Dog Bites My Dog

From what I've been told by vets is that rabies shots last more that 1 year. They are suggested once a year to get more revenue. I wouldn't worry or do anything different than you usually do.

Ok what your vet said makes no sense to me really.

Let me see if I understand. The dog that bit yours had been vacciated for rabies but is just two months behind? But the dog doesn't actually HAVE rabies, so there's pretty much no reason to believe that your dog will get rabies. More than likely, the other dog's vaccine is still effective and even he is protected. The timelines assigned around vaccines are somewhat arbitrary and very conservative; we actually know very little about how the immune system really works in each individual dog or human (I'm an immunologist). Those guidelines are developed to be very conservative and be sure every dog is vaccinated regularly enough that there's no chance of vulnerablility.

All that to say I would imagine your dog is just fine - unless for some reason you believe the other dog HAS rabies.

You might want to call another vet and get a second opinion since the first didn't make a lot of sense.

Good luck!!! I have a 7 year old black lab who is the light of my life and we are around lots of dogs.

I have not read the other responses, but in general, it depends on your state's rabies laws and how they handle different circumstances and types of exposure. For example, when I lived and worked as a vet in Massachusetts, in a situation like yours, the biting dog would need to be under quarantine for 10 days, but it could be quarantined at home - it would just have to be kept inside and only taken out on a leash so that it could not run away or disappear. If during those 10 days the dog shows any signs of rabies or suspicious symptoms, the owner is to have dog seen right away. If the dog is fine after 10 days, then it can have it's rabies vaccine updated (the vaccine cannot be given during the quarantine period). Generally there are no restrictions on "the victim" so long their vaccine is current (though the law may recommend "close observation"). However, as I said, the laws vary from state to state. You can always call a different vet to get their opinion, or call your local animal control, or you might even be able to find the information on-line (such as from your state's Dept. of Agriculture). It's also helpful to realize that not every vaccine is 100% and sometimes there are cases where the pet does not mount a good immune response to the vaccine and therefore may not be as well as protected as we think.

On the other hand, one thing to understand though that just because the dog's rabies vaccine is 2 months overdue does not mean the dog is not immune to rabies. State laws also govern how often a pet is to be vaccinated, whether it is every year, or every 2 or 3 years (there is no difference in the vaccines given - it's just the state law that says how often the pet is to get the vaccine). The immunity from vaccines may last longer than the 1 year or 3 year so even if the vaccine is technically overdue, the dog could still be protected (there's just no way to determine their level of immunity however). There would be more concern if the dog that bit your dog had been exposed to rabies in some way itself, like being bit by another animal (especially a wild animal, such as a raccoon, skunk, bat or fox) that is much more likely to carry rabies.

With rabies it is a legal issue as you probably know. Quaratine any possible infection, no matter how unlikely is also a legal thing.

It depends on where you live and who it is reported to. Usually a 10 day quarantine that can be done at home if pet is up to date. Sometimes it is required to be someone else, usually not if your dog was the one bitten. Your vet should know if they told you to quarantine, where it needs to be done. If it was a wild animal, even if your pet is up to date they frequently recommend a booster just to be safe. It probably also depends on how bad the bite is- breaking skin, drawing blood, etc or just very rough.

For the other dog it can sometimes still be quarantined- 10 days or 6 months and sometimes depending on the case and state, etc euthanize for testing. I know of one dog that was over due by 3 days and the owners were required to euthanize and have the dog tested, sad case. My parents had a bat in their home and had it tested, end result all of their pets had to be quarantined at their expense at their vet's office for 10 days. They had new puppies that had not been vaccinated yet due to age and would have been euthanized per the state if the bat was positive. Thank goodness it was negative.

Hope it all works out and glad everyone was nice in the situation. You sound like a very understanding person, which is wonderful and I'm sure the other owner appreciated it.

Quarantine in the case where a dog bites another dog is up to the owner's discretion for the most part. When I dog bites a person it is up to the city's discretion. You need to speak more in depth with your neighbor. Find out exactly when their dog received it's last Rabies vaccine. Most vaccines are either labeled for 1 or 3 years but even with that the level needed to maintain immunity exists for a while even after the vaccine is "out of date" Most vaccines are this way. Even if you did a home quarantine and the neighbor's dog was carrying Rabies it is unlikely that you will see signs in a few days.

If you have more questions you can contact your City or State Department of Health. I live in Dallas and work in a animal hospital there and I have never heard of quarantining a pet that has been bitten by another dog. We are only required to quarantine a pet that has bitten a person and that is mandatory regardless of vaccine status and in home quaratine is up to the city's discretion. I will tell you that if there are kids in the house or multiple pets most city's do not let you do a home quarantine.

When an animal is required to go into quarantine the owner's are usually issued a notice by the city as well so this may be something you need to account for as well.

Not sure about the rabies quarantine but I DO know that rabies vaccines are generally good for more than the reco'd range...BUT it's expensive to test for the titers to see when they REALLY need another...so relax about that.
AND just wanted to mention that if the woman is covering your vet bills, she can probably turn it in to her homeowners. My brothers dog attacked another dog and did some pretty bad damage (bad dog!) and his home owners covered everything.
Hope she's better soon!

Well not sure about the laws are where you are at but most of the time the dog that is NOT current can be forced into a quarantine for 10 days and really can be destroyed and tested for Rabies. Sounds gross but the head is sent for testing. Yes some quarantines can be done at home. Especially if the animal is current on Rabies. . If not current owner loses all rights. It's a big deal not having your dog not current on Rabies and is a state law.
I really suggest that you call your local animal control in your area and ask them. As for the vaccine, no vaccine is 100%. Rabies is spread through saliva and the flesh wounds do not have to be deep for things to spread. Most of the time it's rare but here in Texas we see a fair share of it. In 11 years of practice I've seen two known cases both where in cats. Though it is rare it is something to take seriously.
Best Regards,
C.

In NC you can quarantine at home.
The requirement for the quarantine is to wait a number of days, usually 10, for rabies to show up.
The other dog will have to be registered as a biter and she will have so many days to get the shots up to date.
Watch your dog. She may have some residual fear of stranger's dogs.
Keep taking her to the park and have her socialize with friendlier dogs.
Also take her to Petsmart for a bit, just let her shop around.