My dog needs a rabies shot for licensing. Is it safe to get it early?

Question

To license my dog in my area he has to have valid rabies vac TIL April2020. I adopted him 6 months ago. On Oct 2018 he was given a 1 year rabies vac, they couldn’t give 3 year as Didn’t know his history. I got a form for my vet to fill out but it says ‘reluctance to administer a rabies vaccine prior to expiration of previous vaccine will not be accepted as Valid reason’ How can this be safe if we don’t know his history? Say he was given a 3 year vac in sept18, then 1 year Oct18 and 1 year now? Pet's info: Dog | Shih Tzu | Male | neutered | 4 years old | 11.4 lbs

C. Rathjens, DVM · Accepted Answer

So if I'm reading this right, you're trying to get a three year rabies booster now and your vet doesn't want to give one until October. For a normal healthy dog, doing the booster now wouldn't be a concern, even in the "worst case" scenario you outlined. You could ask your vet if there's something in particular about Brady that makes them want to wait. It's also possible that your particular vet has a policy of waiting until it's due to booster for some reason, which would be fine, but a problem for your particular situation. In that case, it would be reasonable to get a second opinion because you'll find most vets are ok doing the booster now.

My dog needs a rabies shot for licensing. Is it safe to get it early?

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