Back when I had Woobie's titers done, I spoke with an associate vet at
the practice I've been with for almost 15 years. It didn't go well and
in general left a bad taste in my mouth. I've since been scheduling
with the owner of the practice who I love more than life and who has
treated me and my dogs really well. Indie was due for distemper, etc.
so I brought up the subject again and mentioned the AAHA guidelines,
DOI studies, etc. He was much more calm, level-headed and open minded
than his young associate who pronounced that I "could do what I wanted,
but if your dog gets sick, I can't help you". He explained that he had
read the 3 year recommendations and believes vet medicine will adopt
those guidelines eventually, but the problem for practitioners like
himself is that the vaccine manufacturers label them for annual use and
only insure them for annual use. That leaves a vet like him out in the
cold legally if he recommends to a patient that they only vaccinate
once every 3 years and the dog gets sick or dies. Even if he
recommended titers, that still wouldn't cover him legally if an owner
wanted to sue because their dog got sick and he'd provided some
indication or assurance that the dog was covered against illness X
because of titer results or DOI studies that indicate tri-annual
vaccinations would be sufficient.
Once again, the litigious
nature of our society and the money grubbing drug companies deprives
well-meaning owners of information that might allow them to make
informed decisions about their pets' healthcare.
BTW, Indie got titers only, no shots. 