Putting puppy down in public before all vaccinations?

924 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by dogsavvy, Aug 11, 2019

tammyw

Discussion Starter · Aug 10, 2019

Do you ever do this? My trainer said the viruses don’t live on concrete or rocks but do live on things like grass. Her philosophy is that to put the pup down on a sidewalk is fine and even good — like if you want someone to give your pup a treat, it’s better for pup to be on sidewalk rather than always in your arms.

Thoughts?

Curious ways everyone else socialized their not fully vaccinated pup. I want to make sure we expose him to as much as possible and don’t want to forget anything!

Obviously all kinds of people in all shapes and sizes with hats, glasses, cane, wheelchair, etc. do you ask them all to offer puppy a treat?

Carrying them on an elevator, escalator, automatic doors, etc.

How did you handle exposure to other dogs? Eg only dogs you know that are fully vaccinated? On what territory? My house, their house, the road which would be neutral?

Am reading a lot of Ian Dunbar stuff too but want real experiences from you all.

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lily cd re

· #2 · Aug 10, 2019

Great questions! I think if you are sensible about where you put the pup down the benefits of social exposures far outweigh the risks of health problems.

I took Javelin to my obedience club starting when he was about 12 weeks old. He was greeted by many people and got to see quite a few dogs through the gate each week. All of the people and dogs were people I knew and trusted. I also took him out on the training floor to play games with him and our floor is not routinely sanitized, but regularly cleaned by "normal" methods. If I took him into PetSmart I carried him. I took him on our front lawn to let him see other dogs, but not greet. If friendly people walked by and were interested I would let them come say hello to him. I wish I had thought of this since I do have a folding wagon for hauling stuff around at shows, but somebody here did take their pup around the neighborhood sitting in their wagon.

A friend of mine just got a pup and she has been convinced that even putting him on the grass in her private backyard is not a good idea, so this pup hasn't gone anywhere so far. Makes me sort of sad.

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tammyw

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 10, 2019

lily cd re said:
Great questions! I think if you are sensible about where you put the pup down the benefits of social exposures far outweigh the risks of health problems.

I took Javelin to my obedience club starting when he was about 12 weeks old. He was greeted by many people and got to see quite a few dogs through the gate each week. All of the people and dogs were people I knew and trusted. I also took him out on the training floor to play games with him and our floor is not routinely sanitized, but regularly cleaned by "normal" methods. If I took him into PetSmart I carried him. I took him on our front lawn to let him see other dogs, but not greet. If friendly people walked by and were interested I would let them come say hello to him. I wish I had thought of this since I do have a folding wagon for hauling stuff around at shows, but somebody here did take their pup around the neighborhood sitting in their wagon.

A friend of mine just got a pup and she has been convinced that even putting him on the grass in her private backyard is not a good idea, so this pup hasn't gone anywhere so far. Makes me sort of sad.

Great feedback! I will also check in with our vet for advice, but I basically want him socialized really well!!!

We have a dog sling so we could take him for walks around the neighborhood in that I assume? I like idea of him seeing all the streets, houses, and hearing all the car, truck, and motorcycle noises. Since Ollie came to us more shy at seven months, my main job over the next weeks is exposure to stuff every day.

Another question! Should we always take Ollie with us? Or should we only sometimes? Rarely? He’s more shy and nervous in public.

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lily cd re

· #4 · Aug 10, 2019

I went back and found my 52 weeks of Javelin thread to check on when I first started taking him places. It was around July 20th. His birthday is May 13th so I think that means he was about 11 weeks old. https://www.poodleforum.com/35-52-weeks-your-poodle/161634-52-weeks-javelin.html

Yes I would carry Henry around the neighborhood in the sling and/or in your arms. I also think I would sometimes take just the baby but also sometimes bring Ollie too and sometimes just take Ollie so he has one on one time too!

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tammyw

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 10, 2019

lily cd re said:
I went back and found my 52 weeks of Javelin thread to check on when I first started taking him places. It was around July 20th. His birthday is May 13th so I think that means he was about 11 weeks old. https://www.poodleforum.com/35-52-weeks-your-poodle/161634-52-weeks-javelin.html

Perfect! This is all giving me more confidence in raising our first baby ?

I’m going to take a look at your thread tonight. Thank you for that!!

Yes I would carry Henry around the neighborhood in the sling and/or in your arms. I also think I would sometimes take just the baby but also sometimes bring Ollie too and sometimes just take Ollie so he has one on one time too!

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Raindrops

· #6 · Aug 10, 2019

Parvo is most readily spread through feces, so I tried to keep my pup away from them. But other than that I took him out in areas without too much dog traffic or stray animals. If you run into another dog that is calm and confident, you can ask the owner are they vaccinated and are they friendly, and if so I'm fine with letting them have a brief 3 second nose sniff. Short and sweet, then move on. Customize it to the reactions of the puppy. Celebrate investigation of things, but never force experiences.

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Carolinek

· #7 · Aug 10, 2019

What everyone else said! I got Gracie at 8 weeks and gave her a week or so to settle in and then started taking her out. I had a sling but didn’t find that as helpful as a soft carrying crate. She kept moving around and didn’t seem to fit nicely in the sling, but you may like it.

I took her to pet stores, Marshall’s, Lowe’s, Home Depot and training facilities. I carried her everyplace but the training facilities. I train at two different facilities and brought her to both, taking her out to meet people and dogs intermittently and then putting her back in the crate while I ran my other dogs. Although these are places with a lot of dogs, they are performance dogs, and they’re a different kind of owner in general.

I started her in a puppy class at 11 weeks (I think) and brought her to an agility trial at 4 months as a spectator. Had lots of visitors to the house from babies to senior citizens. We follow Dodds vaccination protocol, so she didn’t get the second shot till 4 months.

She’s now 8 months old and a confident, friendly pup with all people, including kids, and all dogs of any size.

I look at socialization as a calculated risk, taking care to avoid letting her on the ground in places where there are tons of dogs, but exposing her as much as possible.

Can’t wait to see your pup!

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Countryboy

· #8 · Aug 11, 2019

Puppies?!! AAAAACK!!! :afraid:

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dogsavvy

· #9 · Aug 11, 2019

Our University Animal Teaching Hospital would very much disagree with what your trainer said. They have special cleaner they use in their facilities to kill a broad spectrum of things that doesn't live on concrete or pavement but can be spread through contact with fecal matter which is spread to those surfaces long enough for another animal to come in contact with it. I spent a lot of time talking to them in order for me to keep people's pets safe that they trusted in my care to train.

Now having said that, I agree with lilly cd re that if you are careful in where you take your pup, you will most likely be okay. People used to love to come to our place because no dog was allowed without a current vet record of vaccines & dewormings. It always concerned me because my dogs went everywhere doing demonstrations, working with clients & their dogs, ect… but we never had any trouble.

I always wanted to have a very different kind of dog park. 6 foot chain link fencing & no one can enter without a current vaccine & deworming record. Complete with a behaviorist-officer to expel owners with dogs who are aggressive & off lead. (Sigh) I need to hit the lottery for some big bucks

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Vita

· #10 · Aug 11, 2019

When Bella was three months old, I took her to two kindergarten puppy socialization classes and she had no problems. She had up to date shots for that time period, as required for the other pups there.

On the other hand, when Bella was four or five months old and had all of her shots by then, I walked her to a nearby convenience store. On the way there we ran into another woman who also had a cute toy breed puppy that was slightly oler, and we ooh'd and ahh'd over each other puppies who sniffed each other. I recall seeing them tap noses and wondered then if it had all it's shots. I don't think so, and I should have asked.

The next day Bella had a slight cough. It lasted a couple days then went away, so no need for a vet since she had all her shots and by Day 3 the cough was gone. That was the last time I let her do this when I take her out in public w/o asking the other owner if their pup/dog was up to date on shots.

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tammyw

Discussion Starter · #11 · Aug 11, 2019

dogsavvy said:
Our University Animal Teaching Hospital would very much disagree with what your trainer said. They have special cleaner they use in their facilities to kill a broad spectrum of things that doesn't live on concrete or pavement but can be spread through contact with fecal matter which is spread to those surfaces long enough for another animal to come in contact with it. I spent a lot of time talking to them in order for me to keep people's pets safe that they trusted in my care to train.

Now having said that, I agree with lilly cd re that if you are careful in where you take your pup, you will most likely be okay. People used to love to come to our place because no dog was allowed without a current vet record of vaccines & dewormings. It always concerned me because my dogs went everywhere doing demonstrations, working with clients & their dogs, ect… but we never had any trouble.

I always wanted to have a very different kind of dog park. 6 foot chain link fencing & no one can enter without a current vaccine & deworming record. Complete with a behaviorist-officer to expel owners with dogs who are aggressive & off lead. (Sigh) I need to hit the lottery for some big bucks

My breeder said no to letting pup walk anywhere another dog may have been. Doesn’t trust other people to vaccinate. So we will just carry anywhere outside our house and yard until fully vaccinated at 16 weeks.

Now our area is wild - how do we know a coyote hasn’t walked our driveway or back patio at night?

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dogsavvy

· #12 · Aug 11, 2019

We live among the mountains, on a lake. I understand completely. We moved here & very soon erected a fence. We had one neighbor who bragged about his dog being the sire of most the dogs in the county, etc... Actually it's a lot of this stuff why we are moving but that's another story. When you have an open yard loose dogs, feral dogs, *****, possums, & coyotes can go right through, all of which can carry things that can harm or kill your dogs. Of course ***** & possums will climb a fence if they're in the mood. I have had 2 dogs paralyzed in their back ends for more than 12 hours because of possum poo. The dogs walk through it, lick their paws... I forget what the incubation period is but I thought I was losing my dog. Got the big guy through it & a month or two later our tiny Chihuahua did the same thing. In 24 hours they were both back to normal. The vet kept insisting they came in contact with possum feces. Sure enough, when I went out & went over my yard inch by inch... possum poop, 2 different places. After we cleaned it up, burned the feces & put lime on the spot.

So yeah, it's a little nerve wracking knowing all this stuff is out there, you can't see it, so how do you protect the pups? We all do the best we can. I've harnessed a pup, modified a back pack so I could carry the pup on my back. We went all over everywhere (just don't forget when you sit down) or better yet, put the pup on your front so you can keep an eye on things. I have a friend whose daughter put her puppy in a crate, fastened the crate to a little wagon & pulled her pup all over everywhere. It worked. Others use the doggy carriages.

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