Nugget is 11 weeks. I've posted on here about him before - he'd been exposed to kennel cough at the breeder's, and came down with it within a couple of days of getting him home. It quickly developed into pneumonia and he was very sick. Happily, he's better now. I just visited the vet and they cannot give him any vaccinations until next week. And because so much time has elapsed since the first one, he has to start all over again. So he cannot go down on the ground outside for another 5 weeks, by which time he'll be 16 weeks old. I'm already struggling with him. He's heavy and lively and I have to carry him to the car every afternoon for the school run (which is long). Sometimes I feel as if he will jump out of my arms and I can barely hang on to him. I can't take him out for too long in case he needs a wee - I can't put him down to have one! I can't socialize him because he's getting hard to carry and tries squirming out of my arms constantly. I can't let him meet other dogs. Has anyone got any advice for me on how to cope through this period? I'm so worried I'm going to be left with long term issues (particularly re socialization) and I'm worried about how I am going to manage him physically, getting in and out of the car without putting him down.
Hi there, Nugget is such a cute name!! I'm so sorry to hear he's not been well our 7month old just had KC and it is heartbreaking. But they do bounce back quickly don't they There is a thread in the health section on ideas for things to do with dogs on restricted exercise. It's mostly training stuff so will be really nice way of bonding with your new pup. There might be something useful on there to help you stop going stir crazy. Do you know any dog less friends who have nice back gardens? They don't need much space at that age but a bit of grass to run about on will be nice for him. We did this with out pup at 11 weeks, she just chased us round the garden for a bit and had a big sniff about- it would get you out of the house too which I'm guessing would be welcome. I remember how heavy tatti was getting towards the end of the no out zone so I fully understand your pain. I'm not sure I have much to offer I'm afraid but will come back if I think of anything. A crate in a wheelbarrow is the best I can come up with :-/ Keep us updated and I hope someone comes back to you with some useful suggestions L
Oh, also some puppy classes are designed for pups who hvent hs thier injections yet- your vet might know about them so it's worth an ask again, I don't know how you get there without putting your dog in the car though, sorry.
Oh, what bad luck! If you know anyone that has dogs who are fully vaccinated, there is no reason that they can't have a play together. That will help burn some energy and help with socialisation.
Oh that is such a shame but don't despair, I'm sure we can come up with some ideas between us. There shouldn't be any reason why you can't play with Nugget in the garden and do some training to tire out the furry brain. Although there is always some risk I think we all bite the bullet and allow play in the garden before vaccinations are effective. I know Juno was out playing with her brothers and sisters, mum and dad before she had any vaccinations. Have a look at the "dogs on restricted exercise thread" for some ideas for training. Hopefully @Boogie will also be able to offer some advise about taking Nugget out and about as she is a puppy walker for the Guide Dogs so has a new puppy every year and they aren't allowed to be paws down until 17 weeks old if I remember rightly. Oh forgot to add if you have friends or family with an older vaccinated dog it is fine for them to meet and play, as long as the older dog has nice manners
I have always been under the impression that the "no ground" rules were for outside the dog's yard/garden where it could come in contact with another dogs poo or pee. Inside your own secure yard/garden have at it. At least that's how I understood it when we were told by our vet. Yours may be of a different mind than ours
It will depend on where you live - since foxes can carry parvo, and it stays in the ground for sooooo long, if you have loads of foxes crossing your garden, your vet may consider it too high a risk. But most people do it, and most are fine. It's one of those things you have to weigh up yourself, with the knowledge you have available.
Thanks so much for your replies. I didn't explain myself very well - I do have a little garden and he has been going out there since I got him. I think my biggest concern is re socialization - I want to take him places to meet people, hear traffic etc but he's getting heavy already and by 16 weeks will be WAY too heavy for me. Just not sure how to get around it. But it's OK for him to play with a vaccinated dog? I didn't realize that. I do have friends with dogs but I was under the impression he couldn't go near other dogs at all until he's finished his vaccinations. And I'll definitely check out the threads mentioned - thank you
Sorry to hear about the problems you are having. It's not possible to be sure about what impact this will have on your dog. Is he from working lines, or from show lines? Bred in a kitchen, or in a kennel? If he's from show lines, and spent his early days in a kitchen/home, particularly with family dogs and humans around too, you might not need to worry so very much. Although socialisation is important and needs to be on-going process throughout the dog's life, and of course the experiences when young make an impact, it's possible that the dog's breeding and very early socialisation play a much bigger part in the temperament of the dog than what you do when you get your dog home. I'd say this is particularly true for Labradors, where you have a really good chance of a dog that isn't naturally shy. They are all different, of course, and it's impossible to say with any certainty, but I wouldn't be as worried as you sound - unless you have reason to think that the puppy you have tends towards being shy, or has had particularly limited experiences of other dogs and people and busy environments etc due to his upbringing at the breeder's facilities. What kind of breeder was he from? What was the set up there? It's not quite like that - it's not possible for anyone to tell you whether something is 'ok' or not. Certainly, the safest thing to do with a puppy that doesn't yet have full cover from being vaccinated is keep it inside and have everyone disinfect their shoes and hands before coming into your home! But hardly anyone would go to those extremes. Most people think allowing the puppy in the garden is a necessary and acceptable risk. Others think taking a puppy to puppy school/socialisation classes is ok, others take no precautions at all and walk their puppies outside around all other dogs from 8 weeks. It's about weighing up the risks, rather than some things being ok, and other things not being ok. Only you, advised by your vet, and understanding the nature of the puppy you have can decide what is an acceptable risk. This article might help a bit: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/when-can-i-take-my-puppy-out/ My own decision was that my dog was allowed in my garden, I took him to puppy classes and socialisation classes, and he did meet some dogs that were vaccinated and well known to me. When I got stuck one day on the way to puppy class and he needed a poo I took him to have a poo in a church yard (hoping that was a place where most people would not allow their dogs to poo!).
Poor you and poor Nugget. I was just thinking about your socialisation issues. I think try not to worry. Could you get some of your children's friends to the house so he meets lots of people? You could also drive somewhere busy and perhaps let him watch the world go by/hear the noise out of the car window whilst you held him? Also, our vets don't do first vaccine until dogs are 10 weeks old, so 14 weeks at second vaccine and a week after that until they can go out. So most dogs not around here are not out until 15 weeks old, so he's not that far behind. I'm sure he will be fine. Good luck. X
That is exactly what I did with my pup. Phone your vet and see if there is any parvovirus in the area.
A vet can only respond on whether there have been any confirmed cases of parvovirus , not whether the virus is laying dormant in the soil. Parvovirus can lay dormant in soil for upto 10 years.
Yes, I know that, but if we worried about that we wouldn't set foot outside the house with older dogs!
Why would you worry if you're dog has been vaccinated? Isn't that the point of vaccination programmes? To minimise risk to our dogs. I know I don't give a second thought to parvo, wherever I go, and we did have parvo in the area when Juno was little.
I don't know for sure Rosemary, but I guess that the reason is that no vaccination will 100% protect you/your dog/your child - although it will likely reduce the risk of any individual getting infected if exposed to a particular infection, it may not stop it. It might mean there is a reduced severity of a particular infection if it is contracted even if it doesn't prevent. And also widespread immunisation should reduce the overall prevalence of the vaccination disease in the community ("herd immunity") therefore there is a view that the protection of the individual isn't as vital as the protection of "the community". I known nothing specific about Parvo, just vaccination programmes in general. Not sure if this helps or just derails the discussion.
Oh I agree Jac that no vaccination programme is 100% whether for ourselves or our dogs, I just tend to take the view better with than without. I guess Parvo is much harder to make decisions on as it's not just a simple matter of a case or cases having been reported in your area. A vet may advise that there is a low risk in your area but it's down to us to try and decide how low that risk is for our pups - the vet can only advise on number of cases reported over a period of time. The problem I have on the "herd immunity" theory is what happens if we all start deciding that we don't like giving our pets boosters/vaccinations to protect against disease? In Grimsby, round 20 miles from me, there has been reports of 20+ cases of parvo since December and not just in unprotected puppies. I suspect many of those cases could have been prevented or the severity reduced by immunisation. There are already an increasing number of cases of lungworm being reported which is easily prevented by a tablet given every 3 months. Oops, sorry sounds as if I'm ranting now
Well, no, I agree, its collective responsibility. I know there are those that think any chemical or foreign substance in their bodies (or their children/animals) is clearly wrong, or who have past experience of adverse effects so are willing to take personal risks after weighing up the evidence. Its those that don't do it because they can't be bothered, don't want to spend the money blah blah blah that annoy me.
The problem is, it's not just taking personal risks. It's also increasing the risk to those that cannot be covered for medical reasons, or because they are too young. But, yes, there are cases where people/animals cannot be vaccinated for certain reasons, and they have to rely on the rest of us doing the responsible thing and building and maintaining that herd immunity.
Oh yes, me too; though I will admit to annoyance with so it's aright for me to protect their children/dogs by using the same chemicals etc. I suspect that many of us don't like the idea of using chemicals etc to protect our health or that of our children or animals but what happens if we all take the same stance? Serious adverse reactions are of course different
