Walking puppy before vacs complete

Obelisk29

Hi,

I know you're not meant to take a puppy out until it's been fully vacinated but is there any real risk of bringing her out for a quick ten minutes round the block late at night?

She's had most of her jabs (just the final one to go) and I'd love to bring her out just as a change of scenary from the back garden.

o29

Toots

YES!! A lot of the diseases she can pick up are on the ground! Don't risk it, it's really not worth it. Don't do it!!

ISDW

Definitely agree with Toots85, don't do it. You should also carry her to the vets when you take her for her vaccs, and don't put her on the ground in there.

She'll be getting out soon enough.

EGAR

Toots85, sorry your answer made me laugh . A dog doesn't have to leave the house or meet other dogs in order to pick up Parvo for example, YOU can bring it home on your shoes .

Now, I might get crucified for the following remark BUT it is way more important to socialise a pup properly.

cotton

It certainly didn't make me laugh, it was good advice.

Having had parvo here, the dogs health is far more important for the next week or so. Socialising can come after vaccs, it's not a life threatening disease & doesn't require 24/7 nursing in a vets or syringing water into a dogs mouth on the hour every hour in the hope the dog survives.

Yes, you can bring it home on your shoes but letting an unvaccd dog around the block is a far greater risk.

My advice would be to hold off until after the 2nd vacc & then go to puppy classes.

EGAR

Cotton, I run a rescue so I know about disease control and have seen more Parvo cases than I care to remember many of which had prior been vacc'd and had *full* protection. However I also deal with the fallouts of poorly or non socialised dogs who have missed a vital part in their puppyhoood. I wasn't talking about puppy classes, I was talking about normal dog to dog socialisation such as you find when you walk your dog. Many of the canine diseases are caused by a virus and those develope all the time. Having had a dog here who suffered from a FELINE strain of parvo, I know all about it.

However, maybe I should have added that it wasn't the CONTENTS that made me laugh but the panicky undertone in the post itself.

We tend to over sterilize, over vaccinate and over shelter our animals. And not just our animals...

I am entitled to my opinion just as you are, after all this is a discussion board. And having had a VERY low mortality rate in 11 years rescue in Ireland, I must be doing something right

BlackCat2008

She shouldn't be a load out until 2-weeks after her last vax. For her own well being. Use it as a chance to get some extra training in.

Irish-Lass

Ok one of my dogs had parvo - she was dumped in a box in Blanchardstown so I have first hand experience of what it does to a dog - I nearly lost her and I certainly would pick safety over social skills any day (IMO) one of her litter mates died of parvo - and is certainly not a nice way to die.

The Sweeper

Meh - if I'm correct a puppy should be 12 weeks old at their second set of vaccinations against distemper, hep and parvo. If you keep them in for a week after that, I don't see the biggie - they leave their mom at eight to nine weeks. Would four weeks with just human company really set them back that far in terms of socialisation?

I'm a belt-and-braces type - and I'm also dead unlucky, and if I took an 11 week old pup out we'd be attacked by goliath hounds, breathed on by the hounds of pestilence and probably struck by lightning for good measure.

looserock

Obelisk29 wrote: »

Hi,

I know you're not meant to take a puppy out until it's been fully vaccinated but is there any real risk of bringing her out for a quick ten minutes round the block late at night?

She's had most of her jabs (just the final one to go) and I'd love to bring her out just as a change of scenary from the back garden.

o29

Don't do it, you only need to wait a few more weeks.

The most likely way she would get parvo is from smelling where some unvaccinated mutt cocked his leg, not from actual contact with the infected animal.

Sharpshooter

Definitly a no to bringing her around the block, you must love her a lot already so imagine how you would feel if you were the cause of her not being around anymore.
Play plenty of games out in the back garden with her and in general make it fun for her , she doesn't know what she is missing so why put her at risk.
Our vet was very clear about carrying our dog to see him and keeping her on our lap in the waiting room .
7 to 10 days after her final vac is what he told us and we stuck to that.
l am sure after all the good advice you have seen here you will wait , cause you love her,right?:)

Noopti

EGAR wrote: »

Toots85, sorry your answer made me laugh . A dog doesn't have to leave the house or meet other dogs in order to pick up Parvo for example, YOU can bring it home on your shoes .

Now, I might get crucified for the following remark BUT it is way more important to socialise a pup properly.

If you VAC the puppy correctly and at the right times it will not miss out on socialisation. We started bringing our girl out 10 days after her last vac and she is one of the most well socialized dogs I have ever had.
Waiting until the vacs are finished and working does in no way mean you have missed out on the "socialisation window".

My advice, don't bring her out until the VACS are complete. Once they are, bring her everywhere! Let her encounter all types of dogs, people, situations in a controlled & supervised manner.
Don't run the higher risk of her getting an illness by bringing her out. Yes, you can bring diseases into the house yourself, but the risk is far far lower.

bnagrrl

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Meh - if I'm correct a puppy should be 12 weeks old at their second set of vaccinations against distemper, hep and parvo. If you keep them in for a week after that, I don't see the biggie - they leave their mom at eight to nine weeks. Would four weeks with just human company really set them back that far in terms of socialisation?

I'm a belt-and-braces type - and I'm also dead unlucky, and if I took an 11 week old pup out we'd be attacked by goliath hounds, breathed on by the hounds of pestilence and probably struck by lightning for good measure.

I agree. Why risk the puppy's health for the sake of a few weeks?
Yes the pup could pick it up through any number of means but why take that chance?
If it was me I'd wait till the vaccs were complete.

cotton

Egar, I'm fully aware of your rescue & 110% agree with you that people over sterilize & over vaccinate our animals & kids too, I've said it many a time over on PI.
Having had dogs that have had parvo & also dogs that have been severely under socailised, I'd take my chances with not meeting other dogs for another week or so.
I honestly fail to see how letting a pup outside to get parvo or possible lepto is less important than socailising for that period.
I'm really interested to hear how a dog got a feline strain of parvo. Whilst the virus is similar in nature to the dog's parvo virus, it is only infectious to cats. Are you sure it wasn't feline distemper which is totally different? Canine parvo is very similar to feline distemper, they are almost identical, except for two amino acids. The origin of canine parvovirus is unknown, but it has been suggested that it is a mutation of feline distemper virus.
In the states they reckon feline panleukopenia (feline parvo) is the same as feline distemper but in Europe it's recognised as a different disease. Plus it's much rarer although there has been several outbreaks this year.

EGAR

I think alot also depends on maternal antibodies, the dog's own immune system, stress level etc pp. There is no blanket rule IMHO.

Noopti

Until they have a home testing kit for maternal antibodies, immune system strength and stress levels then there is a blanket rule. Don't do it.

Why risk it? The extra couple of weeks makes no real difference in socialisation terms.

Obelisk29

Hi,

Took her round to the vets today for her final jabs, so only another week to go.

There were a couple of other dogs there and she went mad!

Can't wait to get her out for long walks and down the beach.

Thanks for all the advice.

o29