Why do dogs need vaccines?

Invisible risks

Knowing your dog is protected from deadly diseases is a reassuring thought. As disease relevance differs depending on your location, your vet will decide on the most up-to-date vaccine regime that will protect against the most prevalent diseases around.

Regular vaccination protects against threats to your dog’s health, so any lapse can also open up a real risk. As well as this, regular vaccination must mean regular. If a booster isn’t given when it’s supposed to be, your dog is unprotected for a time. If there is too long a delay then the vaccination becomes ineffective. In some cases, the course of treatment has to be started all over again to get the dog back on track. All the while, our dog could be struck by a potentially preventable infectious disease with no defence against it.

Booster jabs should be done annually for your dog

Regular vaccinations protect your dog from infectious diseases like parvovirus and distemper virus. Although we rarely hear of them these days, they still exist, but it is widespread vaccination regimes that keep these diseases away. If vaccine rates fall we are likely to see these serious diseases more commonly. It is particularly upsetting to see a dog gravely ill or lose its life to a disease that is entirely preventable.

Treatment for infectious diseases is extremely costly and not always successful. Besides this, a pet dog could also put the whole family at risk since some infectious diseases such as leptospirosis, can be transmitted to humans. It’s important from day one to take vaccination seriously.

Set reminders for your vaccination appointments

With all the will in the world, it is undeniably hard at times to keep on top of medical appointments — for ourselves, not only the dog.

Here are a few tips for pet owners:

As soon as one vet appointment is finished, book the next so the task is done. However, you will still need to make a note of the date somewhere you will see it. If you prefer to book the appointment nearer the time, make a note in a calendar a month or two before the due date to make sure you book in plenty of time.

As technology improves we can be less reliant on only our memory and plan vaccinations months or even a year in advance.