Puppy without first vaccinations

[PragmaticWench]

I am helping my PIL to find a new puppy and found a suitable one at the weekend. I have a dog myself but did a load more research about ensuring the breeder and parents weren't dodgy and all seemed fine when we visited the puppies and mother. I asked a lot of questions!

However, when I checked that the puppy would have had its first set of vaccinations around 8 weeks old (we're collecting it at 10 weeks old), the breeder said his vet had seen the pups but advised against having the vaccinations until they went to their new homes. Apparently the vet said you shouldn't do the first jabs in case the new owner's vet used a different brand of vaccine, as the course would have to be started again.

I've not heard of anything like this before, our dog was vaccinated at 8 weeks before we got him and had the next set with our vet no problem.My instincts are that this sounds like a load of rubbish! Everything else seemed fine with the breeder. Should we either walk away or request that they have the first vaccinations done anyway (happy to pay for this)? I'm concerned that leaving it until ten weeks will mean we can't get out socialising the puppy until at least 13 weeks old.

I may be totally wrong of course and it isn't an issue...

There can be a issue with vets using different vaccines (we had this with out pup), there are 2 different types that vets use but tbh its not hard to find a vet that will use the same vaccine the pup got for his first. When I got my first dog (6 years ago) the first vaccine was given around 9-10 weeks but they do them earlier now. I wouldn't be too worried if the pup hasn't had them yet, the only downside is not being able to socialise as early. Ask if they will get the pup vaccinated, as long as you know what it was vaccinated with (you should get a book which will have the vaccine name stamped in) then you can get your vet to use the same or find a vet that will.

We picked Eric up at 8 weeks. The breeder asked if we wanted him vaccinated by her vet before we picked him up or by our vet at home because they would recommend that the vaccine came from the same batch and we had traveled a distance to collect him. We chose our vet the day after we brought him home to save a repeat journey a fortnight later.
I think had we picked him up at ten weeks I'd have expected him to have been vaccinated there first.

Actually there are four main brands of vaccine. Two brands are compatible with each other aside from that there are no studies that show that using one brand for first vaccine and a second different brand which is non-compatible gives good protection.
So there is good science behind not giving the vaccine. However, even giving one vaccine before going to new home and then having to restart course in new home is better than no protection. In the field it would seem it does give partial protection and I have seen pups with a single vaccine get a less severe form of Parvo (lab diagnosis).

It's pretty common actually for breeders not to vaccinate because it could mean an extra vaccination and a lot of people worry about over vaccination.

I'm not saying I agree with the idea that you can over vaccinate, but a lot of people worry about it.

Our pup wasn't vaccinated when we picked him up at 8 weeks - socialisation was fine cos we just carried him everywhere and took him round to friends' houses with friendly, vaccinated older dogs as well

The only thing which would make me wonder that this was the right puppy is that it's not already been spoken for - dpup's breeder has a waiting list so all of her puppies have been reserved long before they're even conceived

Some breeders don't keep lists my DF doesn't as he believes it is bad luck. Only once the pups are safely delivered and are at least 4 weeks old does he start to look for owners.
Does everything else check out? Can you see at least the mother? If you visit DF you get to meet three generations and currently a half sibling. Are they reared in the house? Did the contact come through a breed society so well respected in the breed?

Thank you for all the information about the vaccines, that's really useful and reassures me. I'll chat with the breeder and my PIL's vet tomorrow and find out about brands.

Everything else checked out, so this was surprising. We spent time with the mother and one of her adult children from a previous litter; both were happy and healthy. The breeder wasn't phased by any of my numerous questions, the puppies were in good condition and being kept well, so overall I'm happy. They are also in contact with owners of previous puppies, which sounded positive.