How Often Should Dogs Receive Rabies Vaccines?
How often should a dog be vaccinated for rabies?
Chery
Pitcairn, PA
Vaccines are perennially controversial in veterinary medicine. However, there is one vaccine that causes almost no controversy whatsoever. I am referring to the canine rabies vaccine.
In the United States, local or state governments dictate the frequency of rabies vaccination in dogs. Veterinarians and people with dogs must comply with the laws.
Most municipalities require an initial rabies vaccination after the dog is 16 weeks old. Vaccines given before that date may be considered invalid. The initial vaccine generally is valid for one year. In some places, subsequent vaccines are good for three years. In other places, annual revaccination is mandated.
In rabies-free areas such as the United Kingdom, Hawaii or Australia rabies vaccinations may not be required at all.
Legally mandated rabies vaccination requirements have nothing to do with dogs’ needs. Because rabies can spread to humans, governments generally are concerned only with protecting public health.
And, like most issues involving government oversight, rabies vaccination regulations may be logically spurious. A recent case of rabies in a young puppy (less than 16 weeks old) in Alaska has led some vets to question the rationality of making dogs wait until they are 16 weeks old to be vaccinated. Also, many municipalities will not license a dog whose rabies vaccine was given when it was 15 weeks and six days old. Some veterinarians have been known to get around this problem by changing the dog’s birth date in their records.
Despite the capricious nature of rabies vaccination laws, one thing is certain. Legally mandated canine rabies vaccines have dramatically reduced human exposure to the most lethal infectious disease on earth.
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You have questions. 
The rabies vaccine is not controversial? It causes more damage than any vaccine out there!
Are you aware that it actually changes a dog’s DNA and will pass on that damage to it’s pups? That it causes autoimmune diesases? Yes, it causes dogs to attack it’s own body.
http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/scienceVaccineDamage.html
There are studies going right now to show that the vaccine works for a lot longer than was previously thought thanks to some grass roots efforts since the manufacturers won’t study it because this will cost them a great deal of money.
http://www.rabieschallengefund.org/
Eventually, once we realize the damage vaccines cause, we will stop giving them and work on making pets healthy enough to develop a natural immunity.
And there is no proof that the rabies vaccine caused the drop in people getting rabies.
By not controversial, I meant to say that the rabies vaccine does not cause vets to argue among ourselves as much as any other vaccine because the government orders us to give it. We have to comply with the law.
Like all vaccines (human and animal), the canine rabies inoculation causes plenty of controversy among scientists.
Cyndiann, can you tell me what caused the drop in human rabies in the US in the last century? Why has the rate of rabies not dropped in areas (such as India) where dogs generally are not vaccinated?
Can you direct me to an unbiased, peer-reviewed scientific article showing that the risks of canine rabies vaccination outweigh the benefits? I would be very interested in reading it.
As I mentioned in the post, government rabies regulations aren’t designed with dogs’ interests in mind. Remember, however, that rabies is as deadly to dogs as it is to humans.
In the meanwhile, if you don’t want your dog to be vaccinated against rabies, you really only have one choice: write to the appropriate elected official and request a change in the laws.
I TOTALLY think that dogs should just get their “puppy shots” including rabies, then get a titer test every year or two.
A rabies shot as a pup can last a lifetime and the shot can cause health problems including severe or fatal allergic reactions!
I have worked with a lot of animal groups and shelters. Here’s a fate I’d do anything to avoid: My unvaccinated dog seized by animal control because she bit someone. In many cases, dogs are euthanized and their heads are cut off. The heads are stored in a decaptiation freezer until they can be sent off and tested for rabies.
It’s a hard fact of reality that almost all animal control facilities have a decapitation freezer full of dead dog heads.
I titre my dog. But I would absolutely never let her go without rabies vacination and I would not let her go unregistered with the department of agriculture. Not just as a prevention for this disease, but because it’s one more way I can protect her life.
We talk about all the things to do to extend the lives of our pets, how to protect them. Adhering to certain practices may seem unwholesome — but when it comes to the law and how to best have my dog viewed, I’ll do what it takes to ensure her status of being “safe.” IMO, the two safest ways to stay on the right side of the law and protect your dog’s life: rabies vacination and bite inhibition training.
My 7 pound dog is always inside with me or in the fenced urban garden. I take him on leased walks at a paved park. When or how could he be exposed to rabies? If our law requires vaccines every three years do you still recommend a yearly vaccine like his vet says. I see a greater, more likely danger in losing my dog to a vaccine reaction than rabies.
[...] recent post on rabies vaccinations in dogs has generated a few interesting comments. One, in particular, caught my attention. Green [...]
The only controversy is that in some places law still require yearly rabies vaccination. All the science, manufacturer guarantees and Vet School protocols indicate that the THREE year vaccine is effective against rabies. Is there any scientific reason to vaccinate more frequently than that? Does a yearly vaccination create any additional immunity against rabies than the 3 year vaccine? If a vaccinated dog gets bitten by a rabid animal, is it protected against the disease?
Can you please answer a couple of questions for me please? If you give a pet a rabies shot after that pet has already had an incident involving a wild animal ie. bites etc. can the rabie shot mask any potential rabies symptoms in your pet? In other words, can your pet have rabies and you not know it?
If the wild animal had rabies, when it bit your pet, will the rabie shot your pet gets afterward halt the onset of rabies in your pet? Or, will your pet still contract rabies and you, as the owner, just not know about it until it’s too late and you, as an owner, may be exposed to getting rabies?
Dr Eric, can you tell me why rabies vaccinations were mandated by law in areas where no dogs have ever had rabies in recorded history?
As for this:”unbiased, peer-reviewed scientific article showing that the risks of canine rabies vaccination outweigh the benefits” you tell me who would finance such a study? Certainly not the vaccine companies, it would cost them their businesses. I know I don’t have that much scratch either. Big Pharma is in so tight with the FDA you may as well be asking me for the moon.
Do yourself a favor and look up the rabies stats in your area for the year the rabies vaccine was made mandatory and then tell me why it was made into law at all.
And I can use civil disobedience to do what is right by my dogs. I will not have the government force something on me that was never proven to be effective and could very well cause harm. There are a lot of side effects that most people would think are “normal” dog behaviors because they don’t know any better.
I have been wondering what is actually being done to eliminate this need to over-vaccinate?
I lost my 13 year old Golden last year.. after bringing her to the US from Germany and 4 months after receiving a three year rabies shot, she went from having an under-functioning immune system (demodex) to immune mediated hemolytic anemia. She battled the side effects of the meds she was on her whole life and only came to live to age 13 through homeopathy and natural foods.
Last year I got a new Golden. 4 month after the mandatory rabies shot, she developed suppurative meningitis (vasculitis) and is on steroids, who knows what this will lead to if she beats this…
I have researched the breeder, there are no problems with this litter nor the previous ones, so nobody can tell me that I won the lottery twice, picking the ONE…
I am deeply upset and would like something done in regards of the rabies shots we are forced to give our loved dogs. I have spent 13 years worrying about my girl and I am faced with the same once again.
My dog a 25lb Jack Russel Terrier was vaccinated on June 03, 2009 on August 08, 2009 we put her to sleep. Every year Nala-our Jack Russel would get her annual vaccination shots. In 2009 I decided to get her the three-year Rabies Vaccines. This was a bad decision. Shortly there after Nala was not her usual energetic self. She became lethargic and groogy. On runs she would breathe heavily. When we took her to the Vet today, they could not find out what was wrong with Nala. Her vitals were poor. Nala was leaking fluids from her anus and has vomiting. The Doctor said Nala’s body was burning up inside as she dehydrated, her heart was racing. We laid Nala to rest at 6:15 p.m. on August 08, 2009
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read the first comment about how rabies vaccines can change a dogs DNA. Guys, let me tell you, I had an un-vaccinated dog that contracted rabies. The poor thing was taken away because of my own stupidity. 6 of us in our family were attacked by our dog and we all had to get anti-rabies shots.
WOULD YOU RATHER LOSE YOUR OWN LIFE AND RISK THE LIVES OF OTHERS BECAUSE YOUR DOG’S DNA COULD GET ALTERED?
Lady, talk about not believing my eyes???
1 dog attacks 6 people and its a poor thing? U need to get ur priorities straightened out pretty fast.
If u had a crazy mutt like that then u are a complete idiot for not vaccinating, and it is a blessing that the dog is out of your hands. A properly treated animal will not do stuff like that.
I think everyone was talking about the average dog that doesnt attack 6 family members at random and bite them all to break skin…
If you were bit by a dog and he had is rabie shot can a human still get rabies.