New pup - should I walk when vet says?

[Moriartea]

Hi everyone,

We've just got a new pup, 2nd dog in the household

Pup is 13 weeks old, got her a few days ago. Went to vet yday for her first vaccinations and vetinary nurse said she could be walked a week after first vaccination as long as I kept her away from wet places/canals until she's had her 2nd jab because of lepto risk

I've done a quick google and apparently in dogs over 10 weeks the immunity for all diseases (except lepto) is established a week after 1st jab

I'm just a bit nervous about taking her out before she's had her second jab, but nurse said as she's already 13 weeks it's good to get her out. I've taken her out and about carrying her, to get her used to meeting people.

Anyone else had any experience surrounding this? Thanks

I wouldn't do that. I would carry on as you are doing, carrying puppy and taking in the car to experience things, but for my dog's vaccinations it was a week after the second jab. It might even have been a week after the third. Lepto is carried by rats and they urinate everywhere.

It's totally up to you.

13 weeks is pretty old for first vaccinations though, so you do need to balance the risk of infection against the benefits of socialisation, given that the main "window" for the latter closes at 16 weeks.

Here, it's first jab then 2 weeks after that the second jab and wait a week and they are free to go out. Usually by 12 weeks the immunity from the mother is gone, and they are exposed to not only Lepto but Parvo. We've recently gotten a pup and he was not vaccinated due to being reserved by someone then they cancelled. He was 11 weeks when he got his first jab and my arms were like Popeye's carrying him. The only time he was let down was on the hard sand when the tide was fully out and that was just a few minutes, that was the week between the second jag and his freedom day. I have read about a third jab, I haven't asked our vet about it.

Thanks everyone, it's exactly that @sunsetsandboardwalks I am very aware about the window for socialisation and that's what worries me

We have another dog and she'll visit my parents and their dog too, but I do worry about the social aspect

Maybe I'll have another chat with the vets on the phone

The issue is it's not just other dogs, it's the experience of walking on the ground and all the sights and smells.

I walk a dog who had no socialisation in those critical weeks and he is very reactive - after four years of solid work with his owners, he's better but at first he was scared of everything - gates, cattle grids, horses, dogs, cats, cars, car doors, leaves...you name it. It was really difficult and it made things really stressful.

Obviously that's quite an extreme case but it shows how critical early socialisation is in dogs. I'm not sure I'd want to risk missing it.

The risk of a poorly socialised and reactive dog would worry me far more.

Stay away from places with vermin and don't let your dog drink from puddles or other bodies of water, but I feel they're at an age where they need to be experiencing the world from the ground.

Thanks everyone

We live in a large town, I assume pavement walking is safe enough so we'll do that 🤞

@Moriartea good luck with your puppy, they grow so quickly, ours is growing like a wee mushroom 🍄 x

@NippyCrab Thank you 😊 good luck with yours too

Totally this.

I'd take the vet's advice.

As PP have said, you don't want to lose the chance of socialising your puppy.

I had exactly the same dilemma. Our border collie came to us at almost 9 weeks and would have been just over 9 weeks at the first vaccination but the vet said wait until 10 weeks for the first and then go out after a week so you're out sooner. I googled like mad about it and if you look up the official prescribing information for the vaccine (nobivac) it does say this in there. We did go with this and everything was fine. Enjoyed getting him out. We did take special care to avoid any water and even ouddles - was fun in January in Scotland!

I’d go with what the vet says - the time frames vary by brand of vaccination and they should have an idea of whether there’s a lot of cases locally as well.

Lepto is awful but if you avoid water especially puddles you will be fine.

Puppy classes? So they’re only seeing other pups?

Pavement walking will be fine. She needs to get out there or you could miss the window and have all kinds of issues. She needs to have experiences now of things outdoors and seeing other dogs across the street etc. dogs that bark like crazy when they see another dog just havnt been given early socialisation in my opinion it's madness.

I’d prioritise socialising and experience having lived 14 years with a dear dog that didn’t get those opportunities till to late.

Remember that meeting other dogs is only a small part of socialisation, and that a lot can be done from your arms.

PDSA puppy socialisation checklist

I would always follow my vet's advice on when to restrict activities and when it's safe to start.

I have been carrying mine everywhere including into shops. Lots of visits to other peoples houses who have dogs who are vaccinated and people coming to my house with dogs. Short and long car trips, off to parks to see buggy’s/ducks/bikes/joggers etc but I haven’t let him out his feet on ground. He is super tiny and underweight and behind with vacs due to terrible start ( puppy farm rescue) so vet was v insistent I had to be extra careful with him. He had to have extra meds and four weeks between vacs with possibly a third vaccine. I’m just doing my absolute best to make sure he is socialised appropriately while kept safe.
I would listen to your own vets advice as they know you circumstances best

Although it is best practice to wait until the second vaccine, I advise similar to your vet nurse (pavement walks only, no glens/water ways/muddy areas). She only needs a very short walk at that age anyway so she’ll barely be on the ground. It’s weighing up what you’re comfortable with and whether her social skills will suffer by waiting, she is highly unlikely to pick anything up walking on a pavement for 5 minutes.

Don't forget to play firework sounds and thunderstorms over a speakers well! Really helps 😊

I'd take the vets advice.

If I remember correctly, I took my floof out after his first one for only a few mins around the residential estate. However, nowhere local had the same vaccination as the first so he had to have the first again.

Thanks so much everyone, really kind of you all to give advice and experiences

Pavement walk it is 😊

We've been doing the fireworks sounds, she heard thunder today naturally 🤣 and walking her down the main road (carrying her) so she can get used to traffic noises