hey, im just wondering at what age you start letting your puppies outside to have a play?

Weather permitting around 5 weeks.

my puppies dont have run of the house,  would they be alright going out for a half hour on warm days at 3 or 4 weeks old?   supervised in a puppy pen?

so many ifs and buts.....certainly mine wouldnt unless i was there the whole time next to them, and i was constantly monitoring the temp and situation. watch out for badgers too! my friend had her 4 week old lab pup taken a couple of weeks ago, it was pulled through the mesh of a puppy pen when she went indoors for an hour :(

thankfully we dont have Badgers or anything like that here. the scariest thing we have is our big black cat :)

I let them out to play but stay with them at all times as they pick up stuff of the grass and get into the bushes , I tend to let them out immediately after eating to toilet, and for a little play as this makes toilet training easier when they leave for thier new homes.

4 weeks, have never managed to delay it beyond 4 1/2 weeks no matter how bad the weather, but these are very forward breed and like the outdoors.

Have had five week old puppies romping in the snow, not wanting to come in.

I have a 12 x 10 foot dog run outside the kitchen with double kennel attached, so they can have one of the kennels too, so pups have room to play, and a board across the entrance keeps and area free of puppies for the adults, but they can come and go to pups.

Indoors they are confined to the puppy pen so the adults again have peace, and are only allowed loose for a few minutes under supervision, could not have them running loose all the time indoors, it's hard enough not to stand on one as it is ;) .

Luckily no larger wildlife brave enough to enter my garden, though cats tease through or from the fences.

> it was pulled through the mesh of a puppy pen when she went indoors for an hour :-(

How big was the mesh!!!  Puppy panel mesh is 1/2 inch square or thereabouts and dog run panels 2 inches????

At 4 weeks my large breed are out in the puppy run for short play times building up to full time (Day) at about 5 1/2 weeks. They have a half covered run 10ft x 20 ft with a small kennel and lots of shade. If I am out with them then by 6 weeks they have the run of the garden when supervised!! The puppy run is right outside my kitchen and along side next doors fence so Rosie next door also keeps an eye on them. The garden is fully fenced to a hight of 7 ft all round bar the fence to Rosie which is 4 ft. The adults also have free acces to the garden and act as a wonderfull alarm....not a strange mouse moves without them telling me!! (They are well used to the neigbours but can spot a stranger at 1/2mile!!!) However I never ever leave pupos out if there is no one home. They are then in a large run in the dining room....well it takes up most of the room! They also sleep in the dining room...with the adults on gaurd.
I try to make sure they have a period of time each day with a free run, they get used to small steps, gravel, grass, slabs, and tarmac under thier feet. They can run and play and have all sorts of things to investigate like, wood heaps, bags of leaves (Great fun) dustbins, flower tubs (For re-potting) a huge oak tree for racing round, and acces to the kitchen for checking up on food preperations!! They go out in rain sun or snow, winds and whatever else the English weather can throw at them! If you have the room then let them play..the more they see and feel at this age the more  socialized they will be later.
Aileen

ive never let mine out at all i thought it was not right as they had not had their injections my vet said no because of the foxes, they have a large pen indoors then i let them run around indoors to play.Ive got a litter due in a few weeks so do you think it is okay to let them out in a pen when they are old enough?

Not sure which breed you have  (Size wise) but I would say that all puppies need time out in the fresh air. They need to learn about the big wide world and though mine are little ruffie tuffies I would say even toy breeds need to go out at some piont. Your garden is safe before jabs are done as the pups should have a lot of Mums immunity to the bugs found in your garden and as long as they are supervised then foxes would not be a problem. After all they need to start to go out as soon as they move on to new homes if only for toileting. Personnaly I think your vet is wrong and yes I think you need to make provision for outside play times to get them used to somewhere other than your house. The more sights and sounds they see in the first 8 weeks the better able they are to cope with life.
Aileen

barbara, the whole mesh was destroyed and the remains of the single missing pup was pulled thru

I let mine out about 5 weeks, (toy breed) it's easier to take them straight out when they wake up, then they can have a wee outside. I think they get the idea of going outside for the toilet much quicker, rather than putting them on puppy pads to wee inside. I also think they need the sun and light on them to make their bones nice and strong. They love exploring too. Definitely good for their development.

Golly Aileen that sounds similar to me, except the indoor pen isn't able to be as large.

Especially the supervising food preparation, LOL

I knew they were strong, blimey.

My friend Jean Seel saw them taking her adult Geese, and they aren't an easy prey.