I do not vaccinate my girls every year, but I titre test instead. (tested for immunity) That way I know they are immune and am not risking problems by vaccinating them unneccessarily. It is something I have started doing in the last few years, after looking into it, and so far my older girl (three) has only had her puppy vaccs at 10 and 12 weeks and is still immune.

I don't however, vaccinate or titre for leptospirosis. The reason for this is that the lepto vaccine only protects against 2 of the strains of lepto, yet there are over 50, and dogs have been known to contract at least 10 of them. Also, despite leppto being prevelant in certain areas, it is remarkably difficult for dogs to actually contract. On top of all that, the lepto vaccine only lasts for 3-6 months in a lot of dogs, so for the majority of the year your dog has been vaccinated, it may well not be covered anyway. Lepto is also the vaccine known to cause most problems. I have heard of perfectly healthy dogs dying in the waiting room on the way out after a lepto vaccine.

I don't believe most vets suggest vaccinating yearly for finacial reasons. (vaccine companies are another kettle of fish altogether) It costs me £60 per dog for titre tests, so if I then had to vacicnate on top of that, the vet would be making more money. I think some vets don't really stay as up to date as they should, and some are worried that if owners catch on to this, they may simply not titre test, but stop vaccinating their pets regularly, which isn't good for a number of reasons. The diseases are out there, or some dogs wouldn't stay immune for so long. Dogs being vaccinated or being immune contributes to the 'herd' immunity, which protects other, more vulnerable dogs and dogs which cannot be vaccinated as they have had problems in the past. I can see why people wouldn't want to vaccinate but I can see no reason to not titre test.

There is also evidence of more cancers at vaccination sites in routinely vaccinated dogs, amongst other things.