Bordetella Vaccinations

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

So sweet little Ben (mini Aussiedoodle) has "kennel cough", as diagnosed by my beloved Vet back in Michigan after not being able to get an appointment in FL for 2-1/2 weeks. He has been vaccinated yearly, for all of his 8 years of age.

Apparently, the Bordetella vaccine is sort of like the Covid vaccine - works against some variants better than others; and although he has it - it's a very mild case (occasional coughing/gagging after racing up the stairs or wrestling with the big dog, etc) and my Vet said to give him a little bit of honey to soothe his throat, which he really likes! Of course, if he starts to act ill, doesn't eat, etc - then we'll take him to the emergency vet - but so far, he seems bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and we'll just let it run its course.

Thanks to Ben's still-crazy adolescent "brother" Augie, we regularly go to the local dog park; so I'm sure that's where Ben picked it up. I've warned my dog-owning neighbors back in Michigan that Ben might still be contagious when we get back, in case their dogs haven't been vaccinated.

I'm just giving a head's-up, since RVers' dogs are exposed to so many other dogs.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

BCSnob wrote:
Deb, our first Border Collie (Duncan) was obsessed with snapping at water. Imagine that, a Border Collie obsessed. Anyway, he had a go with Loeb Fountain while I was a postdoc at Purdue U. Having his head whipped sideways when he snapped the water jet never dampened his obsession.

ROFL!!! Augie would LOVE that!!!

We're getting a new dog park in Viera, FL, funded by a man named Mark Pieloch, who apparently made his money with pet pharmaceuticals and is wonderfully generous towards all "pet" projects (literally). I've heard the new park will include a doggie splash pad, so yes, we'll be risking the dread Bordetella again next fall 🙂

[toedtoes]

Glad the honey is working. My friend's puppy was coughing all night and the honey completely stopped it. I hadn't thought of using it before that.

If Tornado-dog doesn't get worn out, he starts playing with the cats. Looney1 just swears at him and whacks him once hard in the face and he gives up. Looney2 will go after him like a lion on a hunt. I still can't figure out if Looney2 is playing back or going for the kill. They've spent an hour "attacking" each other from under the table. So I really try to keep Tornado-dog otherwise occupied. Cat-dog helps a lot with that.

[toedtoes]

BCSnob wrote:
Deb, our first Border Collie (Duncan) was obsessed with snapping at water. Imagine that, a Border Collie obsessed. Anyway, he had a go with Loeb Fountain while I was a postdoc at Purdue U. Having his head whipped sideways when he snapped the water jet never dampened his obsession.

Now that is a water game. Tornado-dog is very jealous!

[toedtoes]

Tornado-dog goes crazy with the hose! He loves it. He'll even do that with a small spray bottle - puts his mouth over the sprayer until water is drippibg out his mouth.

[BCSnob]

Deb, our first Border Collie (Duncan) was obsessed with snapping at water. Imagine that, a Border Collie obsessed. Anyway, he had a go with Loeb Fountain while I was a postdoc at Purdue U. Having his head whipped sideways when he snapped the water jet never dampened his obsession.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

toedtoes wrote:
Deb and Ed - I get that. Tornado-dog is very high energy. I have found that I need to go out back and throw the tennis ball for about an hour in the sun to wear him out. And even then he needs more time spent playing with his sister. If we don't wear him down, he gets into trouble. If I get him out like that, he is usually pretty relaxed the rest of the day.

Oh yeah - sounds very familiar!! We're Snowbirds and have a condo - there is not a chance that 2 senior citizens attached to a leash are going to get Augie the level of exercise that he loves. He LOVES to chase the spray from a hose and *might* be allowed offleash in order to do that (wink).

By the way - the spoonful of honey is working WONDERS for Ben!! A spoonful in the morning and one at night seem to keep him cough-free all day

[dturm]

toedtoes wrote:

jspringator wrote:
My puppy had kennel cough when we brought him home. He is now 3. Do I still need to have him vaccinated for it every year?

Talk to your vet. Depending on your circumstances, you may not need to do so.

I don't normally do bordetella since my dogs don't get in close contact with other dogs. They get it if they are going to be boarded. In the past, I did because they hung out with my dad's show dog who was around a lot of other dogs.

Good information here. We don't routinely vaccinate ours, but we don't socialize with our dogs and they don't require grooming.

By way of information, "kennel cough" is a generic term encompassing many different diseases that all cause similar symptoms. Bordetella, coronavirus (canine variety not COVID), parainfluenza are three common ones some of which have vaccines available.

Doug, DVM

[toedtoes]

jspringator wrote:
My puppy had kennel cough when we brought him home. He is now 3. Do I still need to have him vaccinated for it every year?

Talk to your vet. Depending on your circumstances, you may not need to do so.

I don't normally do bordatella since my dogs don't get in close contact with other dogs. They get it if they are going to be boarded. In the past, I did because they hung out with my dad's show dog who was around a lot of other dogs.

[toedtoes]

Deb and Ed - I get that. Tornado-dog is very high energy. I have found that I need to go out back and throw the tennis ball for about an hour in the sun to wear him out. And even then he needs more time spent playing with his sister. If we don't wear him down, he gets into trouble. If I get him out like that, he is usually pretty relaxed the rest of the day.

[jspringator]

My puppy had kennel cough when we brought him home. He is now 3. Do I still need to have him vaccinated for it every year?

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

toedtoes wrote:
Poor Ben. Over the years, I have really limited my dogs' interactions with other dogs. We don't do dog parks (had a chocolate lab pee on my Dog while the owner stood and laughed) and we don't touch noses, etc, with strangers. It's just not worth the risks.

A friend's new puppy had kennel cough and the honey really helped.

Sigh - I didn't do dog parks until Augie. In hindsight, maybe we were nuts (at our age) to take on a full-sized Aussie pup, since Ed and I surely can't walk long and far enough to wear out all that energy. The good news is that he's a lot more calm than a year ago....LOL! And the socialization has been good for him - he makes sure to greet every person at the park, in addition to playing nicely with their dogs. Being social is a good thing for a camping dog!

So far, he hasn't shown any signs of having picked up the virus.

[toedtoes]

Poor Ben. Over the years, I have really limited my dogs' interactions with other dogs. We don't do dog parks (had a chocolate lab pee on my Dog while the owner stood and laughed) and we don't touch noses, etc, with strangers. It's just not worth the risks.

A friend's new puppy had kennel cough and the honey really helped.

[Lwiddis]

Thank you for the update.