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Before we talk about canine vaccination schedules, first let's talk about poop! You'll have to excuse my french as I'm a retired RN and BM's are very near (but not so dear) to me! Let's just say that although some of this post may be speculation, poop analysis is my specialty! I fostered 3 retired racers (from Florida) over the last 4 months and adopted #4... GM's Felix! (I failed at fostering as they say!) Interesting fact: All of the 4 dogs had (and have) EXACTLY the same bowel patterns (progressively worse diarrhea as the day progresses.) No matter what I fed (feed) them. They all have a normal formed poop first thing in the morning. By noon, it's porridge. By 3 pm, it's syrup. By evening it's liquid. By night-time it's water.... You get my drift.. They ALL poop 3-8 times a day (as above) depending on how much you walk them / provide access. None have pooped inside the house. And still no change with Felix. All of these dogs came to me approximately 1 month after a neuter/spay, dental, 6 inoculations and heart worm tx. More interesting facts: From my research, I found that the rabies shot and COMBO shots are the worst offenders, and most associated with auto-immune disorders, seizure disorders, auto-immune thyroiditis, allergies, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn's and cancers. Studies show that the rabies vaccine causes (yes CAUSES!) auto-immune thyroiditis (specifically). Felix (the greyhound I adopted) has hypo-thyroid and is symptomatic (VERY BAD dry flaking skin and thyroid pattern bald thigh syndrome). In fact, he doesn't have any hair on at least 1/3 of his body (underneath and sides). I've had his thyroid panel done and he IS hypo-thyroid as I suspected (and not "low normal" .. out of range.) I'm taking him back to the vet to get a TgAA in a few days. (I asked for a full canine thyroid panel but they didn't test for auto-immune antibodies even though I asked them to .. sigh!) I understand that some greyhound specialists think that sighthounds low thyroid levels, hair loss or hair pattern and bald-thigh syndrome are "normal for a sighthound". It is far more likely, however, that US race-track greyhounds are a large population within the sighthound breed and their low thyroid levels are impacting the numbers for the entire breed. MANY US retired racing greyhounds thyroid levels are outside of normal range. And I have yet to meet one who doesn't have bald thigh syndrome. Does that make these things normal? I don't think so. I think if we were to test all of their TgAA levels, we would see that a very large number of cases are in fact auto-immune thyroiditis from over-vaccination and this is NOT genetic. I understand that vaccination is a controversial subject but I think we really need to take a look here. Because there are some very troubling research studies that aren't being considered. I think that financial incentives, AVMA politics and lack of knowledge are all at play. And can explain why vaccine schedules have changed so dramatically over the years (adding more vaccines more often) without good studies proving necessity, SAFETY or effectiveness. I also find the number of seizure disorders amongst greyhounds very troubling. And again, I believe over-vaccination is to blame for this. Without writing a novel here (I'll spare you all the misery!), why for example is our Canadian rescue group vaccinating for rabies when it's not mandatory and rabies is so very rare? Sure rabies is a horrible disease but here in BC, it is estimated that 0.5 % of a rare bat breed has rabies. That's it. No rabies cases have ever been detected in our racoon, skunk, squirrel, coyote, cougar, bear or lynx. There have been 8 documented cases of rabies in the last 50 years in BC, ALL of which were traced back to this particular breed of bat. On the other hand, all of the 6 canine vaccines list seizures as a side-effect and this is a COMMON and serious side-effect. We have 2 greyhounds currently in foster, both of which had grand mal seizures less than 24 hours after receiving their 6 vaccines at the vet. One of which has notable neurological damage (abnormal gait, can't walk ... hops etc.) Back to poop! I think the problem is that when all the dogs have the same problem, one starts to accept that as a NORMAL pattern instead of looking at what might be causing ALL the dogs to have the SAME problem. ALL the US track dogs are cared for in a similar fashion and vaccinated on the same schedule. I know the other Vancouver foster thinks that since all the dogs get diarrhea as the day goes on, this is normal for a greyhound. I don't think so. I think that 6 vaccines administered all at once (all in one day) causes an immune mediated inflammatory response including the production of auto-immune antibodies (antibodies that attack healthy endogenous tissues like with Crohn's disease and auto-immune thyroiditis.) Simply put, the immune system is kicked into over-drive and goes haywire. Vaccination was developed in the 1930's and became a public health initiative in the 40's. We have more than enough studies now in 2017, proving that the vaccination risk to benefit ratio is not only dismal but we should have moved forward from this kind of backwards thinking decades ago. (Ie: the research and development of immune system boosters instead of attacking it with attenuated AND live viruses!) I won't even go into the carcinogenic additives and toxic heavy metal adjuvants that are injected directly into the bloodstream, by-passing all of the body's natural barriers. There is NOT 1 SINGLE STUDY in humans or dogs comparing disease prevention in a vaccinated population compared to an unvaccinated population. The production of anti-bodies in response to an inoculation is NOT synonymous with immunity. An immune response involves thousands of factors, all of which play a role in preventing disease. Yet, this is all that is tested for to cite "effectiveness". Again, I'll spare you too many details. But, If you have any information about this topic (does your dog have symptoms of hypo-thyroid? inflammatory bowel disease? seizures? or cancer?) Please PM me. I would like to gather together as much information as possible, especially about auto-immune thyroiditis and hypo-thyroid in greyhounds with a view to contacting Dr. Dobbs, DVM (who specializes in canine thyroid problems and advocates for an alternative, safer vaccination schedule.) And if you made it all the way here, thanks for your time and patience!