Our 1 1/2 year olf Aussie Terrier got a distemper shot two days ago. She ate OK yesterday and all "bodily functions" seem normal. However, her ears and tail are not up and she just wants to stay in her kennel. She ever shys away from us. Any clue what is going oin or do we just wait it out. Will also call the vet tomorrow (Monday).
Thanks.:(

Shots never seem to bother my dogs much. My fortune does not mean there never is a bad reaction, even life threatening ones. I want to encourage you to do as you say, calling the vet Monday if she isn't herself again.

Yes your dog could definitely be experiencing a reaction from the distemper shot. Also most distemper shots are really distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parainfluenza and parvo that's why it's called DHLP-P. In fact sometimes there are even more vaccines in one injection. So you can see there is a lot for the body to react to all at once. Some vets give these vaccines separately over a few months to keep reactions from being severe. Also some dogs have reactions to rabies vaccines as well.

There is a school of thought that has developed in the last ten years or so that is very much against vaccinating a dog or cat yearly. The science shows that most animals after having their initial puppy/kitten vaccinations have enough immunity(shown from a titer count) to only need a vaccination once every three years. In fact most vets are now doing this. The titer counts show immunity from five years up to a lifetime. You can have a titer count done on your dog yearly to check his immunity level, if you want to stay away from over vaccinating.

Some of the reasons people are worried about this is that many dogs are now afflicted with autoimmune diseases that are killing them. Also many dogs have long term skin problems and nervous system disorders after vaccinations. Because the vaccinations affect the immune system no one knows for sure yet how many different problems are being created.

There is a plethora of information about this on the web. Just write in "pet over vaccinating" in your search engine and you will find everything you need to educate yourself.

So yes, many dogs show minor reactions like being lethargic and or not eating after vaccinations. A severe anaphylactic reaction usually occurs within minutes so it probably isn't that kind of reaction. But definitely see your vet tomorrow and if your dog's symptoms worsen rather than stay the same I would take her to the emergency vet today.

Hope this helps,
Molly

Since I see many similar questions, I save material I think I may want to recycle, such as:

''Vaccination schedules are very controversial. Some vets say there is always bad reactions, and we are killing more dogs that we are saving with too many vaccinations. The fanatic I use says ''Yes the standard schedule protects 75% of the dogs from parvo, but what about the other 25%?''. He has me trotting in every 2 weeks for a while, and a last one at 9 months. If the vet you use isn't too extreme, I would go along with their schedule. Any vet should be more familiar with local conditions than any website.''

I am usually very supportive of the mainstream vetenarians, but the mainstream could be changing course on this. It is quick and easy to just keep giving shots.

My vet and I have had a lot of talks about this issue and came to a mutual agreement that we think the protocols recommended by the American Animal Hospital Association make sense and are well grounded in reliable science.

2006 AAHA Canine Vaccine Guidelines

-Beth

I have a Bicheon Frise 4 yrs old. She just got her distemper shot on 1/13/07 and had an anaphalactic reaction and almost died. We pre medicate her with antihistamines prior to her shots,but she had the reaction anyway. I say if you dog is a house pet and is not kenneled or around other dogs I would not give her the distemper shot again. My dog had a reaction of facial swelling the second time she got the shot. Last year she was fine with the pre treatment, and this year she almost died with the pre treatment. My baby is not going through this again. I hope this will help you.