I know some of you are not fond of vaccinating for kennel cough, and neither was I, really, but since we have been thinking about the possibility we may have to put Layla in day care every now and then and given that the reputable doggie day cares in our area all require dogs be vaccinated for kennel cough, I figured we may as well get it done now. Plus, my husband was really bugging me about it, so last week I took Layla to the vet and got her vaccinated.

A day or two later she began coughing, not a lot but every now and then she'd hack a few times like she had a hairball, mostly in the evening or when she got up from a nap. The hacking has increased to where she will have coughing fits for about a minute in the evening and a few coughs during the day. The night ones are especially heartbreaking, because you can tell it is very uncomfortable, as it gets so bad she has to lay down and pants heavily in between coughs.

Other than that, she's a little more mellow than usual (she's pretty mellow to begin with) but is just as interested in food as ever and still enjoys walks and playing with her toys. I'm certain she got kennel cough from the vaccine. I feel awful because, really, it's our fault, and we're going away this weekend for Valentine's Day and taking her with us, but we'll have to make extra sure she doesn't come in contact with other dogs. Until she's healthy again I'd feel bad exercising her like we normally do (2.5-to-3-mile walks most days) but I also don't want her to infect any other dogs we may meet on walks. Plus, the weather today is horrible so it doesn't look like we will be able to get outside today anyway.

So, lesson definitely learned. Let this be a warning to anyone considering vaccinating their dog for kennel cough. The vaccine doesn't even protect against all the strains of the illness, and you could end up making your dog sick for a while with the very illness you were trying to protect them against. I will NOT be vaccinating for kennel cough again unless it's absolutely necessary, such as if I had to take my dog to a day care that required it. For now, I'm hoping Layla has a speedy recovery. Honestly, it's not all that bad during the day but when she does get going with the coughing my heart breaks for her.   

That is the sad thing about the vaccine. Its required by so many things (daycare, boarders, puppy classes, etc.) And it doesn't protect them from contracting other forms. Dogs will and can still get KC after being vaccinated against it. So it's like what's the point?

I hope Layla gets better soon though. Don't blame yourselves.

Yeah, Diz got the vaccine but still got the cough. Honestly it wasn't really a big deal once I knew what the cough was. For a while I thought he kept trying to eat crap and was choking on it. I was always running over and prying his mouth open to see what he had. He was also quite snotty. Ick

Luckily Layla hasn't had any mucus or anything like that, just hacking. She got the vaccine exactly a week ago so I can imagine that's how long she's had it. Hopefully in another week or less she'll be all better.

The term kennel cough is a generic term for a cough, which can be caused my several types of pathogens. The 'kennel cough' vaccine protects against bordetella. While bordetella is a commom cause of kennel cough, it isn't the only one. (kind of like how there are lots of strains of influenza, but the vaccine only covers a few). My pup had a similar cough after her bordetella vaccine. It peaked a few days after and lasted about a week. It sounded horrible but that's actually pretty mild compared to the real deal (kind of like how I sometimes feel off after a flu vaccine but would rather deal what that than a full blown case).

Yikes! I just had Selena vaccinated for kc on Tuesday. Now I'm waiting for the coughing to start lol. So far she's fine and I hope it stays that way I really want to get her into daycare soon! I hope Layla is feeling better soon! What daycare were you thinking of putting her in?

I've been looking at the Dog Nanny in Andover. They have a nice Web site and photo tour of the facility. There were a few huskies in the pics! They also do boarding and training. When our new pup comes home I will have to work outside the home for three weeks, and the Dog Nanny does a puppy Head Start program for young puppies that includes day care and basic training (basic obedience, crate training, potty training, etc.). The Head Start is kind of expensive but it's a great option for when I won't be home during the day for a few weeks.

For Layla we'd just take her there now and then if we make a day trip to Boston or something on a weekend day for an activity that we can't bring Layla, or we would board her there if we went on a vacation and couldn't bring her. Here's the Web site if you're interested: http://thedognannyonline.com/

Awhhh poor Layla. I did the kennel cough shots for the pups as pups because I didn't know better about vaccinations and thought 'the vet knows best!'. Everything was fine, but for Cloud and Yuki annuals I only did parvo/distemper and rabies 3 year and plan to only do rabies from now on for all my current dogs, and if I get any new puppies to just do parvo/distemper puppy shots, parvo/distemper annuals, and then follow the same rabies from then on protocol. Luckily I have Abby and ask her to watch the pups if I have to go anywhere out of town, but it definitely sucks that those places require the vaccines I won't take my dogs to daycare just because of that fact, otherwise I would at least once a week..

Just hearing anecdotally about people's daycare experiences sounds like it would be so fun and that Layla would love it, so I would love to take her there once in a while.

I plan on following your same protocol, Megan, and only doing bordetella when absolutely necessary, like if we have to put Layla in daycare or board her for some reason (vacation, day trip, etc.). I believe that vaccine is every six months, but we'd be putting her in a daycare so infrequently there's no need to stick to that.

BTW, quick update on Layla's symptoms -- her coughing in the past couple days has been much better. She doesn't have hacking fits that last a minute anymore, just a couple coughs in the morning now and she's fine the rest of the day. I hope in the next few days the coughing will stop altogether.