Brittany

Hi spoo lovers!

so i'm picking up my black spoo in 7 wks approx so of course i'm starting to plan/buy/worry lol i want to know how can i socialize him if he doesn't finish his shots until 16 weeks???? of course i want to be safe, but realisically, do people just have visitors until then? my family and friends have a westie, a yorkie, and a french bulldog, all adults and have completed vacs. i was planning on taking him to meet them, (spread over time of course) bad idea? obviously no dog parks, but can i bring him out and about on errands? i know how vital socializing is first hand, so i want to do it right away. get him used to planes trains automobiles cats elephants and kids LOL i also live in an apartment, so when i walk him around the community, its the same sidewalk shared by lots of dogs. don't walk until shots are done?????????

how can i socialize before shots?!

please help!

sarpoodle

It will be fine, just use some common sense. As you mentioned, until he's fully vaccinated, you can expose him to other dogs that are known commodities (such as those belonging to your friends and family); you'll have a bit more control this way, and know what their temperaments are in advance. If you have a vet lined up already, contact them and see what guidance they have for you, just in case there are things specific to your area to be on the look out for (not sure if you're in the city, suburbs or what).

You're thinking ahead on this, and that's great. Just don't be nervous about it, and overly protective. You don't want your new boy to pick up on your nervousness. You want him to be confident, so you need to exude that too.

Beyond that, you're plans for exposing him to all sorts of things as early as possible is fantastic.

I'm excited for you Brittany. I know the next 7 weeks will seem like an eternity, but it's going to be so much fun with a new pup.

Greg

Andi

Even though the full vaccination are not complete I was advised by my vet and dog club that my puppy was fine to be taken out after her 12 week vaccination.

I think you would be okay introducing her to "safe" dogs earlier on, as puppies do need to socialise, and they love playing with other dogs.

JE-UK

Vets always seem to lean towards super-conservatism in this area.

The socialisation window is short, so it's important to cram it full of happy, new experiences. Statistics show more dogs die of behaviour problems than parvo, as people get rid of dogs that are unsocialised and unmanageable.

When mine was a pup, I was careful, but got him out as much as I could. I tried to keep him away from areas where lots of strange dogs congregate, but introduced him to local dogs and took him out to shops and things as much as possible.

You can also do a lot by inviting people with immunised dogs over to your house for play dates.

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"Yes is so much important than No." Dominique Barbier

sgeorge

Fleur is 13 weeks old and has not yet had her final vaccination. She had her second one only a week ago, but we have been out and about from about 9-10 weeks old. I decided that the risks of contracting something in my area were very low, especially compared to the risks associated with a lack of socialisation.

I made sure if we were going anywhere she was carried. Markets and cafes were perfect. I also tried to avoid high risk areas, such as parks. We also visited family members who I knew had vaccinated dogs as well as having a number of friends coming over, exposing her to different sorts of people.

It's really just a game of managing risks. A few days after Fleur's 2nd vaccination I considered her to be reasonably protected and started walking her in high traffic areas. But that's all up to you to decide.

Make a list now of what experiences/noises/objects/emotions you want your spoo to be exposed to. A lot of these can be achieved while you are keeping him under relative 'house-arrest'.

It's good to start thinking about this issues now, as 7 weeks will go so quickly!

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peppersb

I love JE-UK's comment: "Statistics show more dogs die of behaviour problems than parvo..."

I agree that socialization is extremely important, and that most vets are more concerned about the puppy's weak immune system than they are about their need for socialization. Of couse, both are important. I would try to give her experiences with other dogs from the very beginning, but choose the socialization experiences with an awareness that her immune system is weak until she has all her shots. My own tendency is to be more concerned about socialization than about the risk of disease. With Cammie, I definitely had play dates with friends from the very beginning. And pretty quickly, we were going to a small local park where she would run into an occasional dog or two. But I did wait a bit before taking her to the huge dog park in the area that has 10 or 20 dogs at a time. Of course, she had Bob, my other spoo, at home.

Best to you with your new puppy!

canicats

I think the socialization is very / too important to risk making the wrong. I prefer taking the risk that my puppy is sick it is rather fearful / aggressive to life. There biensur of precautions to be taken: avoid dogs sick / unknown, avoid dog shows or sales of puppies with a lot of diseases. but I've always walk my puppies from an early age, but they were still vaccinated.

Ginagbaby1

I agree with the others about the importance of socialization. We started taking Casper out at 9 weeks old and were were just careful around places that were frequented by lots of dogs. For example, we did take him to Petsmart but made sure to carry him rather than have walk around or sit in the cart. More and more stores these days are dog friendly so we took him with us when we went Home Depot and Blockbuster, and my kids basketball practice. We also made sure he met lots of people from kids, to elderly, to people wearing uniforms. We had him meet dogs of friends who we knew were healthy as well as showing him different animals owned by friends like cats and birds. We took him for random drives in the car like the drive through at Starbucks. When he was 15 weeks old we took him on a family camping trip that we had planned prior to getting him. (Again just using common sense in certain areas). All of this has led up to a wonderfully social mini poo who loves people and animals. I've seen what lack of socialization can do to dogs and was really trying hard not to let that happen to Casper.

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JE-UK

Well said!

That's my view, too. Be as careful as you can, but get those puppies out.

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"Yes is so much important than No." Dominique Barbier

Brittany

Thanks so much for the responses! I'll use caution and common sense when taking him out, just can't wait to show him off! =)