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Vom Keiser Wappen Rottweilers

Vaccinating the Rottweiler

Important Information you need to know about [not] vaccinating your Rottweilers. Please read this carefully. If you don't have time now, please bookmark this page and come back later to finish your reading and to explore the links at the bottom of the page. It is imperative that anyone who owns a puppy from VKW Rottweilers understands the implications of too many vaccines (or the wrong kind).

Of annual revaccination, Tom Phillips and Ron Schultz, "Canine and Feline Vaccines," in Current Veterinary Therapy XI, ed. R. Kirk and J. Bonagura (Philadelphia: Saunders, 1992) say, "A practice that was started many years ago and that lacks scientific validity or verification is annual revaccinations. Almost without exception there is no immunologic requirements for annual revaccination. Immunity to viruses persists for years or for the life of the animal. Successful vaccination to most bacterial pathogens produces an immunologic memory that remains for years, allowing an animal to develop a protective anamnestic (secondary) response when exposed to virulent organisms... Furthermore, revaccination with most viral vaccines fails to stimulate an anamnestic (secondary) response as a result of interference by existing antibody... The practice of annual vaccination in our opinion should be considered of questionable efficacy unless it is used as a mechanism to provide an annual physical examination or it is required by law (i.e. certain states require annual revaccinations for rabies)."


Immune Mediated Problems and Vaccination

A small percentage of  puppies manifest an autoimmune reaction following vaccination. When the immune system of susceptible individuals is challenged by multiple antigens it becomes hyper-reactive and responds in the same way it would respond to fight off an infection; fever, elevated WBC and inflammatory reaction of tissues and joints.

Although many puppies can be vaccinated with no adverse reactions, there is no way at the present time to determine which puppies may react. Past research has documented reactions occurring between 8-16 weeks of age with the greatest number of reactions seen in puppies 12-16 week age.

Several of the vaccine manufacturers assure that immunity in puppies can be achieved with only two vaccines providing the second vaccine is given at 12 weeks of age. We recommend the following vaccine schedule:

6 weeks: Distemper, Adeno2, Parainfluenza and Parvo, 8 weeks: Distemper, Adeno2, Parainfluenza and Parvo, 12 weeks: Distemper, Adeno2, Parainfluenza and Parvo.

Not all vaccine manufactures are equal. It has been our experience that Fort Dodge brand shown the fewest side effects. Our Rottweiler puppies receive the Fort Dodge ~ Duramune 5 at 6,8,12 weeks.

The use of Corona, Lepto, Bordatella and Lyme vaccine is not recommended unless these diseases are prevalent in the area. The recombinant DNA vaccines available for Distemper and Lyme have shown a significantly lower incidence of reactions.

Websites to visit for more information on this VERY IMPORTANT topic:

* Natural Rearing 
* The Immune System & How It Works
* Puppy Shots: Vaccination Issues for Breeders
* Vaccinations: A word of Caution - by Dr. Will Facloner
* Revaccination - by Christie Keith
* The Vaccine Controversy - T. R. Phillips DVM PhD & R.D. Shultz PhD
* Vaccine Information and Choice Network
* Cyberpet on Vaccinosis - Dr. Richard Pitcairn DVM
* B-Naturals Newsletter
* Vaccination News - a newsletter with both sides of the story
* Vaccine Liberation - A MUST READ!
* It's For The Animals - Dr. Jean Dodds, including a vaccine release form
* Vaccine Website

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