Hi all

I am interested in taking my 7 week old puppy to socialisation classes when she is old enough.  I have been in contact with a lady who runs some classes and she has told me that puppy only needs to have had one lot of vaccinations before I take her to the class - I thought they had to have both lots of vaccinations and had a 10 day period after that before they could even be taken into a public place?????

Any advice as now I'm totally confused - especially as there was a parvo case in our local area at the end of last year.

Thanks in advance

Ria

Personally I waited until my pup had both injections then the vet recommended that he stays in for a further 7 days before going out.  He was 11 weeks old when he started in classes.  It's better to be safe than sorry.  He will still be a baby after both injections so there is no hurry.

Hi and thanks for your reply.

I thought you had to wait until they had had both lots of vaccs but when she said that it just kinda confused me!  I was only looking into it really to see when was the best time to start classes and where my local ones were but this lady was really keen to get me into her class - maybe why she said after the first lot of jabs????

Thanks again

Ria

mmm my trainor actually asked whether my lab had had both injections beforehand.  I don't know, but I would wait and have the two done then you can be reassured that he is fully vaccinated.

Good luck with the classes anyway!

I run puppy classes and will take pups from 8 weeks old.  15 years ago the vets disagreed with me bar the odd one or two.  Now most of them will recommend early socialising and starting their training from the word go and only a few around here advise not to.  You have to find a fine balance between physical health and mental health and most puppy classes are run in places where uninoculated dogs would not have access to.  I always advise that the young pups are carried in and carried out as we don't know what has been outside.  On many an occasion we have had a 12 or 13 week old puppy start class and it's sibling that started at 8 weeks is streets ahead with social skills as well as all the early learning like walking on lead, waiting, retrieving etc.  Nothing can replace the experiences that a pup will have between 8 and 12 weeks old and if they don't have any then this may lead to problems when they are older.  I haven't had a really young pup myself for a few years on account of all my recent aquisitions are older pups or adult rescues but every one of mine that was aquired at 7-8 weeks was taken everywhere and anywhere including dog shows (in the days when you could take pups to agility shows).  Why don't you go along to the class without your puppy and weigh up the pros and cons.
Sally

You could do that or I am sure that as a new puppy owner you have bought a book which will give you advice on how to teach the puppy basic commands so I'm sure a week of training at home and then going to classes after vaccinations wouldn't harm your puppy's progress.

I have a lot of dog training books on my bookshelf.  It would really be a lottery trying to pick a good one.  There's the RSPCA one that shows the correct way to put on a choke chain.  There's the one by one of the countries leading dog trainers that shows you how to stamp on the lead to get the dog to lie down.  Then there's the one that says never use a rolled up newspaper, always use your hand to reprimand and that is next to the one that says hands must not be feared - use a rolled up newspaper instead.  The same could be said for training classes which is why it's always a good idea to go and look first but if this class takes young pups then I'm sure its a 'nice' one.  It's the ones who say that they are too young to train that you need to be wary of.
Sally

Hi Ria,
     I still took my puppies to classes before they'd had the second vaccination.  Any dogs at our club who are on the floor are fully vaccinated, and we ask to see their certificates, but with both my puppies (not together, I'm talking about within a space of 5 years!), they just sat on my lap.  Then the week after they'd had the second vaccine, they could go on the floor.
  Hilda

Thanks for your replies everyone.

The classes are in a vet surgery (not the vet Lola is registered at) so I guess there is a certain amount of risk involved due to the fact that there have been other (sick??) dogs there.  I'm still not sure but I will ask my vet whether they think it is a good idea to take her along.

xxx Ria xxx

I would expect a lot of sh*t from what I am going to say.
I normally have Giant breeds. I would normally get them the first vacc and then socialize them with all my friends dogs that I know have had vacc's.
I take them to puppy socialisation classes from as young as poss.
I risk the possible consequences of meeting all my friends. ( I do make them wash their hands etc.).
I find that this makes a more sociable puppy, be it with dogs or people, from as young an age as possible.
All the dogs I introduce my pups to have had their vacc's and do not wander.
I take them to the local school my grandkids attend and introduce them to the kids.
As soon as I get them , which with rescues may be 6wks, I do have them vaccinated at 6weeks if this is the case.
I feel that if you only let your pup come in contact with people you trust then there should be no problem and the risk of an unsociable dog far outweighs the possibility of infection.
D4wn

My vet told me that after buffy has her first jabs she can play fully with any dog that has had its full course. And this is what i intend to do.
I know a lot of dog owners. with lots of different breeds and i also know that they are fully vacinated so this time on monday she would have met them all.

Debbie