Walking Pup

[bird 9,872]

It's not so much the exercise that is important at a young age, but the socialisation: which means the pup getting out and about in the big wide world. Pups that never see beyond their yard or garden until over the age of 12 weeks often remain nervous of new things throughout their lives. This is because the neural connections in their brains finish joining up by 16 weeks at the latest, some say earlier. Remember the cases of those Romanian orphans that were left tied to beds from being tiny babies? None of them grew up normal: for a similar reason: deprived of stimulation, the brain fails to develop fully.

 

OK, dogs aren't quite the same as humans, but the principle is the same. Keep a pup shut away, and it doesn't develop such a good brain, and ability to cope with the things around it, as a pup that has been exposed to lots of different things: cars, people, other dogs particularly, different noises etc etc.

 

We have to balance out the slight risk of exposure to disease against the benefit of getting a well-rounded individual who can be at ease in a wide variety of situations: pretty essential in a working dog I think.

 

If you live in a bad area where there are lots of unvaccinated dogs where parvo etc is common, then it would be a bad idea to let your pup walk those streets. I take my pups in my van to areas where there are few dogs, and I only allow contact with those that I know have been vaccinated.

 

Also, the second vaccine, as someone said, is just to be safe in case the first one didn't take. This can happen if the pup still has a lot of maternal antibodies in its system, which are passed on from the mother to ensure the pups don't all die straight off if exposed to disease, or if the pup has been vaccinated too young for the vaccine to work.

 

I reckon most pups should be covered by the first vaccine if they have it at the age of 8 weeks. But to be safe, carry the pup along streets, don't take it to parks where there are lots of dogs and their mess. Get the pup out into the countryside/fields where there aren't dogs if you can: just until it's had the second jab ... but do get it out and about: even if you just stand at the end of the road holding the pup in your arms and letting it see the people and traffic go by. This is invaluable to the pup's development.

 

 

good thread penny, i had mine 2 dogs jabbed up the other day for there booster+wormer+mot .Was talking to vet about young pups ( 6-10 weeks) old , and he said same as you with 2nd jab . Its like you say where you take them, if not many dogs go there and you take it in your motor, should be ok , but if not and lot of dogs or walking it , wait till 2nd jab that what my vet said

[socks 32,253]

lads you can bring a pup somewhere where dogs don't be but don't forget fox's are dogs and get all the same infections that dogs do so the only way to really be safe is to wait until your dog has its jabs.

A fox and a dog are not the same one is vulpine the other is canine ..........

[RossM 8,119]

Well joe, the answer to your question is yes/no/maybe........ Hope this helps.

[chook1 184]

I had my pup out just a few days after his first jab, end of the day its what you feel is more important getting the pup out and giving it vital experiences or keeping it in on vets advice

I felt the pup would gain more getting out, unless your very strict on controlling the environment your pup is then you could quite easily walk in parvo on your shoes.

[General lee 979]

I've never had a dog jabbed and never had any problems

[nothernlite 18,077]

ive never took any of my dogs out before they were fully jagged usually about 3 months and not one was a nervous dog