Puppy toilet training inside or outside

[thegirlwiththemouseyhair]

We've just taken our 9 week old pup to the vet. This is the 5th pup I've had in my life and I've always toilet trained them by taking them outside (enclosed garden).
The vet said (a new one I've not met before) that puppy should not go outside AT ALL until he's had his second jabs (10 days time) because of the risk of parvo from foxes.
But this would mean 2 lots of training -inside on pads or paper and then again outside!
I have an older dog who is of course up to date with his jabs.

I'm very confused by this.
So just wondering what you guys do and what info you have - there does seem to be conflicting advice.....

There is a small risk by taking your puppy outside in the garden, but there is also a small risk because you have another dog going in and out for walks/in and out of the garden and people coming in and out of the house, all of whom could carry something in on their feet, so really it's up to you as to whether you want to take those risks and if you think the benefit of toilet training outside outweighs the risk of parvo from the garden.

You could, if you wanted, section or fence off a small area of patio or something and disinfect that, which would reduce the risk further if you only allow puppy outside on that area.

Puppy should already have some immunity from Mum before he even has his jabs though. For this reason I always take the decision to walk my bitches outside when they have a litter and allow litters of puppies time in the garden, when obviously the pups aren't vaccinated yet. I feel the benefits of doing this outweigh the small risk.

I guess it all depends on where you live. My vet said here she hasn't seen parvo or distemper for years (there are no foxes here!), and the main risk is leptospirosis from rats. If you have a lot of foxes in your garden, then maybe your vet has a point, if not, then I would toilet train in the garden as normal. My 8 week old puppy loves running round the garden, I couldn't imagine keeping her in to toilet train. I can't guarantee that there are no rats going in our garden, but still it is a small risk. As midori says anyone coming into the house could have trodden in infected dog, fox or rat poo and be bringing that in (nice thought eh?)

I was taking my 9 week old puppy outside for socialization (choosing carefully where to take her and when to put her down or keep in my arms) as well as toilet training. There were a few raised eyebrows, but I think a bit of common sense is always a bonus when dealing with animals.

The vet is right, there are some health risks, but they are so miniscule that I am happy to ignore these, unless there is a genuine outbreak locally. As others said, you will be bringing germs from outside anyway.

Socialisation (or lack of it) at this age can do a lot more harm to your baby in the long run.