With vaccines becoming more effective at younger ages, there is a lot of conflicting advice about when a puppy can be taken out to public areas after having its puppy vaccinations.
There are two important points we need to balance against each other when it comes to taking your dog out: the risk of disease and the benefits of early socialisation.
Once again, there is no “one size fits all” advice for this, with each animal and their environment being considered.
With a severe parvo outbreak in the Greater Bunbury Region, we are recommending allowing two weeks from the final puppy vaccination (given at 14-16 weeks of age) before taking your dog to public places such as parks and beaches. This is because some puppies (3-10% depending on breed) are not adequately protected by the 10-12 week vaccination, which would put them at an increased risk of picking up parvo if taken out earlier.
We do recognise that socialising puppies when young is important. This is best done by talking taking your puppy to friends houses, or getting friends to bring their dogs to your house to play. Of course, only do this if your friends dog is properly vaccinated. It is also important to ensure your puppy meets a lot of different people, especially kids, when young so they are comfortable interacting with them as they grow.
We may on occasion recommend taking a puppy out before their final vaccination if we feel early socialisation is particularly important for that individual, such as if they are showing fear of people or other dogs from a young age. This is a difficult balance, as we need to compare the risks of the dog picking up parvo against the risk of it developing behaviour or anxiety issues which may lead to problems in the future.
The best way to determine when your pup can go out in public is to discuss it with your vet. They will be happy to talk through your pets needs, and tailor a plan just for them.