Hi guys I'm new here I will post an intro in the intro section but I have a quick question. Oscar is 8 weeks old went for his first injections last night and I was told by the vet that he should never have been let into our garden due to the risk from Lepto! If we one keep him in it will probably un do all the effort we have put into toilet training and obviously Oscar is not too happy and whines to get out to the toilet and seems unhappy to go inside! Do I take the chance or confine him to the house? Any thoughts welcome!
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? Hi Natalie and welcome to the forum This is a topic that not all vets agree on. Here are my thoughts, I'm sure others will be along to add theirs. Perhaps there is a particular local risk factor that your vet is concerned about? Pippa
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? I think Pippa's article sums it up, and for me the benefits of letting a puppy into the garden far out way the risk. Re Leptospirosis, the most likely places to pick it up, I think, are if there are active rat runs in the garden, garden ponds and any outdoor drinking bowls you might put down for the dog. I'd suggest just keep your puppy away from still water ie ponds in the garden and if you do have an outside bowl, change the water daily. Just my thoughts and feelings - not an expert. Oh welcome to the forum - 4 year old girl called Lady here!
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? Hello and welcome from me and my two year old boy Sam Remembering that the choice is yours entirely , but I do think that most people consider their pups to be safe in their own gardens , just be aware, as David said, that if there are rats in the vicinity , keep an eye open for them .
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? Thanks for the replies! I don't have a pond so I guess rats would be the only issue? I'll have to give it some more thought but he is so unhappy pooing in the house that I don't think I'll be able to keep him in for long!
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? Good grief Natalie,all the worry and stressing I hear about with poor owners trying to get there dogs to poo outside and here you are with the reverse problem...it doesn't seem right.i don't know enough to advise you on this...I'll say hello properly in your intro x
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? Ugh rats??? Not wanting to boast...well maybe I am....Alberta is Canada's only rat-free province (probably one of the few places in the world, actually), so I've never even seen one of the nasty brutes. Thankfully!!! So can't give you any advice on this, Natalie....feel the same way as Angela....
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? Do what's recommended for their physical well-being or do what is best for their mental well-being. This is a real dilemma for new puppy owners isn't it? :-\ Do any organisations keep, and publish, details of the incidence of the various diseases across the UK (sorry, I'm assuming most of us are in the UK but the query applies for other countries too)? It would be really handy if there was a traffic-light style display overlayed on a map to show areas of high infection (red) and areas of non/low infection (green) - at least this would give some reassurance on the benefit of 'herd immunity' in your particular area.
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? I'd never heard of this prior to reading this thread. Apparently a vaccine is available (says Google). Personally, though, I'd agree that the risk of this illness would be acceptably small compared to the risk posed by a lowered level of socialisation. Lisa, I'm very jealous of your rat-free Albertan lifestyle! We have to bait our roof space for the blighters every winter.... Yucky things.
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? I have foxes in my garden and I was told that there was parvovirus in the London fox population when Charlie was small. I decide to let him in the garden (and go to puppy school) mainly because I thought that it would be impossible to keep him away from the virus if it was present in my garden. Although we had a shoes off at the door policy etc. I still think it would have been practically impossible to avoid contaminating indoor floors. This might be nonsense, of course, but it's what I decided to do. It's so worrying when they are very small - they grow up quickly though!
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? Just to update you all we decided keeping Oscar in was too distressing for him so let him run around outside as usual! He has now had all his injections and is enjoying being out walking and chasing leaves in the park! However due to issues with Lepto in our area he has to have an additional vaccination at 14 weeks old, we can still take him out but just have to stay clear of water and anywhere else he might get lepto!
Re: Leptospirosis in my garden? Thats good news My two dogs dont have annual boosters, they have every three yearly, but they do get their annual Lepto vaccination as they go into lots of water courses and where there is water, there are usual the odd few rats , its a peace of mind thing . So pleased that your pup is enjoying himself
