Annie was born on May 24, 2003, one in a litter of three puppies. Annie is a very beautiful puppy, as you can see from her picture taken at 12 weeks of age. She was always a shy little puppy, but friendly and not fearful or anxious – always happy to jump and run and play with the other puppies. And, although a little shy about it, she's always liked to be picked up and cuddled – she’s not much for giving kisses, but she loved to get kisses and hugs.

Annie received a perfect health check at 3 months of age – and quite an extensive one as I use a special form which I designed myself and bring to the vet for completion and signature – it covers just about everything! She was in perfect health at 3 months, and weighed about 2 lbs.

My dogs are raised naturally, so I don’t vaccinate my puppies (or adults, for that matter). But because Annie was going out of the country, she needed to have the rabies vaccination to meet the country’s import requirements. The rabies vaccination was given in Annie’s left flank the same day she had her three-month health check, which was on September 2, 2003. (Ever wonder why this particular vaccination is always given in one of the legs, usually the left or right flank, and not in the back of the neck like many other vaccinations? In my opinion and that of many experts, it is because cancer has been known to develop at the site of the Rabies Vaccination. Giving the rabies vaccination in the leg makes it easier for the vets to deal with cancer if it does occur at the injection site - they just lop off the leg. How sad for our precious little babies.)

About 3 ½ - 4 weeks after the rabies shot was given (towards the end of September), I noticed Annie seemed to be scratching a lot. I knew we didn’t have fleas or any type of mite, haven’t for years, but I checked anyway – nothing! I began to watch her more closely over the next week. I noticed a distinct change in her personality. She wasn’t just bashful anymore; she now seemed very fearful and quite anxious. She started hiding under the sofa a lot, even when the other puppies were out playing tug of war with the toy spider, one her favorite games. If I approached her on the floor, she would cower and begin to shake, or if I was far enough away, dive under the sofa – and she continued shaking even after I picked her up and snuggled her. If she was in the bed in her pen, and saw me approaching, she would do the same thing – cower and/or jump, and begin to shake, and display an extremely submissive behavior when I tried to pick her up. Later that week (Sunday evening and Monday morning), she starting have diarrhea and some vomiting. Her pupils seemed to be dilated and she was running a very slight temperature.

I did a little research on the web, and in some books I had. Annie seemed to have all the classic symptoms of Vaccinosis in reaction to the rabies vaccination she had been given a month ago. Tuesday (October 8/03) morning I took her to the vet. I brought in a stool sample, to make sure he could rule out parasites – and he did. There was nothing abnormal about the stool, other than the diarrhea. To my amazement, he also agreed with my diagnosis – reaction to the rabies vaccination. He prescribed a quasi-homeopathic antidote which I purchased, but didn’t use (I realized after it contained ethanol as a preservative). Instead, I took Annie to her next appointment with a Canine Health Consultant who specializes in natural rearing and natural/homeopathic treatments. Based on her assessment of Annie and my description of her symptoms, she prescribed the following course of action:

A cleansing broth for 12 hours

A cleansing diet for the following 5 days

Treatments with homeopathic remedies to deal with the vaccinosis, anxiety and  gastric disturbance

I’ve also been using Lavender Oil dabbed on a tissue that I hold under her nose, that has a calming effect (works for people too), as well as Rescue Remedy which is a natural product that also has a calming effect. Thankfully, Annie was responding well to the treatment – after just 24 hours, but she did require a three day course of homeopathic treatment and the 5 day cleansing diet. 

Its day four now, and she’s here sitting quite calmly on my lap as I write this, and has been barking at and playing with the other puppies. She doesn't run and hide under the furniture any more when I try to pick her up, and she doesn't shake and shiver any more either. She doesn’t seem anxious or fearful anymore, and the diarrhea and vomiting are cleared up. Her pupils and temperature are also back to normal. 

Thankfully Annie has responded well to the homeopathic treatment – she’s a lucky little girl, since it might have been otherwise. But what a worry all this has been, such a sweet little puppy.  I had to take the whole week off work so I could be near her and look after her – not to mention the expense of all the special appointments,  and special homeopathic remedies and natural treatments. Annie’s usually in my arms or on my lap these days – she needs all the extra attention after what she been through. 

I don’t think I will give rabies again, the puppies will just have to ship before three months  of age so they won’t need it. Or the price of my puppies and the non-refundable deposit will be much higher to reflect the risks associated with administering vaccinations.

And then people wonder why I don’t like to give vaccinations!