Vaccinations

[Mitzi]

Will a 11 week old pup who has never had any vaccinations have any medical issues or cause any medical issue with another dog already in the home? I've never had a dog that the first vaccine was not given by at least at 6 week or 8 weeks of age. Would this be a warning flag to avoid this pup?

 

[thedogtor]

There is a greater incidence of parvo and other infectious diseases in pups that have not been given any vaccines compared to those that have been following a traditional vaccine schedule.

Any reputable breeder or rescue would vaccinate this dog prior to rehoming, so I am guessing (okay judging a bit) that this is some sort of private rehoming, Craigslist or marketplace situation? Without further details, I can fabricate all sorts of red flags about this.

Any puppy can get parvo, even if appropriately vaccinated, it’s just that if the puppies aren’t vaccinated, it’s fairly common that mom also wasn’t vaccinated and that cohort tends to carry a greater risk for a variety of reasons. Just recently saw a parvo puppy that came from a reputable breeder and a responsible owner. It happens. I harp on parvo because the average cost of treatment in my area ranges from 6-10k, but there are other reasons to be suspicious of this situation as well. Need more information. There’s plenty of dogs and cats that have made it from the streets or without preventative medicine without incident, so it’s not to say you’re guaranteed to have a lemon, but you’re right to be skeptical.

 

[Sparkles99]

I’d proceed with your head, not your heart.

Parvo is usually deadly, even with treatment. There’s a man at the park with two Potcakes. He watched his previous pup die of it despite the best care. Then he got the adult Potcakes. You should hear him talk about vaccines. First thing he said to me was about them (my dog is often mistaken for a puppy).

Additionally, not having done the vaccines would make me wonder about other things like hips & elbows. I know of too many dogs getting these surgeries. It costs $$$, much more than the price of a companion puppy from a responsible breeder.

Many ‘rescues’ & backyard breeders are now puppy mill brokers, so any with a constant supply of easy to place dog breeds & especially puppies, aren’t whom you’d like to support. Think of the sires & dams.

The best advice I ever got was to shop first for a breed thats’ historical job suited my lifestyle & secondly for a breeder.

The other thing that would concern me is that the delay in first vaccines will inevitably delay when the pup can stand on its own four paws out & about. This delay in socialization isn’t good.

 

[thedogtor]

The other thing that would concern me is that the delay in first vaccines will inevitably delay when the pup can stand on its own four paws out & about. This delay in socialization isn’t good.

Not entirely, vaccination schedules are designed around waning maternal immunity and for distemper/parvo thats around 16 weeks of age. If you have a pup that starts vaccines at 6 weeks vs one that starts at 12, both are considered equally protected after that last vaccine at 16 weeks of age. There’s going to be some individual/clinic variances about this, so talk to your veterinarian. You’re correct that socialization is important and in any case it is not recommended to delay socialization until after 16 weeks of age as there are critical socialization periods that are missed. You just need to do so responsibly.