective but the puppy is still protected from certain diseases. But when the puppy is, say, 10 weeks of age and the maternal antibodies drop off, and the puppy does not get another vaccination, the puppy is completely vulnerable and can contract the diseases.

This is why puppies are vaccinated multiple times. Like storyist said, it's not that each vaccine makes the puppy more protected. The idea is to offer multiple opportunities for the vaccine to take effect. And vets/owners are trying to catch that very small window when the maternal antibodies first drop and the puppy is first vulnerable. Regardless if it happens at 7 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks... WHEN the vaccine is delivered after the puppy's maternal antibodies are gone, it is effective and the puppy does not need further 'boosters' technically, until the recommended regular schedule like every 1-3 years. However, I did a lot of digging into titering puppies (basically, "can I find out if my puppy's vaccine worked at X weeks of age so I don't need to do another one?") and the short answer is no. The safest, most effective thing to do is to vaccinate regularly. And the most recent research is suggesting that the absolute maximum cutoff for maternal antibodies is around the 5 month mark, not the 16 week mark as commonly believed.

Disclaimer - I'm not a vet or in the medical field. I just work very closely with a lot of puppies and vets and I need to know this stuff for my job.

Also, I live in an area where parvo and distemper are rare. But I can think of two unique cases in the last year... One where an older puppy did not finish it's vaccination schedule, contracted parvo, and died. And one where a 9 month old dog with unknown vaccination history contracted parvo, and was fine after 1 week of treatment.