Hi all,
I'm a bit worried as I spoke to my sister tonight, she has a new puppy like me. Hers is 2 weeks older than Woofa so it's 13 wks now. I took Woofa for his 2nd injections last week and was told he could go out for walks 24 hrs after the injection. My sister took her pup for his 2nd injection on Sunday and has been told he cannot go out for a walk for a week after it. The differing advice has really worried me as I did take Woofa out after 24 hours and have been going out 4 times daily since. It has me stumped as we both used the same vets practise (the one in pets@home stores) but in different area's. Woofa is a springer/lab cross & Yoda (my sisters dog) is a Westie, would this make a difference? Would the 2 week age difference make a difference??
Could someone advise please?
with thanks Patricia

The period of isolation after vaccination is determined by the manufacturer of the vaccine. It is possible that your dogs have had different strains of vaccination. We were advised a week when our puppy was inoculated, so I can't comment on whether 24hours applies to other manufacturers.

When Kerrie, my Westie, was a pup (she's 6yrs now), we were told not to take her out for 2 weeks.
But we've just been told we can take Gypsy, my 12wk old Standard Poodle, out after 1 week.
So I do think it varies a bit, but 24hrs does seem a bit short.
But hey the vets are meant to be the experts, so try not to worry!

I'll probably be shot down for this, oh well so be it. I think a lot of behavoural problems are due to non socialisation in the early weeks of a pups life. I always check with my vet first to see if there is any distemper etc in our area and if he hasn't seen it for a long time then I take my pups out. An old vet of ours from years ago used to refuse to give the second shots and he said the drug companies are making money out of our fears. Be sensible though and don't go dragging pup around areas of high risk. Getting out and about though is so important and should never be underestimated. Sit on a park bench so that your pup learns to meet and greet both humans and friendly on lead dogs, that he sees pushchairs, screaming kids, motorbikes, umbrellas, buses, wheelchairs, old people with walking sticks and football player etc. A lot of problems talked about on this forum are rooted in under socialisation and fear. Prevention is better than cure they say and I know what risks I'd rather take. This is of course only my opinion and there will be others along soon with theirs. 

The only trouble with this argument is that a puppy can die from catching a disease against which they are not vaccinated, but being afraid of an umbrella is unlikely to have such a serious side effect.

I take my pups out as soon as I have had the 1st jab I take them everywhere but dont put them down on the ground as I too think it is extremely important that they are socialised very early too.

We were told 2 wks after the second jab  for a walk but I take them out at around 5 days and never had a problem .

~Roni

my pup had her 2nd injection last week & we were told we could take her out  after 5 days !! :)

More puppies die from being PTS because of behaviour issues than die from the diseases we vaccinate against , and that fact comes from a vaccine company!

Our vet officially recommends 7 days because that's what the manufacturer recommends. However, he's also a firm believer in the importance of socialisation and unofficially suggests you use commonsense! Given that we don't have unvaccinated dogs using the fields behind our house I took the pup out straightaway after his 2nd jab and continued to take him everywhere else with me but was just a tad thoughtful about where he ran around for the first 4 or 5 days.

both of mine were taken out straight away, as long as you dont take them in overly dog populated areas and you know there isnt a break out of any diseases such as distemper in your area then you are safe.  I certainly wouldnt wait until they were 12 weeks old before they are taken out, the window of socialisation is nearly closed by then.

I think the problems with lack of socialising, as has already been pointed out, far far outweigh any concerns re catching disease. I don't think all peeps understand just how much lack of socialising and habituation can have a bad effect to the extent it can seriously effect the quality of pups and owner's life together.

I don't agree with walking the pup in areas where there are lots of dogs - but, pups can be taken out "in arms", meet people and vaccinated dogs, and generally start their socialisation ASAP! :)

I'd never wait.

I was told that once the initial vaccination has been done, the pup is largely safe anyway; think it's something like 80 per cent (or may be more) safe. I can't remember the figures, sorry.

Lindsay
x

I completely agree with Lindsay.  :)  My little socialisation programme goes something like:

1st jab the day after they get home (7wks), and then I take them out in a shoulder bag and while in this bag they meet:

All kinds of people, children, old people, people of different ages, different ethnic backgrounds, babies, they experience skateboarders, rollerskaters, cyclists, cars, traffic noise, lorries - they come into shops with me (most people don't notice, they are tiny and in a bag!) - they go on buses, trains and cars with me.  They see roadworks, they meet livestock (cows, sheep, horses) up close.  I drive them to the beach after high tide, when the sea has washed the beach and experience walking on stones and sand and all the stuff left behind on a beach, and waves crashing on the sea.  Every day, when we go out, the focus is "socialisation" and we think up new experiences and new places for them.

They also meet friendly, vaccinated adult dogs in either our garden or theirs, and they meet puppies either vaccinated or unvaccinated again either in our garden or theirs. 

They go to a puppy socialisation class which accepts puppies after only the 1st vaccination from 7 wks onwards, where puppy play is strictly supervised and not allowed to get rough, and where playmates are selected carefully according to temperament.

2nd jab at 9 wks and then I don't wait at all and take them out straight away.  Our vet tells us not to take them out for another 2 wks after the 2nd jab, but socialisation is far more important for me and I've never had any problems.  Most puppies are fully protected from most diseases after only the 1st jab, so I don't see this as a huge risk.

Anyway - I think the problem is that people see it as an all-or-nothing thing.  When the vet tells them not to take their puppy out until 2 wks after the 2nd jab, they take this literally.  They don't take them anywhere away from the house or garden and they experience nothing outside of that.  Add to that, the fact that most people don't get the jabs done as fast as I've said here, and it's normal to find 14 wk old puppies who have never been outside!!!!

My pups are taken out straight away at about 8 weeks whether vaccinated or not (although they usually are if I have bred myself as I get them done at 7 weeks). I feel proper socialisation far outweighs the risk of disease.
Becky

I think the breed comes into the equation too.  Some breeds have a particular need for earlier socialisation where as for others it really isn't such a big issue so safety from disease will outweigh it.

its not just a case os being scared of an umbrella thougth is it.

its about having a happy, safe dog. a dog that can mix into socilety and given the best chances possible.

i have had 4 pups over the years, not a lot by some standards i know. however out of the 4, 3 were socilised very early, one was not socilised intill i got him at 13/14 weeks.

the dogs that were socilised early, became calm relaxed individuals, that have not been phased by new situations, i can walk out with them and althougth you can not trust any animal 100% it come spretty close with my current pups.

i got my current pups when they were 6 weeks old. i dont avocate getting pups that young but due to a complete diffrent set of circumstances for each pup they came to me that young.
i wasted no time in socilising them. i took them out with me everywhere. i have a little girl who is disabled and she has a largebuggy. i used to place the pups in the back of the buggy and walk them everywhere liek this. i let them play with vaccinated dogs. when it came for them to have there vaccinations at 8 weeks the vet commented on how calm and goo they were. already used to being man handled and loud noises.

by the time they were 10 weeks and ready for there second vaccinations i had already began lead training them in my back garden. they were also still going out with me meeting all sorts of situations. ducks, swans, cars, buses, trains, fireworks, fire, plastic bags, peopel with walkign sticks, peopel on bikes. i was told to leave it a week intill they could go out. however in this time i continued ther elead training in the garden round the house, i started to teach sit, recal. by the time it was time to go out into the big wide world, they were tottaly unphased. walked out a few times a day for a very short time, few mins if that per session. i would sometimes carry them to the local woods, parks, shops to let them have there varied few mins used to walkign in diffrent areas.

by the time they were 14/15 weeks i was able to let them off there leads in the enclosed park areas and i had recall  9 times out of 10 by calling once.

i had sit when i asked with out any restraint. people commented on how well behaved they were.  and now at the age of around 5 months i can take both out to the dog park at the end of my street let them off and not have to worry about them chasing other dogs, or barking at people. they come when i call and they are well behaved.

too many people use the excuse "oh he is only a pup" and the pup is 12 months old runnign riot.

its what you do in the time when you get a pup from its mother that makes the diiffrence.

i know peopel who took thee pups out after the first vaccination and just dragged it round the block every day and still ended up with pups that were unpredictable, with behavioural problems. going out on the ground dosnt mean socilising. just liek driving a car. driving a car up and down your street isnt really driving. becasue you are nto actually learnign about the real world.

now the pup i got at 13/14 weeks old had never done anything.

never taken out never taught anything. and even with the same socilisation program i have my current 2 pups on he was always scared of things, unpredictable with strange dogs and people.

too many people get a young pup then moan becasue they have to wait intill the vaccinations are done , and then they have to teach the pup to toilet and walk on a lead. these are the best parts of owning a dog, the most rewarding times, watching your little duckings turn into swans. i think if people are not prepared to put the time and effort in they should not get yougn pups simple as that.

to the OP i think it does depend on the vet, as a friend of mine had exacatly the same drug vacc as mine and was told she could go out after 2 weeks, but only had to wait a week between the vaccinations.

I took Daisy into my home at 7 months old. Daisy, a beautifull brown dobermann bitch who had never been socialised and was terrified of the outside world. So what I thought, we can help her because we loved her. She was my pal, my sweetheart and she loved her mummy......

Daisy is now dead.

What killed her? NOT distemper.....Sometimes love is not enough.

"puppy can die from catching a disease against which they are not vaccinated, but being afraid of an umbrella is unlikely to have such a serious side effect. "

A puppy not socialised and having never seen an umbrella or experienced traffic close up is at serious risk ;) 
Imagine, you take your large pup into town to start his socialisation, it starts to rain and it's the first time he's seen rain as he's a summer pup.  He's already uneasy about the rain and then someone coming towards you puts up one of those big (to the pup) black automatic umbrellas and the pup freaks out, pulls you over injuring your ankle/knee/hip, and you lose your grip on the lead, pup dashes into the road and is hit by a car.  All this could happen in less time than it takes to read it :( and sadly, is not as unlikely as you may think :(

When I picked up my puppy this summer it was the first baby dog I'd had since I was 13. He was already almost 9 weeks and 9 kg so I was afraid to take him out until his vaccinations were complete. I was afraid he was big enough that if he started to squirm he'd end up on the ground.

What a mistake. He's very sensitive to new objects and noise. It's taken a lot of work to get him to walk down the high street and even at 10 months he'll get scared enough to hop around if motor bikes or emergency vehicles with sirens come by. There have been some real terrifying moments when he would suddenly panic near a road (Dill you're so right). Thankfully I'm pretty darn strong. I'd like to take him on the metro but I know that's going to take a lot of small journeys and he'll be worried. He's just noise sensitive. And this is a puppy that was raised in the living room of a breeder with small children, his mother and grandmother and the breeder was also was a child minder - no lack of activity in that house. At least he loves all things living; dogs, people, screaming babies and small children. (more than me)

Next puppy is going everywhere from the day I take her home!

FWIW I take my puppies out on the ground when I get them at 7 weeks, they have their first vaccination at 9 weeks and their second at 11, none of them have caught any diseases and all of them have had fab temperaments for any breed let alone theirs...........