Vaccinations (updated)
Puppies get antibodies (passive immunity) through their mom on the first day after birth from drinking her colostrum. Vaccinating the puppy while the maternal antibodies are high can prevent the virus in the vaccine from triggering immunity in the puppy, because those antibodies may be strong enough to just kill off the virus in the vaccine. What this means is if the puppy gets their first vaccination too early and the follow-up vaccine in the series comes after they have lost their maternal antibodies, there could be a period of time where the puppy is actually unprotected.
The best way to handle this situation is scientifically. I will be having a nomograph run on Mama Sport’s distemper-parvo titers to determine the actual date at which these puppies will lose their passive immunity. The puppies will be sent to their new homes with the recommended resulting vaccination schedule.
Here is a very informative article about vaccinations written by Dr. Jean Dodds, DVM, and includes a chart showing her 2007 recommended minimal vaccine protocol. Please note that the top part of the following web page contains a confusing excerpt about an email floating around the internet not being from Dr. Dodds which makes it look like the article and chart on the page is not hers. I have personally verified with Dr. Dodds that the protocol on the rest of the page is by her. I wish they would fix the first part of the page about the email so it would be less confusing.
