Parvo Concerns?
I know that I have to keep the puppy away from dog parks, my friends dog who had parvo and most public areas. When I talked to my vet she gave me some information but I have so many questions and don't want to take up too much of her time or sound paranoid/obsessive. I was looking for the expertise and any experiences anybody has, here is the situation. -I have a healthy adult dog who goes to the dog park regularly, can he bring parvo home on his feet? If so, any suggestions on where to safely run my VERY active adult dog without potentially bringing home parvo. -I would potentially like to train my new pup for therapy work, I know socialization at a young age is VERY important for this so where can I take a puppy to introduce him to new things without risking him getting sick. I have taken a month of holidays when I am set to get the pup so I can spend plenty of time socializing and training but I want to do this safely!! -We have a large fenced yard, there are no dogs other than our in the yard, is it safe to have the pup out there? Some people told me he shouldn't leave the house. -I have a lot of friends with vaccinated, stable tempered adult dogs. Is there any risk introducing them to a puppy? -I have family in the countryside, is it safe to take the pup out there if there aren't a lot of dogs around? -Any other advice, warnings, precautions or experiences out there? My last dog was 8 months when we rescued him so he was already fully vaccinated and I didn't have to worry about it. I also don't have a lot of friends who have adopted dogs as puppies, most of them got their dogs from shelters when they were older too. Thanks so much! |
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| Basically, you should keep puppy away from dogs other than your own (since you know he's up to date on vaccines) until the puppy is done with shots. If you know for a fact that the dogs of your friends are vaccinated and not sick, it should be okay to visit them and it would help puppy socialize. To socialize puppy with people, you can take him to places where other dogs haven't been, like to friends without dogs homes, or to visit your family in the countryside. I can't think of any reason why the country wouldn't be safe, watch out for ticks of course. I don't know if your dog could bring parvo home on his feet, someone else could answer that for you. If so, you can let them run in your fenced yard. They'll play together a lot I'm sure, so it's not like your dog will lay around doing nothing. |
| Also, I kept my puppy at home until she was finished with shots. She was finished with shots at around four months. We didn't socialize her out of the house much until after that, and she is still doing well. She is able to go around little kids and other dogs and everything without problems. She barks at strangers unless I let her know that they're okay. Anyway, if you're worried about the puppy possibly getting sick I'd stay home until shots are all done. Since you already have a dog, the puppy can start socializing with him. You could also invite people over to meet puppy. |
Happily, the parvo vaccine does a really decent job of control. The real danger is exposure with no vaccine, then pups almost always succumb and often die.  How old will your pup be when it comes to you? What age is the breeder giving the 1st vaccine? To be cautious, it's wise to limit unnecessary exposure as a small pup. At least until they have had vaccines (1 or 2 - for sure), and depends on when they got them. Newer recommendations are to wait until 8 weeks for the 1st set, otherwise it interferes with the maternal antibodies they are getting protection from with mom. (and this assumes mom is properly immunized) Easy stuff to do - like avoid areas that are open to the public, or where any dog (vaccinated or not) has access to. Invite friends with healthy, vaccinated dogs over, arrange playdates from known groups of dogs and puppies. You can do car trips, exposure to sounds and smells, work on bonding with your pup and getting off to a good start. I have done therapy dog volunteering with my dogs for over 25 years, and been an evaluator with TDI for over 15 years. The few weeks of caution are easy to keep filled with good and fun activities, you just need to be creative.  |
Wow! Thanks for the info! I still have a few weeks to go before puppy comes home, I'll have to organize some fun learning activities. Our other dog has AMAZING dog manners so he will be a great dog to learn from, we also have a giant picture window that the dogs look out (like doggie tv) that is puppy height and there are people and dogs walking by all day. I think I'll have to get creative with my training. Our dog trainer said that you should start training the minute they get home and spend a lot of time working with the dog, bonding and establishing consistency. (hence me taking my holidays at this time). There is so much good information on this forum, I could read for days! |
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