Sandy in CT
Premium Member
I think you have to look at both with your dog, your location, etc. in mind.
Our doxies have never received lepto as dachshunds are known to be reactive to it and since our first dachshund was already reactive to distemper, we opted not to. Many years ago the lyme's vaccine was not really effective and caused worse issues at times than lyme's so we opted not to with that as well.
With Brodie, I have decided to go with lepto, even though I know the vaccine does not cover all strains, but we have had bad cases of lepto in our area, we have wildlife in our yard and have areas in our lower yard where standing water does occur even after the drainage we put in to avoid it. He is a 'Fetch' guy and is off and running and picking up and chewing on sticks. So for him, I opted to give the lepto shot, just in pieces. I am giving the regular distemper combo, wait 2 - 3 weeks, the 3 year rabies, wait 2 - 3 weeks, then the separate lepto. It is more costly that giving a bunch at once, but I feel better. I am still not giving the lyme's, I might change my mind but currently he gets topical tick, I keep him away from heavily wooded areas, with quarantine he is only going on walks in paved areas right now anyway and we are careful with our yard - we have not areas with wooded undergrowth, we remove all leaves, we mulch the perimeter and treat the perimeter with a chrysanthemum based tick treatment.
Our doxies have never received lepto as dachshunds are known to be reactive to it and since our first dachshund was already reactive to distemper, we opted not to. Many years ago the lyme's vaccine was not really effective and caused worse issues at times than lyme's so we opted not to with that as well.
With Brodie, I have decided to go with lepto, even though I know the vaccine does not cover all strains, but we have had bad cases of lepto in our area, we have wildlife in our yard and have areas in our lower yard where standing water does occur even after the drainage we put in to avoid it. He is a 'Fetch' guy and is off and running and picking up and chewing on sticks. So for him, I opted to give the lepto shot, just in pieces. I am giving the regular distemper combo, wait 2 - 3 weeks, the 3 year rabies, wait 2 - 3 weeks, then the separate lepto. It is more costly that giving a bunch at once, but I feel better. I am still not giving the lyme's, I might change my mind but currently he gets topical tick, I keep him away from heavily wooded areas, with quarantine he is only going on walks in paved areas right now anyway and we are careful with our yard - we have not areas with wooded undergrowth, we remove all leaves, we mulch the perimeter and treat the perimeter with a chrysanthemum based tick treatment.
