Puppy vaccine & walks question

[mac12]

Our Springer puppy is 11 weeks. He came from the breeder having had his first set of vaccination, which included Lepto 2 covering two strains of Leptospirosis.
When I took him for his second round of vaccination, our vet said this wasn't good enough coverage and recommended another vaccine that covers all four strains but this means we now have to wait another five weeks until he can go out for walks!!! His next round of vaccinations (his third, but only his second of the 4-strain vaccine IYSWIM) is the last week of school term, which seems ages away.
All the advice I've read has said how important early socialisation is for puppies & I'm worried this long wait of being in our home and garden won't be good for his development.

I guess my question is, can we take him out for walks while awaiting the next set of vaccinations? How much risk would he be at? We live in a small village with a billionty dogs surrounded by miles of country walks but would he be ok if we took him into woods/tracks when no other dogs are around? Has anyone else been in this position & what did you do?

When we lived in central London our vet said he though the risk of poor socialisation was greater than the risk of parvo. But he also said that dogs in London generally were vaccinated so the risk was low.

It's a tough one, we always took pups out before second jabs in London, not since we moved more rurally - our London dogs were definitely better socialised.

Does your vet organise puppy parties at all?

Can you ask the vet why they advised lepto4 - is there lepto in the area or is it just a blanket policy? I recently moved from a vet who only did L4 on request to one that does it as standard, so have had to go through the revaccination process with two of mine. (Old vet sold up to a chain and one of the younger vets in the practice opened his own practice - so I'm happy to go with him)

You do have to weigh up the risk of poor socialisation vs illness. In your shoes I might try to find nice dogs that have been vaccinated and meet them in a garden (assuming it's allowed soon) rather than fields and parks. On balance, thinking about it (and I have a reactive rescue) I would prioritise socialisation.

I'd prioritise socialization too. But its not just meeting dogs, it's getting used to all sorts of sights and sounds - so sitting in the car boot watching the world go by.

Our quite sensible bet said just don't take the dog where there's lot of other dogs. We live near a beach so that was perfect. And socialise with other vaccinated dogs.

A friend set up a puppy facebook group to do puppy socialisations.

We took pup to the pub (I guess park would work in lockdown) and put a puppy pad for him so he either sat on us or the pad while watching other dogs/children/bikes and went for walks with pup being carried.

When we got our most recent puppy, the breeder, the vet and my own research recommended Lepto2.

Personally, I'd be a lot more worried about parvo than lepto, possibly because I've known a puppy who died of parvo (very, very quickly, about 48 hours if that from first signs to PTS)

In your shoes I would check with the vet that your puppy will have decent immunity to some of the strains of Lepto, and that the vaccs the vet has given are compatible with the ones the puppy had already had. If they are, you should have reasonable immunity within 10 days of the second vaccs (that was what our vet advised us this past summer). That meant she was out and about fully (not carried or whatever) at 11 weeks and 5 days. Socialisation is really important, and you don't have much time for it at the best of times. That said, it's more about exposure than actual meet-and-greets: you just want the puppy to see a huge range of human beings, dogs, environments, moving vehicles, trees thrashing in the wind, rain etc etc, and to hear as many noises and smell as many smells as possible. I got mine used to flapping shop signs and passing bikes and sudden loud bangs and screeching school kids.

I'd give the vet a ring and I was told that the parvo was all good and that the Lepto4 was supporting the Lepto vac the puppy had already had, I'd be out of my front door with the puppy in a flash.

Brilliant, thank you so much everyone. The vet said Lepto was common in our area, which is why I went for the Lepto4. But my instincts tell me socialisation so important so I will give vet a call about immunity and getting him out and about before the next vaccines.

I think you have to be more careful in the countryside, this is what we were told, because other animals, not only unvaccinated dogs carry it

but as someone else said, there are other things you can do like taking him out in the car, sitting outside on a bench with him on your lap (I know not easy as they get bigger), trying to engineer meeting in your garden with someone with a vaccinated dog

we actually did more socialisation when he wasn't vaccinated than he was because places like pubs and restaurants were open and we could just sit inside and watch the world go by!

I would be especially careful by stagnant water and other places that rats like to go. Also avoid farmland or areas near fields where the waste products from farm animals, especially dairy cows, may run into. If you are lucky enough to live near a beach head there.

Our plan is to carry our puppy on walks until after his second vaccinations. That way he’s seeing/smelling/hearing all the hustle and bustle of life. Meet in gardens with vaccinated dogs. Not sure what Covid rules are regarding dogs, but I think after the 2nd December, renting a dog field and inviting a couple of vaccinated dogs to come and play would be a good idea.

We are in exactly your position. Our vet said she was happy for us to take him out a week after we'd had the second jab (first with her and L4), so long as we kept him away from standing/stagnant water. So that's what we've been doing and he's loving it... We're in London, but zone 4, right next to a big park.

We got a relatively cheap pet buggy because my pup was quite big. It was a lifesaver to be honest, got both of us out and about more than we would’ve done otherwise.

Thank you everyone. I spoke to the vet, who said ok for walks but to keep away from rivers, canals & stagnant water etc because of rats. So we've done a couple of tiny walks in the lanes. I am carrying him out on longer walks (will be good for muscle tone if nothing else!) and also going on drives to look at the world. That dog pushchair is so cute!!