I am not an anti-vaxxer but I am conservative with vaccinations. I prefer to prove antibody protection throughout my dogs’ lives with periodic Titer Testing, thereby doing the bare minimum of vaccinations by knowing when my dogs are nearing being at risk. Furthermore, there is a unique opportunity to plan ahead with a litter in order to customize the vaccination protocol of puppies using something called a Nomograph with relation to the maternal antibodies specific to the dam of the litter. Let’s look at what Nomographs and Titer Tests are and how they can help to support a customized vaccination schedule that will be healthier for puppies and dogs over their lifetimes.
SPOILER ALERT!
Even if you’re not super interested in this topic, scroll down and read the last two sections of this blog post starting at “Handling Puppies for Blood Draws” and including “A Final Embarrassing but Important Note…”. It is an entertaining anecdotal story with a few very important lessons.
What is a NOMOGRAPH?
A NOMOGRAPH is an estimate of the maternal antibodies that have been passed to offspring through the mother’ colostrum. There is a pivotal window of time in the pup’s first few hours of life where their intestinal tract can absorb colostral antibodies which will protect the newborn from all of the diseases that the mother has built immunity against. As puppies grow up, these antibodies diminish until the puppy is no longer protected and therefore must have its own vaccinations. The challenge is knowing when best to vaccinate the pups because as long as maternal antibodies are present, they will interfere with the efficacy of any external vaccination. The reason that puppies are given multiple doses vaccine is because most of the time we don’t know what their actual maternal antibody counts are and so we don’t know when vaccinations should be administered to be the most effective.
A Nomograph is a test of analyzing antibodies from a blood draw performed on the dam within the timeframe of two weeks prior to two weeks after she gives birth. The results give helps us understand better where the immunity of the litter is at. It is important not to use the nomograph results exclusively — it is a guideline not a fact. This is because the results are limited by the dam’s ability to produce colostrum and each puppy’s ability to consume it in a timely fashion.
Interpreting NOMOGRAPH RESULTS
Above is the LUCKY x PEACHES 2023 Litter Nomograph. The March 20/23 date is when the blood serum was processed, not collected. The customized vaccination schedule for this litter is:
- Week 7 (today) when Distemper antibodies plummet to 16
- Week 10 when Parvo antibodies drop to 20
- Week 14 is suggested to capture any margin for error
The suggestion then is to do a blood draw from each puppy at 16 weeks for the University of Wisconsin CAVIDS Lab to confirm that there are sufficient antibodies protecting the puppies. Further puppy vaccinations are only required if the report is returned with insufficient antibodies.
You can see from this Nomograph Report for the LUCKY x PEACHES litter, Peaches herself is protected based on the result in the top table. The bottom table suggests that the puppies begin to be vulnerable in their Distemper immunity in Week 7 and in their Parvo Virus immunity in week 10. It is for this reason that this litter will be getting their first set of vaccinations when they are 7 weeks old rather than the typical 8 weeks.
I provide this Nomograph Report with my puppy paperwork when they are placed so that they can be shared with their veterinarian and with consideration to their future vaccination schedule.
What is a TITER TEST?
A TITER TEST is a similar test to a Nomograph in that core vaccination antibodies are tested but it is an exact result that is specific to one dog/puppy, not a hypothesis of maternal antibody transference.
As I said, I am not an anti-vaccinator but I am a conservative vaccinator and I do use titers in my breeding program regularly. I feel that we are pushed by many veterinarians to needlessly vaccinate our animals and to the long term detriment of their health. The cost for doing Titer Tests with veterinarians in my area is quite high, often over $200/dog. Instead, to keep it financially feasible, I pay my vet-tech for a blood draw ($35 CAD/dog) and I have them spin it and then I ship the serum directly to the University of Wisconsin CAVIDS Lab and pay them for their much cheaper test ($50 USD/test). Though this is an added expense to the pet owner/breeder, it’s reasonable and well worth it in my opinion..
I have never had the benefit of a Nomograph Report with any puppy I have purchased from someone else. I have consistently done just two puppy vaccines one month apart (eg 8wks, 12wks) and then I do a Titer Test at 16wks. I am always cautious about where I take my puppy during this timeframe until I have the results of the test. If necessary, I would do a third set of shots however to date I have never had to. I usually do a 1 year DAP-V booster vaccination and then titer test thereafter, only vaccinating further if tests indicate it is necessary.
I certainly do not pressure any of my puppy families to follow this protocol but I do educate them as to what options are out there to protect their canines, especially from Parvo Virus.
HANDLING PUPPIES for Blood Draws
As an interesting anecdotal story, when I acquired Sheba at 14 weeks in 2017 she had only had one set of shots at 8 weeks from her breeder. I immediately did a second set. I returned to the vet at 18 weeks to do a Titer Test and asked to be the one to handle my puppy while they did the blood draw. They refused, preferring to handler her in the back without my assistance.
They returned her to me at the front desk within just a few minutes telling me they could not get blood out of this dog. I asked why. There response was, “Well, she was screaming.”
I said, “And?”
Their response was, “Well, we didn’t want to traumatized her.”
While I appreciated that sentiment, privately I think these techs might have had some bad experiences handling Australian Cattle Dogs with poor temperaments in their careers so they might have entered the situation with Sheba actually afraid of her in spite of her pint size. Event at that young age she was a very intuitive dog and could read the room very well. Baby Sheba became very dramatic with these strangers (recall our Breed Standard states that ACDs are typically “wary of strangers”) as she wanted no part of being away from me nor being restrained. She screeched to get her way and it worked… at least temporarily.
The Vet Techs begged me to just vaccinate her another time so I wouldn’t need the Titer Test — it would be cheaper after all. I refused. Romeo had a bad reaction to the typical vaccination protocol of 8/12/16 weeks which is when I took a stand around vaccinations and started to Titer Test my dogs. I’m thinking to myself, this is going to be a REALLY LONG 13-18 years with Sheba if we can’t get a simple blood draw. I could not let her win, nor did I want her to have a bad experience.
I booked a new appointment for the next day and I requested that they kindly let me handle my own puppy. They begrudgingly agreed.
The next day we returned with a hunk of the previous night’s roast chicken (READ: incredibly enticing high value reward that this puppy could not resist, IE – not dried liver). Fortunately ACDs tend to be garbage cans when it comes to food and Sheba was no exception. I don’t think she had ever had roast chicken before and she was super keen to try it. I restrained her firmly but gently and distracted her with bits of chicken along with oodles of praise for being such a brave girl. The blood draw was over before she had swallowed three bites! No drama. No hassle. No trauma. No bad experience. And Sheba learned that she could not throw a temper tantrum and win the battle. The Techs learned to listen to their puppy owner.
This story is not just about me getting my way at the vet and being able to test her antibodies. It was about advocating for my dog — For her right to be tested because her owner felt it was necessary; For my right to be allowed to be present and help with a procedure so that it went smoothly for the Vet Techs and without scarring my puppy. When we condition our puppies well, expose them to varied life experiences, and build a solid foundation relationship with them, they grow to trust us implicitly and let us perform uncomfortable tasks when needed. I educated my Vet and their support staff that day to trust me to know my dog and how to handle her.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Don’t be afraid to stick up for yourself and your dog. I am not suggesting you need to be a rude “Karen”. I’m saying that when you invest in your puppy by training it well you should trust your training, trust yourself and speak up for what you know to be true.
ANOTHER MORAL OF THE STORY: Handle your dog a lot. Touch their toes. Pick them up. Hold them weirdly. Look in their ears. Check out their tonsils by doing the “jaws of life”. Lift their lips to check their teeth. Brush them. Bathe them. Praise them up! Reward them well. Build their trust. And most of all, build your own confidence in handling your dog. I happen to have had ACDs of my own since 1997 as well as handling many for other people over the years. My experience has value.
But so does yours.
Period.
A FINAL EMBARRASSING BUT IMPORTANT NOTE…
There is one last embarrassing part about this story that has absolute value in sharing. Sheba’s 18 week Titer Test results stated that she was well protected by her own DAP-V antibodies and did not need a third set of vaccinations. It was my intention to vaccinate her at her 1 year birthday in July 2018. Well, I forgot. Fast forward to January 2020 and she is 2½ yrs and I was meeting with my new Reproduction Veterinarian as we were planning to do a fresh-chilled semen AI breeding with her next cycle. I was checking all of the boxes to ensure success and this is when this new vet asked me if she was up to date with her vaccinations. Embarrassingly I could not recall. I quickly got in touch with our regular vet and they looked up Sheba’s records. Her last vaccination was at 18 weeks old and she was now 2½ years old!!! My mind was racing — had my oversight put Sheba at risk??! We were too close to breeding her for me to comfortably vaccinate if we didn’t have to so I opted to do another Titer Test on the spot. The results were back in record time and here is the amazing part of the story — HER ANTIBODIES WERE EXACTLY THE SAME AS THEY HAD BEEN AT HER LAST TITER TEST AT 18 WEEKS OLD. My lessons from this experience were:
- Do regularly scheduled Titer Testing to ensure my dogs are protected (IE; don’t forget!)
- The need for vaccinations as regularly as recommended is questionable.
…Mic Drop