Interesting discussion; thanks to all contributors! 
Pat I think I will reconsider every three years for mine and maybe titre every three years instead. I agree about boarding facilities -- use one that doesn't require annual vaccines. many will discuss this with the person or accept every three years. The vast majority though want every year -- which can make it hard for dog and cat owners who may notlive in an area with lots of choice for boarding.
On lepto: drinking from puddles is not the only way animals get this -- swimming, walking along a creek or lake or pond, walking through damp grass or plant borders or fields, sniffing, licking paws that might have come in contact... all of these are ways it can be transmitted. All you need is for a rat to have urinated somewhere a dog comes in contact with and then ingests -- easy to happen even if a dog is merely sniffing along a grass verge. Many dogs if you watch carefully, also actually lick other dogs' pee off walls or ground when sniffing -- another possible route of transmission for city/town dogs.
While as Dr Dodds says, there may have been only 12 cases in Calif of lepto you'd have to assume in (great?) part that is because most vets vaccinate for lepto. I have heard of more cases in Ireland annually where there are far fewer people and dogs. It is this kind of pro/con that makes it hard to know what to do. I do not accept that everything Dr Dodds says is correct (as I know researchers who would dispute some conclusions, but that is normal and correct for there to be scientific debate). It does worry me a bit that one can see from reading boards and email lists and websites, that many take Dr Dodds as the only authority, and more so that they only read the main protocol and not all her careful notes that state the protocol does not necessarily suit all dogs, all geographic regions, and so on -- she is a lot more nuanced than the message most pass along about her recommendations.
Pat I think I will reconsider every three years for mine and maybe titre every three years instead. I agree about boarding facilities -- use one that doesn't require annual vaccines. many will discuss this with the person or accept every three years. The vast majority though want every year -- which can make it hard for dog and cat owners who may notlive in an area with lots of choice for boarding.
On lepto: drinking from puddles is not the only way animals get this -- swimming, walking along a creek or lake or pond, walking through damp grass or plant borders or fields, sniffing, licking paws that might have come in contact... all of these are ways it can be transmitted. All you need is for a rat to have urinated somewhere a dog comes in contact with and then ingests -- easy to happen even if a dog is merely sniffing along a grass verge. Many dogs if you watch carefully, also actually lick other dogs' pee off walls or ground when sniffing -- another possible route of transmission for city/town dogs.
While as Dr Dodds says, there may have been only 12 cases in Calif of lepto you'd have to assume in (great?) part that is because most vets vaccinate for lepto. I have heard of more cases in Ireland annually where there are far fewer people and dogs. It is this kind of pro/con that makes it hard to know what to do. I do not accept that everything Dr Dodds says is correct (as I know researchers who would dispute some conclusions, but that is normal and correct for there to be scientific debate). It does worry me a bit that one can see from reading boards and email lists and websites, that many take Dr Dodds as the only authority, and more so that they only read the main protocol and not all her careful notes that state the protocol does not necessarily suit all dogs, all geographic regions, and so on -- she is a lot more nuanced than the message most pass along about her recommendations.
