There are shields and there are swords; Both are key to winning the battle. No one lives in a sterile environment, and germs are around us and in us continually. A health body maintains a load of good germs in its body and fights off the bad germs. This battle goes on in our bodies 24/7 because there are germs everywhere. Actively fighting off germs is an acquired internal skill. Puppies have no ability to fight off germs on their own. In perfect design, the immunologic memory is temporarily transferred from Mom to baby/puppy during pregnancy via the placenta. Mom‘s antibofies from her own vaccines and various germs she’s been exposed to during her life transfer to the puppy until those antibodies die off after several weeks in the puppies’ blood stream. Antibodies are also transferred through the breast milk when she nurses her puppies, but they are not permanent. All that Mom passes on to puppy is like a temporary shield. It’s considered passive immunity for the puppies, and again, it’s temporary.
Puppies have to develop their own individual active immunity, and that happens when they are exposed to bad germs. Their little body recognizes bad germs and mounts an attack to kill the bad germs. Every time it does this it stores immunologic memory of that bad germ, and the next time it encounters that germ, its able to fight faster and stronger. The problem is that some germs can be deadly right off the bat to an immature immune system. And the most vulnerable time is right about the time that puppies go home to their new families; when Maternal antibodies are waning or gone, and puppy lacks a true personal individual active immune ability. Enter the recommended vaccines. Vaccines are developed as small doses of specific live or killed germs that are designed to train an immune response in doses that should not harm your puppy like a wild/natural exposure likely would. One vaccine will not produce enough response nor build enough memory to fight well. This is why puppies and human infants are recommended to get repeated vaccines in the first year. The repeating vaccines help build a better and better and faster and stronger response to those germs. So when they are exposed to the natural, wild variation of the germs, their body has been trained to mount a strong and effective response in fighting that bad germ so they don’t get extremely sick, or die. Where maternal passive immunity is like a shield, vaccines are like outfitting with a sword they can actively fight with. The first vaccine might be like a pop gun or a Swiss Army knife. The next, like upgrading to a dagger. The next like a sword, and the next like a gun.
Some new puppy owners Immediately take their pups out to dog parks, dog friendly cafes and stores, and have them play with anyone to get them socialized. That’s kind of tantamount to playing Russian Roulette. It’s wise to socialize your puppy with healthy humans and dogs, but discretion & protection are needed.
How you choose to expose your puppy to unknown dogs and people could mean the difference between sending in a soldier with a pop gun or a machine gun. Use discretion here, and don’t set your puppy up for disaster.
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