Flu shot for your dog?

FORT THOMAS, Ky. - Cooper stands unsure on the cold, steel veterinarian table. He isn't too fond of his check-up...But if his family plans on taking a trip over the holidays, he may have to get something he really wouldn't like: a flu shot.

Thirty-eight states including Kentucky and Ohio have reported cases of dog influenza .

"Canine flu—H3N8, first identified in ’04, so it's 7 years old. And it started in a Florida racing greyhound," said Dr. Jean Pritchard DVM of the Ft. Thomas Animal Hospital.

Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, shedding and fever.

"Danger happens when people don't really realize their pet is ill and it's just in the beginning stages of shedding and illness when the transmission occurred. Kind of the 3-foot rule kind of applies for respiratory excretion and sneezes and coughs in pets—just like us," said Pritchard.

She warned those traveling for the holidays.

“If you're going to be traveling and going to be kenneling in a high dog population... that's where it finds a foot hole because it's like taking your child to day care.”

Carol Barnes takes 3-year-old Bella to kennels, dog parks, pretty much everywhere.

"She's a very good traveler. We take her up to New York State to Finger Lakes...it's like a 12-hour drive, she loves it. Don't ya?" Barnes said patting Bella on the head.

Dogs like Bella are the most at risk. But the canine flu vaccine can ward off the illness.

"We recommend it for mostly people that are very mobile with their pets.

If the virus is detected in your dog, Pritchard says she manages the cough, puts the dog on antibiotics—and recommends isolation from other pets to stop the spreading.

More about canine flu, click here.