Don't wait to take your puppy places until they're fully vaccinated- Even if it's against vet advice!

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@kowon I don't think anyone wants to go on record giving the advice that gets someone's puppy killed. I too took my puppy everywhere from the time she was 8 weeks old. I knew that I lived in a low Parvo risk area and I avoided areas like major dog parks. My dog is currently a bit over a year old (last year's Christmas puppy) and is CGCA and CGCU. She is so chill in fact, that she passed the initial CGC exam with only practice from home.

Keep in mind that this is just one person's anecdote and dogs and owners are all individuals and there's no one size fits all. I think it's wise to follow Dr's orders but please consider going the extra mile to socialize from car/stroller/soft crate and making play dates with good tempered, vaccinated dogs.

 

[kowon]

@imagebeastmarkbeast My hangup is mostly that the Dr gave advice without any nuance. On the spectrum of "Don't leave your house" and "Go to the dog park" there is A LOT of inbetween to minimize risk and still socialize.

 

[jesusloveme007]

@kowon Have you considered puppy socials in your area or a trainer? There are safe places to socialize your dot, especially after they've had 1-2 rounds of vaccines.

 

[kowon]

@jesusloveme007 As you can read in the OP, I am safely socializing my puppy

 

[fishergirl16]

@kowon When we took our 10 week old puppy to our vet for her second round of vaccines, our vet challenged us to have our puppy meet 100 people (all types too - old, young, short, tall etc) by the time we came back for her third round of shots.

So we started taking her out and about on errands & on short strolls down our street. We mostly hold her in public or keep her on our laps. We take her on car rides to pick up take out & out to Lowe’s. The only warning our vet gave was to keep her mostly on the pavement, to not allow interaction with unknown dogs and to avoid high dog traffic areas like dog parks or the park.

She also advised us to get her into puppy school with puppies her age ASAP, which we did.

I know vets have differing opinions on this but the socialization need was really stressed to us.

We have a mixed breed with some noticeable pit in her, so I do see the value in making sure she’s well socialized early on as our pup will likely be held to a higher standard from strangers.

 

[amplifiedheart]

@kowon My vet told us this and it cost us with her. We’ve trained a lot out but she will always be a generally anxious dog.

 

[faithisnotblackandwhite]

@amplifiedheart Depends on the dog tbh. I did it my my corgi and he loved everything

 

[amplifiedheart]

@faithisnotblackandwhite Yeah that’s very true. She probably had some predispositions as well.

 

[jesusloveme007]

@faithisnotblackandwhite My corgi didn't go out at all until 16 weeks. He was super nervous at his first puppy social, but he very quickly adapted. Says hi to every person and every dog.

 

[begat]

@faithisnotblackandwhite We did it with our corgi too. He’s timid but after 15 or so minutes he warms up to people and dogs. Breeder also did call that out when they did behavioral tests on them at 10 weeks, so could be his personality too. He’s also only 5 weeks post fully vaccination but he’s getting more used to different situations, people, crowds and dogs.

 

[roxyb]

@kowon Mine went on every walk his dachshund brother and I took. He just did it in a puppy sling. I did not let him down on the ground until he was 100% vaccinated. But he wS able to meet people and see different places. He is now almost a year old and loves everyone and loves to go places.

 

[morningkoi]

@roxyb I second the puppy sling! It's working really well with our 10-week-old puppy. Especially good for dachshunds and their long bodies I think; we were gonna get a backpack but i was worried he would be sitting upright with pressure on his little back.

 

[roxyb]

@morningkoi My dachshund all 16 pounds if him still loves the sling. I put him in it and walked to get the mail (we live in a condo building). He loves it. He is too big for it, but for a short walk to the elevator, it works, lol.

 

[jamesdant]

@kowon Our vet gave us what felt like a really balanced recommendation. Once our pup had her second round of vaccinations the vet allowed us to:

• walk her in the middle of the street just in our immediate neighborhood
• take her to some public places with us as long as we carried her or placed her on a blanket (we took her to watch the kids play on the playground after school, sat with her on a bench outside the library where should could meet people of all ages and watch the cars and traffic, took her with us when we ran simple errands like grabbing a cup of coffee to go).
• take her to a puppy pre-k socialization class once a week. They would hold this class first thing in the morning in a sanitized room and she got the opportunity for supervised play other puppies her age

Obviously, there were no trips to pet stores, dog parks, the beach or other places where dogs congregate. Parvo risk is different in different geographies though (it is relatively low in our area) so your vets recommendation as to what is safe may vary depending on the incidence level in your area. In the end, we ended up with a really well socialization puppy - people comment on her calm and well mannered behavior. I'm not sure how much is just her basic temperament and how much was the early socialization work we did but we feel very fortunate.

 

[autumnsunsett]

@jamesdant That sounds like great advice. We have a young min schnauzer and we know from experience they can be a bit reactive in public. We like to take our dogs everywhere so socializing her was our main job through about 13 weeks. We did puppy socials, took her on car rides nearly every day, to the grocery (our locally owned one was cool with it if she stayed in the cart), the Ace Hardware next door, to several outdoor patios for dinner, and much more. It’s important that parvo risk is fairly low in our area.

She was walking in our neighborhood on pavement immediately (9 weeks, 2nd round) I know people say that’s dangerous but we have another older dog and walked him. Well how many people disinfect their other dogs after walks, or sterilize their own shoes, that puppies love chewing, after coming back from the pet store to get puppy treats, or just home from work? Both are possible vectors of parvo. That’s the part so much advice leaves out, and it means people are in fact taking risks without the lifelong benefits that come from socializing our puppies before that critical window closes around 12-13 weeks.

Anyway we decided to be careful but prioritized socialization. It worked. Our schnauzer is awesome in public so gets to come with us wherever dogs are allowed, with her big brother Bo. Of course talk to your vet but they have a primary obligation to keep puppy safe. We as owners have an obligation to socialize them, so they have the best life. The balance is ultimately up to us.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@kowon The vets are the ones seeing the local puppies die from parvo and other highly contagious diseases. I’d much rather listen to them than someone trying to tell me they know more than my local licensed veterinarians.

 

[kowon]

@imagebeastmarkbeast From the AVSAB position statement "While puppies’ immune systems are still developing during these early months, the combination of maternal immunity, primary vaccination, and appropriate care makes the risk of infection relatively small compared to the chance of death from a behavior problem"

 

[faithisnotblackandwhite]

@kowon 'Compared to' is the key term here tho

Depends on the area, city, state, country etc
I'm in NYC and we didn't take the chance

 

[kowon]

@faithisnotblackandwhite So a lot of my OP is dedicated to explaining how to minimize risks. E.g. Observing from the car or a vehicle off the ground.

Considering the kind of environment NYC is I hope your dog comes from excellent genetics being required to cope with a busy urban environment without socialization.

 

[faithisnotblackandwhite]

@kowon Damn, no need to be pas ag. He is lol