Vaccines: Where Do You Stand?

Hi all! Happy first of March! Before we begin, Vancouver went to his new home yesterday! Second, my aunt A has bronchitis, and we'd really appreciate if you could send her some good thoughts for a fast recovery.
Now, I want to know what you all think about vaccines. I go to the vet in April for my yearly exam and my rabies vaccine. Mom's deciding what else (if anything) to let them give me. We're researching but I'd love the opinions of my Blogville family. Do you think vets are over-vaccinating us? I do, to some extent. I'll you some of what I've found. Please note, I am NOT a vet, these are solely my thoughts and opinions I've formed form research. Professional advice should always be sought from a licensed veterinarian when considering vaccines and other medical issues.
New research says that many of the vaccines vets pushed yearly are good for three years, if not for life. Over-vaccinating can be just as, if not more, dangerous then going without them.
 Note from Dachshund Mommy: I'm a firm believer in less is more when it comes to vaccines, and will not have Nola vaccinated for something she is not at risk for. 
Vaccines are usually given at 6-8, 12 and 16 weeks old. Rabies is given at 6 months. Vaccines are divided into core and non-core categories:
CORE:
Distemper
Hepatitis
Parvovirus
Rabies

and
NON-CORE:
Leptospirosis (more commonly called Lepto)
Parainfluenza
Bordetella (Kennel Cough)
Lyme Disease
Canine Cononavirus
Canine adenovirus-1
Giardia
Rattlesnake envenomation

That's a lot isn't it? Thankfully, a lot of the non-core's you might want vaccinated for a  depends on where you live. Here is the list of shots that, from what I've read, are suppose to be good for 3+ years:
Distemper
Hepatitis
Parvovirus

There might be more, and feel free to tell me if there are, but these were the 3 I saw most.
What I know I'm getting is the rabies vaccine (sadly it's yearly in Tallahassee) and most likely Lepto. Mom's going to ask the vet about Lyme and bordetella.
Where do you stand on vaccines, and what do you usually get? How often? Once again I am not a vet, this post is solely my opinions and research. Some good articles on vaccines can be found in the links below.
Over-Vaccinating Whole Dog Journal
Tilter Tests
Vaccinating Dogs: 10 Steps to eliminate unnecessary shots
Kisses and Tail Wags,
Dachshund Nola

What do you think?

 

Wordless Wednesday

Dublin Went Home!

Hi all! Yesterday Dublin, now Charley Brown, went to his new home! His peep is a very nice man who will take great care of him! Whenever we get updates I'll post them on the blog. So in honor of Dub-er, Charley Brown, here are his pictures from birth to yesterday at 8 weeks 3 days old. There's some of Vancouver (we haven't found a new parent we approve of for him, but as of now we're interviewing two possibilities).
Kisses and Tail Wags,
Dachshund Nola

Happy birthday Dublin!

Dublin at 3 days old

Me meeting Dublin for the first time. I've been incredibly tolerant and sweet with the puppies

Gotta keep them warm. Look how sweet I am with them. They're about 2 weeks old here

First bath! 3 1/2 weeks old

This is Mom's favorite picture of Dublin. He's 7 weeks old here

Yesterday, 8 weeks and 3 days old

L to R: Charlotte, Vancouver and Dublin

Vancouver. He's a sad looking puppy

Vancouver

Van again

A Rather Embarrassing Post and Eggs

Hi all! Okay, I have an ongoing issue I must tell you about: I have sensitive skin. Not like only hash stuff bothers me, I mean almost EVERYTHING bothers my skin. Dog soaps, certain foods, floor cleaners, flea treatments, even some kinds of grass! Homemade food has helped a ton with these issues, but I still have a lot. The issues I have require the following:
I can't eat anything with corn or soy, even a little bit of soybean oil in treats gives me hives. So no getting treats from the nice people at Petsmart or from the vet's.
Mom uses Pine Sol to clean the floors and it has to be very little Pine Sol to a ton of water, and she has to dry the floors before I go on them.
I only get flea drops when it's absolutely necessary, sadly in Florida that's most of the spring, summer and fall.
I can only use puppy soap or extra gentle oatmeal dog soap.
My bowls are stainless steal and not plastic.
I prefer leather collars.
I have to get baths about once a week to keep the dirt and grass off my skin, and wiped off with all natural puppy wipes every night.
It's no fun at all!
Now, what I'm about to tell you is quite embarrassing. A couple days ago we took a rainy, muddy walk and all three of us Doxies were covered in mud and needed a bath. We only had one kind of dog soap on hand, something from Pet Head, so after debating whether or not to use it on me Mom decided to use a little bit of it watered down. Well yesterday I was lounging on Mom's lap when she noticed... a zit!!!! I get these sometimes with certain shampoos but they're usually around my face. This one was on my ehem lady parts!!!!!!! OMD, I am so humiliated!
Do any of you have skin problems? How do your peeps help you with them?
Here are some pictures of the yummy eggs from our chickens that I introduced you to on Saturday.
Kisses and Tail Wags,
Dachshund Nola
Pee.S Dublin is going to his new home today!

This picture has nothing to do with this post, but I can't have you forgetting the beauty that is ME!

Black and White Sunday

Some Long Overdue Introductions and Some For The New Comers

Hi all! Today I'm going to introduce you to some of blog's less frequently mentioned cast, as well as reintroduce you all and my new furiends to the main cast.
Okay here we go!
                                       Dachshund Nola
                                               a.k.a  The Spitfire

I'm a 1 year old,  8lb (barely), smooth haired Sable miniature Dachshund. I'm named after  New Orleans LouisianA or NOLA. This blog is about ME, and my life as a crazy, fun loving Doxie. I have corn and soy allergies, so I'm the reason we eat homemade food.  There really are no words to describe me, stick around and you'll see why!

                                                  Augustine
                     a.k.a Auggie, Minion Number 1, Little Blond Thing, Brother

Auggie is my favorite minion/chew toy/brother. He's a 1 year old 12-13lb, smooth red dilute Tweenie Dachshund. He's a few crayons short of a Crayola box, but he's so sweet, loving and tolerant he makes up for it. It doesn't hurt that he's very handsome either. He has an incredible nose and loves to track anything and everything that moves. Auggie is a HUGE chow hound, and because of that the peeps have to watch what he eats. Speaking of which, he has a major sweet tooth and once ate an entire bag of sour gummi worms on the way to Richmond VA. He then vomited in the car. ALL OVER SWEETIE!!!

                                                  Boston
                            a.k.a Minion Number 2, Sister and Clingy Girl

Sorry for the crappy picture but Boston doesn't enjoy the camera. Strange creature

Boston is a 1 1/2 year old, 12 lb, smooth red dapple Tweenie Dachshund. She LOVES people, other dogs, and cats and is the social butterfly of us three. She is INCREDIBLY clingy with Sugar and is very unhappy when he leaves. She loves tennis balls and hates the water. Boston and I had a rocky relationship at first, but it's smoothed out nicely now and will even more when she gets spayed in the next few weeks.


                                      Charlotte
                                    a.k.a Minion number 3, Mini Me, Little Sis

Charlotte was 6 weeks old in this picture.

Charlotte is the 8 week old, shaded red daughter of Boston and Auggie. She's a feisty little mini me and I love playing with her (very gently).
                                                   Saphira
                                        a.k.a Kitty Sister, Crackhead

Saphira is my 5 1/2 (roughly) year old rescued kitty sister. She is an absolute catnip addict, hence her nickname of Crack Head. She's very mischievous and incredibly smart, and loves dogs. Last year she went missing for 2 months, only to be found again at our local shelter. You can read about that adventure here and here.

                                                     Star
                                              a.k.a Grumpy Pants

Star is just a little bit older then Saphira, we adopted them at the same time and from the same shelter. Star is a massively fluffy, massively cranky, massively lazy long haired tortoiseshell cat. She's not the friendliest but we love her anyway. We will have had Star and Saphira six years on Oct. 20th.

                                                The Chickens
                                       a.k.a Mom won't let me eat them

We have nine chickens: Hippie Chick, Dinette, Alexandrea Halmilton, Wendy, BBQ, Ketchup, Mayo, Speckle and Mustard. Despite the names, the chickens are for pets and eggs only (I have no idea why people waste perfectly tasty chickens). No rosters here, its a girls only club for them!
   
                                        George
                                        a.k.a Mom won't let me eat him either

George is a hermit crab. He doesn't do much. At all. He spends most of his time in his coconut house or in his bath tub.
So that's the gang! What do you think? Is there anyone you didn't know?
Kisses and Tail Wags,
Dachshund Nola

Another Post Where I Stroke My Massive Ego and My Favorite Nap Spot

One of my favorite places to nap is on the middle step of my doggie stairs that lead up to the loveseat, for some reason it cracks Mom up. It's a very comfortable position, thank you very much! Yesterday was another impromptu photo shoot; I'm such a beauty! I am NAKED in this post!

Kisses and Tail Wags,

Dachshund Nola

Zzzzz

And you woke me why?

Zzzzz

Operation Occupy Your Toys

Hi all! I'm participating in Coco the Princess' Occupy Your Toys Op to show her mom that it is NOT okay to take our toys!

My favorite toys are the ones that are as big or bigger then me, such as my massive tennis ball or my almost 5 foot stuffed snake. For some odd reason, humans always find that hilarious.

Kisses and Tail Wags,

Dachshund Nola

Occupying my little ball. Aren't I too cute in my jamies?

My birthday stuffie

My other birthday stuffie

My popped ball

Kitty Sister's toy

My toy box