shots

INITIAL AND ANNUAL SHOTS

I never have cared much for shots, but giving them is some better than taking them. I remember a time when I was just a boy. It was time to go to the Health Department to get a shot. We, like most of the youngsters in our trailer park qualified for free shots at the Health Department. Free or not, I decided that I was not going to get a shot. I climbed my favorite tree and declared that I would never come down. My mother tried to get me to come down by spraying me with the water hose. She should have known I liked getting wet. Then my sharp shooter brother started trying to shoot me out of the tree with his air rifle. I then knew how a squirrel must feel as I tried to keep the tree between me and the shooter. All their efforts could not bring me down. However, when I smelled super and then heard my family eating, my will started to break. It smelled so good and I did not get any lunch. This short story ends with a lesson learned. The only thing worse than getting a shot, is getting a spanking before getting a shot.

The first year or two of a child’s life is one shot after another. At some point they grow up and only need a booster now and then. This also is true for puppies and young hounds. The vaccinations that they take between the age of 6 weeks and 4 months are designed to extend their immunity against a number of life threatening viruses. If the mother is in good health and current on her shots, then she should be able to pass her immunity on to her pups. The first milk (first 24 hours after birth) is not milk but colostrum. Colostrum is packed full of antibodies against the many viruses that could make the pup sick. The protection received at birth will last for up to 7 weeks. By eight weeks this immunity has almost disappeared.

To continue this immunity, the pup needs to be vaccinated at about the time the mother’s immunity begins to fade. I do not know the exact science of all this, but have been led to believe that if the mothers antibodies are still in full force, they will fight off the virus introduced with the injection. This is the reason several shots are give at space intervals. The goal is to introduce the vaccine as soon as possible after immunity has lapsed.

I have always followed the standard scheduled recommended in nearly every pet supply catalog that carries vaccines. I do make one small deviation, giving the forth shot at 16 weeks not the standard 15 weeks.

Tony’s Pup

There is no getting around it Vaccines are a good thing and if we want to insure the health of our hunting buddies then we will just have to drag them out of that tree and give them the shots they need.

How Many Shots? I give shots at 6 weeks, 9 weeks, 12 weeks and 16 weeks.
Some breeders give their pups a 5/1 shot at 6 weeks and then they give 7/1 or 8/1 for the other three. I have never given any pups the 5/1. I have always used 7/1 for all the shots. To get the best buy for your money you have to buy them in lots of 25. They do come with expiration dates and I just did not want to get into ordering two different vaccines. I was sure that 5/1 puppy shots would stay around to long and be outdated before I would use up the 25 doses. That may be a lame excuse but there it is. For the last few litters I have used Solo-Jec 7. This product has served me well.
     Solo-Jec-7
      One combination shot for 7 different viruses

Where can I get shots? I have ordered shots and other pet supplies from a number of suppliers over the years. One that I have grown to like is Jeffers Pets. If you would like their catalogs, just give them a call at    1-800-JEFFERS   that is    (1-800-533-3377) or on the web.. www.jefferspet.com
You can purchase these shots from your local co-op or feed store. They sell single doses with syringe at a higher price. If you only have one or two pups or hounds to vaccinate then that may be the way you want to go. If you are working with a litter of pups then you may want to order 25 units from a supplier. If you have 4 pups in a litter and a pair of older hounds, then you are going to need at least 18 shots. More if you older hounds did not get their annual booster last year. If they are not current they would need two shot each, one month apart. Now you need 20 shots. True enough, you may only give some of those pups one or two shots before they go on to their new owners and you are a good pet owner so your grown dogs are current on their shots.
To be conservative say you need just 15 shots. At the feed store you may pay at least $6.00 per shot. The 15 shots would cost $90. At today’s prices, you can get 25 shots, 25 syringes and shipped 2nd day in a cooler with blue ice for under $65.   That is all well and good, but what can you do with the extra shots. If this is your first rodeo then you may need an extra shot, just in case you should waste one. I will cover how that can happen a little later when we discuss the actual act of giving the shots.
If you do end up with 10 shots left over, you can check the expiration date and you may have the shots you will need next year. You may or may not have another litter next year, but you will need a shot for each of your grown dogs.   When I have a litter I always schedule my grown hounds to get their annual shot at the time I give the last shot to the pups. If I should have a hound in my kennel that did not get a booster last year, then I will give them a shot when the pups are 3 months old and then again when they are 4 months old. Many times my grown dogs get their shots early. If the pup’s dates will cause the hounds shots to be late, I go ahead and give the grown dogs their shots when scheduled. The next year I move the pups up to take their shots at the same time as the older hounds. Now if you are not too confused, I must say that my goal is to keep them together as mush as possible so I do not have to spend every waking moment thinking about when to give shots. One other way to make use of extra shots is to share the shipment with a friend. I order shots every year and sell some to my neighbor at cost. This is a service to him and helps me recover some of the cost.

Important: It is very important to keep these shots refrigerated. When kept refrigerated, they will be good until their expiration date.
Do not be like me and forget to order the syringes and needles at the same time you order the shots. They only cost about 17 cents each, but you can not do much without them. (3cc syringes with ¾ inch 22 gage needles are a good choice)

3 cc Syringe W/ Needle.

When you receive your cooler packed vaccines they may not be cold, but should be cool. Put them in the refrigerator until you are ready to administer shots.

How to vaccinate your pups and hounds: Count the days until your new pups will be six weeks old. Mark it on the calendar and make plans to take care of this important business. If it falls on a Friday and Saturday is better for you, then put it off for a day. If it should fall on Monday and Sunday is more convenient then do it a day early. You will want to ask someone to help you and be available to hold the pups. At six weeks old it is hard to hold them and give them a shot.

Preparing the Vaccine.

*For each shot you will have two vials. One will have a white powder, which is the freeze-dried portion of the vaccine. The second vial will have a clear liquid.
*About a half hour before shot time, you need to remove the number of vials needed from refrigeration. Do not set them in direct sunlight, but do set them out so they can warm up to about room temperature. You do not want to give the pup a cold injection. If you do he may remember and bite you are at least pee on you when he grows up.

*The vials will have colored caps that will help you know which are the powder and which are the liquid. (All the powder may have gray caps and all the liquid may have blue caps.) You will be mixing the liquid with the powder to form the vaccine. I like to do this for all the shots to be given so things will go a little faster when I get started vaccinating the pups. Once mixed the vaccine should be administered within one hour.

Mix the vaccine

1. Make sure to tighten the needle on the syringe. You do not want it to pop off and lose the vaccine. This is one of the ways that you can waste a shot and will be glad you have a few extra.
2. Draw up about a half of a syringe of air. Remove the colored cap from the vial and insert the needle into the liquid vial. Inject the air. Next withdraw all the liquid out of the vial and into the syringe. (Note: I have found that if you do not inject some air into the vial, it is hard to draw the liquid into the syringe.)
3. Next, remove the colored cap from one of the vials containing powder. Inject the liquid into the vial that contains the freeze-dried or powder portion of the vaccine.
4. Remove the needle from the vial and shake for a few seconds to mix well. At this point, I like to check to make sure the chill is off the vaccine. If it is still cool to the touch, I will roll it in my hot little hands for a while to warm it up.
5. Draw up some air in the syringe and insert the needle back into the vial containing the vaccine. Inject the air and then withdraw the entire mixed contents.

Normally, I will perform steps 1 – 4 above for each of the shots to be given, prior to giving the first pup a shot. I may or may not do step 5 in advance. You are now ready to give that first shot. You have the vaccine mixed and in the syringe and you have someone to help hold the pups.

The Injection

1. You are NOT going to inject into a vain, but I still like to get the air out of the vaccine. Hold the syringe with the needle pointing up. Firmly holding the syringe with one hand, use your index finger of the other hand to thump the syringe. This will cause any bubbles in the vaccine to come to the top near the needle. With all the air up near the top, trying to escape, slowly push the plunger up until all the air is out and a small amount of the vaccines move up and out the needle.
2. Puppies all have lots of loose skin so you will not have any problem finding a place to administer the shot. With your assistant holding the pup, select a shot location near the right or left shoulder. Lift the skin up into a triangle and inject into the middle of the triangle. Care must be taken to insure the end of the needle is in and under the skin before you inject the vaccine. The ¾ inch needle helps to keep you from going in one side and out the other. More than once I have gone in one side, out the other and wasted the vaccine on the ground. Here is another reason for having a few to many shots.
3. Your pup may not like being held down and they may wine a little. The skin that you are penetrating will have very few nerve ending and little if any pain will be experienced by your pup.
4. Repeat this process for all your pups.
5. You may find that you do not need any assistance when giving annual boosters to your older hounds.

Important
Make sure to dispose of the syringes and needles in a way that would prevent anyone from getting stuck. I often drop the empty vials and syringes into a bleach jug. I will stick the needle in the side of the jug and break it off.

If you have never vaccinated your pups before, I wish the best of luck on your first time. It can only get easier with practice and experience. Your local vet will be glad to take care of all this for you. However, if you have a large number of hounds, it is far more practical to take maters into your own hands. You can keep some of that money you would be spending at the vet office to purchase a new beagle for your wife.

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