Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ashley on November 30, 2009 at 11:20am

Try to find an area where less dogs visit in your area. It might mean that you have to walk a little further but will help your puppy in the long term. Also you will want to make sure that he/she interacts with other dogs that have been fully vaccinated. This will help with teaching the puppy that other dogs are ok. This might be a dog on your floor or if your friends or parents have dogs. You will just want to make sure that they really are up to date before letting the little one play.

Permalink Reply by Jessica on January 2, 2010 at 6:26pm

This is perfect advice and exactly how we handled Killian before he was fully vac'd.

Permalink Reply by Amy & Peggy on December 6, 2009 at 5:41pm

Thanks for the advice!

Permalink Reply by Kari & Jackson on December 13, 2009 at 12:52pm

This doesn't have too much to do with puppy poop and going potty safely... but as far as socializing is concerned, there should be some puppy play dates in your area. I've found a service in SF that meets every Friday. Puppies without full vaccinations get to play together for an hour. It's $15/session but I think it's worth it to avoid having a crazy Corgi. :)

I'm in the same boat as you! My guy comes home in two weeks!

Permalink Reply by Liz Gritt on December 28, 2009 at 12:30am

We live in one of those "Parvo infested" areas and were told by our vet to keep him on pavement more than grass...especially in high traffic areas. Since we also had a really rough time with giardia, we were extremely careful where he did his 'business'. He socialized with our next door neighbors dogs and the 'ranch dogs'. Those 16 weeks were killer... Glad that's in the past!

Permalink Reply by Kari & Jackson on December 28, 2009 at 4:18am

How are you doing? Are you taking her outside yet?

My vet recommended waiting until his second set of vaccinations, at 12 weeks. She said the risk for social disadvantages, at that point, would outweigh the risk of contracting any diseases.

For now he's only been home four nights and hasn't missed the puppy pads once... my vet also seemed confident that this translation from pad to outside should be very easy!

Let me know what works for you.

Permalink Reply by Amy & Peggy on December 31, 2009 at 8:18pm

I've been taking her outside when she comes to work with me since we have a huge grass area on our office campus. She's totally understanding the concept of 'outside'. At home, however, I've been taking her out on puppy pads on my patio. I figure this is a good compromise for the time being since it's semi-outside, and once she finishes her last 2 shots (she already has had 2) I'll be taking her out to the street and finding as many small patches of grass as possible.

How are you guys doing? Sounds like Jackson is liking his puppy pads! Peggy rips the puppy pads apart so I purchased a holder to prevent from chewing.

Permalink Reply by Katy on December 31, 2009 at 4:00pm

Naive puppies/dogs (little to no exposure of the outside world to immune system) are more likely to get sick than those that are exposed to the world. I took my pup out at 6 weeks and never had an issue. Some people are over protective of their dogs just as they are with children, let them get dirty. It's the best thing for their immune system, that and keeping up with regular puppy deworming and vaccines^_~