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american bulldog
- Thread starter Jim l
- Start date
WOW, they are both gorgeous, Jim. ;D And BIG. 
Oscar is growing so quickly, and he's quite full of it. Lots of fun to play with, that's for sure. How energetic are Phantom and Dime?
Oscar is growing so quickly, and he's quite full of it. Lots of fun to play with, that's for sure. How energetic are Phantom and Dime?GULP! Holy cow, I see a major weight loss in my future. :-X I know our other dog won't be able to keep up with Oscar, but he has gotten in better shape since his arrival. 2 miles a day? Yowser, I better start shaping up quickly.
Another question for you: Yesterday he received his booster vaccinations, and I opted for the Lymes disease vaccs, too. The injection site was quite sore all day yesterday, and Oscar was really groggy. He's much better today, but I was wondering whether your guys were vaccinated for Lymes, and whether they showed any adverse reactions. Are American Bulldogs more sensitive than other dogs when it comes to vaccines? (For the record, my dogs were/are never over-vaccinated. In fact, Max has only been vaccinated twice in his entire life, and he's 7. I do titer testing every year, and rabies every 3 years.)
Holy cow, I see a major weight loss in my future. :-X I know our other dog won't be able to keep up with Oscar, but he has gotten in better shape since his arrival. 2 miles a day? Yowser, I better start shaping up quickly.Another question for you: Yesterday he received his booster vaccinations, and I opted for the Lymes disease vaccs, too. The injection site was quite sore all day yesterday, and Oscar was really groggy. He's much better today, but I was wondering whether your guys were vaccinated for Lymes, and whether they showed any adverse reactions. Are American Bulldogs more sensitive than other dogs when it comes to vaccines? (For the record, my dogs were/are never over-vaccinated. In fact, Max has only been vaccinated twice in his entire life, and he's 7. I do titer testing every year, and rabies every 3 years.)
I opted not to get Dozer his Lyme shot as I have know quite a few people who have had their dogs immunized and ended up with Lyme's. I have also been reading up on shots and so far have found that getting repeat shots for distemper etc etc are useless as the dogs build up antibodies when they get their first set of these shots other than rabies and heart worm testing I'm not sure if i will put my pups through the yearly shots. Any thoughts?
Hirobo said:
Plenty! ;D
First off, I want to say it's absolutely TERRIFIC that you are opting not to have Dozer re-vaccinated every single year, as it is totally unnecessary and unhealthy - even harmful.
This will be lengthy, I apologize ahead of time:
Our Golden Retriever was faithfully vaccinated each and every year - I honestly didn't know any better, and never questioned it or my vet. When he developed the vicious cancer at age 12, which claimed his life in less than 3 weeks, I became utterly paranoid, and extensively started researching vaccines and commercial dog foods. I spent hundreds of dollars on books, especially because we still had Simon at the time, who had always been plagued with health problems.
Right around the same time we bought Max (3 months after losing Dollar), I began cooking for my dog(s). I had also learned about vaccinating, over-vaccinating, the risk of certain vaccines, and titer testing. (Titer testing is simple: Blood is drawn from the animal, it's sent to the lab, and the blood is tested for anti-bodies against certain diseases. It's still not possible to titer against all vaccines, but many.)
Simon never received any other vaccines, other than rabies and lymes (I blame myself for that one now). But - he outlived all odds.
Now forward to Max. He did go through his initial vaccinations, repeatedly, until they were complete at age 16 weeks. The Rabies vaccine completed his vaccination ordeal at that time. Even though he could have gotten the rabies shot with the rest of the vaccines at age 12 weeks, I decided I was not going to give him a vaccine-cocktail, especially since Rabies vaccines are notorious for causing side effects.
1 year later I had him titered - he received 0 vaccines, and the titers that were done, were all fine. Since this is already quite long-winded, let me fast forward a few years. Last year (at age 5), I decided it was time to give booster shots. Now he will not receive any more vaccines, other than the state mandated rabies vaccine (every 3 years...and NJ has been trying to mandate that they should be done EVERY year, which I am 100% against, and will NEVER subject my dogs to) Luckily my vet agrees that the vaccine is good for "at least" 3 years.
As for the home-cooking: I have done my research there, too. I do still cook for my boys, but they also get a healthy, dry kibble now. They also both get daily vitamins (not a pill in 1, but each one gets what "I" think is good for them. :-[ It has worked so far...knock on wood.
Whew - sorry about the earful, Mike. :-X
Not an earful but good valuable information I feel the same way that's why I have opted to run the same course for vaccines. I am still trying to find a good viatmin for both dogs also. and so far they have been doing great on the chicken soup food eyes are bright coat looks great and teeth are nice and white well i think the teeth is from nicole brushing them twice a week They hate that LOL
yes i get dime and phantom both vaccinated for lymes. both were fine afterwards. bulldogs have a high tolerance level for medications. dime is allergic to everything from house dust to flies. he has been going to a dermatoligist for over a year. i have to give him an injection every 5 days to help control his outbreaks.