Letting puppy in garden before being vaxxed

[DowntonNabby]

Can someone please settle an argument for me? Can you let your puppy in your back garden to toilet train before they've had their first and second set of jabs?

We always have

What about if you know foxes sometimes go in your garden?

Foxes do go in our garden. But we've still always let them out to wee/poo from day 1.

Of course you can. How else are you going to toilet train them? The real risk is unvaccinated dogs, not foxes.

Yep of course otherwise you're missing a very valuable toilet training opportunity!

Also they should have some immunity from mum

Yes definitely

This is what we've had conflicting advice about! That foxes were a huge danger.

Foxes are quite a distant species to dogs, so the risk is minimal.

Definitely.

Thanks so much for the reassurance everyone! It's our first pup and we just weren't sure.

Yes, we let ours out, it's public places you can't. Enjoy your new puppy!

My friend didn't let hers out and trained her to go on puppy pads, it took her ages to then re-train her to go outside and even now at 5 she has accidents.

We always did. Not doing would have been totally impractical. I couldn't see any other way to begin reliably toilet training them.

They didn't go for walks in public areas until after their second set of vaccinations.

You should also be carrying puppy around to expose them to new sights and smells. They shouldn’t go on the ground yet but take them outside supermarkets, train stations, playgrounds….they need lots of socialisation during this time while their brains are in the “socialisation window”. I would also be inviting well-mannered vaccinated dogs over to play or taking puppy to their house.

I don't think you have much choice to be honest, and the risk is not likely to be high.

One of my puppies managed to roll in fox shit at about 10 weeks old. She is currently sleeping on the sofa next to me, many years down the track.

Yes straight away, I also took ddog out every day in a puppy sling.

You have such a short window to socialise them you have to make the most of every day.

We have a sling ready to do just that!

That's irrelevant. They carry many zoonotic diseases that can be spread to dogs and humans. As do hedgehogs and rats. In theory your pup is at risk if your garden is frequented by wildlife. Ideally you'd have a patio area he can use that can be washed down and be kept on leash. If your pup eats fox poo he can end up with toxocara. I'd at least keep him on a leash.

Ideally you'd have a patio area he can use that can be washed down and be kept on leash. If your pup eats fox poo he can end up with toxocara. I'd at least keep him on a leash.

It's a good idea to have a specified spending area - also, that way the pup doesn't think it's playtime every time they get put outside for toileting.