Hi, I have a 2 year old German Shephard. She is due to go into a local kennels in a month or so and I am debating whether to take her to the vets for vaccination against kennel cough.

The kennels is the best we have seen, I took the fact that it was almost full (out of season) to be a good sign, particularly as a number of other kennels we visited were very very quiet. The kennels do not require vaccination for kennel cough, what do other owners suggest?

If I'm honest, I'd rather that she didnt have to be vaccinated against kennel cough, any advice/opinions would be greatly received.

Malcolm

Hi Malcolm,

Kennel cough is the dog equivalant of flu, so vaccinating against it is, IMO, a waste of time. There are so many types of kc and the vaccine only protects against three of them. I have also heard of several cases where vaccinated and unvaccinated dogs in a pack have been exposed to kc, and it is the vaccinated ones which have gone down with it.

At the end of the day, all you can do is plenty of research and listen to the testimonials from other people, and then use your own judgement to decide whether or not to vaccinate. Personally, I think for a young, fit, healthy dog, kc is not a problem and I would rather risk the kc than the vaccine. No doubt others will have different opinions, but like I say, it is for you to weigh up the pros and cons.

Best of luck with your decision,

Claire :-)

I kind of agree with Claire in the fact I have had Kennel cough with 3 of my dogs who had all been vaccinated but I was told by the vets the symptoms would have been worse had I not had them vaccinated.  I have also had a whole litter of pups which got it and had obviously not been vaccinated and they got over it very quickly but I believe it can be very nasty so I think you really have to make your own decision.

We do not insist on a kennel cough vaccine as it (as others have said) only protects again the "Bordetella" virus, one strain of kennel cough.  In your dogs yearly booster is a vaccine against another strain of kennel cough, "Parainfluenza."  The reason we don't insist on it is because there are so many types of it, that it seems pointless.  We always treat kennel cough here, we never leave it as some kennels do, we prefer to treat with anti-biotics and give the dog the best chance of a speedy recovery.  Check the kennels you are using have insurance and that your dog is covered should anything happen while he is there, make sure its included in what you are paying.
Dawn.

I agree with DawnB.  I worked in boarding kennels for 6 years and we never insisted that the dogs be vaccinated for kennel cough.  We had only it about 4 times and always treated it with antibiotics from the vet. We had optional insurance for our clients, but this didn't affect the care they had.  It they didn't take out the insurance, we called the vet anyway and the clients paid the bill on their return.