Puppy exposed to rat, I’m distraught

[helpplease123456]

10 week old puppy, had first vaccination and been toilet training in back garden fabulously. Today whilst sniffing for a poo spot, a huge nasty rat ran out of a bush and disappeared under the gate. I am absolutely distraught and am terrified pup will get ill from rat urine.

Phoned vets who said no garden until after second vax because of the possibility of rat wee. We live in a town centre terrace and I feel like such an absolute moron thinking it was okay to take him in that garden after just the first jab. The advice about puppies being fine in the garden is clearly written for people with nice secure suburban gardens. Mine is a town centre and probably has fucking all sorts in it weeing at night, foxes etc. I’m thick.

I had severe PND with my DD (now 13) and the paranoia and guilt and this feels just like that. Have been absolutely fine with pup so far, absolutely loving it but I have a rat phobia so this experience has sent me quite irrational, I’ve been crying. Can somebody provide reassurance that pup will be alright? Any similar experiences of exposure where dog has been fine?

There are rats everywhere, it's just that most people don't see them.

Rats are a perfectly normal part of the environment, like birds and dandelions.

Your puppy will be fine.

He'll be fine. I knew we weren't supposed to walk him in the street but didn't know it was anything to do with rat urine. Our puppy was outside in the garden from the moment he came home as a tiny pup. My garden is a very large 4 acre wooded plot with probably all sorts of rat/badger/deer/fox/rabbit urine everywhere.

Your puppy should still have residual antibodies from his mother. There is no point in panicking until something actually happens. Even secure suburban and rural gardens will have rats and foxes passing through.

We also let DDog in the garden after his first vaccine....in fact we took out to loads of places, mainly because we couldnt/wouldnt leave him at home, ie out in the car for shopping etc......therefore hes peed on a lot of floors!

They are everywhere. One managed to dig its way into my rabbits hutch and run. It was nipping in and out eating their food for goodness how long until we spotted it. They were fine.
Your dog is probably going to encounter all sorts of other animals and their droppings over the next few years. It sounds like this has been very stressful for you and made you disproportionately anxious. It might be worth thinking of some calming strategies for next time something similar happens x

I’ve always had a rat phobia, the thought of them has always sent me irrational. This experience has been horrible and has made me feel like I’m in the midst of PND again, because my puppy is little and vulnerable and been exposed to my worst fear.

My nice suburban garden has rats in it. I don't think anywhere can be considered rat free, in all honesty.

We love rurally and all sorts of animals pass through our garden - am pretty sure that includes rats.

My own pup spent the first weeks of his life eating anything he could get hold of from the garden and was a-ok.

Try not to 'borrow trouble' and worry about something that hasn't happened and most likely, will never happen.

You are a good puppy mum, don't let the fact that there are rats in the world make you wobble.

Think of them as squirrels who've lost some tail fluff.

I’m not usually like this, just something about rats. Cannot stand the fuckers.

Thank you for the lovely responses, they are helping.

Your pup wasn’t exposed to a rat at all, it was just temporarily in the same garden! I thought you were going to say the dog was bitten. Please try to put things in perspective. Do you truly think there are no rats and mice in “nice secure suburban gardens”? They’re wildlife, they’re everywhere! What about voles and shrews? Wild birds? Frogs? All of them can carry disease but it’s pretty rare for people to be affected. You just need to wash your hands after handling garden stuff. Dogs and cats are rarely affected. It’s not like your dog spent half an hour rooting through a rat infested barn full of droppings.

It’s a shame you have a rat phobia but as you said yourself, it’s irrational. Normal hygiene measures and keeping your garden clear of rubbish and food scraps is all you need to do.

OK its a pup having its jabs so being safe is a good way to be if you want to wait until his second jab. But he is going to eat/digest, amongst other things in his life time

Dog Shit
Bird Shit
Rat shit
Swan shit (My dogs love it)
Sheep shit
Dog piss on every lamp post

Thats just off the top of my head. There will be rats, foxes, hedgehogs, cats, even human whatevers he may digest.

My dog is currently recovering for 6 days solid squirts and he only has himself to blame, the dirty little boy.

Your vet is being overly cautious. As someone else has said, puppies have strong antibodies inherited from their mother. They are strongest up to 6-8 weeks and disappear at around 16 weeks. If puppies were this fragile, even without vaccines, then dogs would have died out years ago! I am a lifelong dog owner. Back in the "bad old days" (the 60's) my parents did vaccinate their dogs, but many people didn't, and they were not dropping like flies. And vaccines don't provide immunity - they make it less likley the dog will get a serious illness, not impossible. My dogs have all been out and about from 8 weeks, and have lived long and healthy lives.

I support vaccination, and it's important that your dog gets the best health checks and treatment possible throughout its life. But vets also have a vested interest in people not avoiding preventative treatment - they bring in a lot of money. It's about balance. If your puppy is as fragile as all that that pottering around in the garden (or most other places) is going to kill it, there is something wrong with the puppy! And there is almost certainly nothing wrong with the puppy.

When we had our pup she’d be eating cat shit and any other bad stuff she found in our garden/out in the park. Your pup will be fine OP, they’re tough little buggers

If he was a rural dog, he'd soon discover the joys of rolling and eating fox and horse poo. Yum.

I'd be more worried about the rat tbh. Poor things have always unnecessarily persecuted, whereas dogs - who literally crap all over the pavements and can maul children if not trained properly - are treated like family members. If you think about it it's really sad.

Please don't worry! I thought your puppy had maybe killed a rat...
Rats in themselves are actually no more dirty than any other creatures, it's just that we associate them with sewers and rubbish tips- places that we humans have created.
Having a pup is actually going to be a great deterrent to your ever seeing a rat in the garden! They are pretty smart and will hide from him.
Sadly it won't deter mice from your house and they are far nastier to have - weeing everywhere and eating random stuff.
Our worst problem out in the country is deer sloping along behind the fence driving ddog completely bonkers !

Sending hugs. Try not to panic. Is your pup insured? Just something to be mindful of as you never know when they could be taken poorly. Honestly though, I expect most gardens have rats/mice/other rodents passing through. We live in the countryside (ISH) and have mice that have popped by, and we've seen rats in nearby fields before. We also have local cats that sometimes poo in the garden (how lovely!) and our dog has eaten it. We rehomed him from a family member and he came to us unvaccinated. He had the run of the garden up until he'd been fully vaccinated and was fine. We also have hedgehogs and other wildlife. Please try not to worry, I know it's an anxious time when you have a new pup and you worry about everything, I've been there, but unless he seems poorly, try not to worry

My shih tzu who died last year at 16 (!) was Teflon dog. Never worried about him in the garden. I think he deterred rats as well. It’s the vulnerability of a little puppy that makes me anxious, just need to give it time.

Whilst I was on the phone to the vet in tears, puppy was barking at Eastenders on the telly 😂

Pup will lick and eat all kinds of crap,please try not to worry, if you hadn't seen the rat you'd be none the wiser and pup would likely be fine.

Oh, and for the next few weeks when pup is being a pup, try and remember - puppies are twats!

As others have said he will be fine! I once caught a foster puppy eating a freshly dead pigeon in the garden - he was fine!

Pretty sure he'll be fine. Living close to a water course we do have rats now and again, much to my cats delight, he always tries to bring his "trophies" into the house, clamped in his jaws 😉

My dog has been eating cat, goat and cattle poop since she was little. Plus any other poop she could find on our rural small holding. She's as healthy as a horse (albeit a horse with disgusting habits). Your puppy will be absolutely fine.

Oh, and my DS used to regularly steal food from said dogs bowl when he was crawling. Again, disgusting but hopefully reassuring for you.

I haven't read through the other comments.. but it's leptospirosis that your pup will have had his first vaccination against. Lepto is uncommon in the Uk according to gov website. Rats can also carry toxoplasmosis but so can cats so I wouldn't worry about that too much either.
Our golden retriever has caught 2 rats in our very rural garden, both as a puppy under 6 months, (but fully vaccinated). He is now 18 months and has shown no ill effects. Sadly we have a bad rat problem due to chickens.