Hi Guys,

Just wondering how long I should leave it after Nando's second injection for his walks? He has been vaccinated with Nobivac, at 9 weeks and today as he reached 11 weeks.

The vet said wait a week exactly however I remember when we had our last dog (Years ago) our vet saying leave it a few days and then take him around the block etc, somewhere he won't be likely to come into contact with loads of unfamiliar dogs. He is 11 weeks now and although I've had him on his lead he is yet to physically meet (other than being picked up or on my lap) any other dogs other than the dogs at the breeder's house.

Can I safely take him out around the block in a few days or should I leave it for the full week? I feel that the risk of not having a well socialised pup is worse than the risk of one of the diseases affecting him?

Josh

> Can I safely take him out around the block in a few days or should I leave it for the full week? I feel that the risk of not having a well socialised pup is worse than the risk of one of the diseases affecting him?

I think you're quite right, he does need to meet other dogs - and in fact it's often said that it's OK for pups to meet fully vaccinated adults and other pups. The places to avoid are parks, and anywhere any unvaccinated dogs may be present.

I may be wrong, but I understand some puppy socialisation groups begin after the first vaccination is done.

Anything infectious that may be present on the pavements could be walked in on your shoes anyway. There IS a risk, as with anything in life but I do tend to agree with socialisation above disease risk - within reason.
Breed does have a bearing on this, as there are some breeds that need the early exposure; with others, the window for socialisation closes much later.

Thanks for the reply MsTemaraire. It has re-affirmed what I was thinking anyway however as he is my first 'own' dog (as opposed to our previous 'family' dogs) I am nervous to think for myself sometimes! People do walk dogs around here, we live in an urban area so they get walked up and down our road and the roads around us however it's not over-run with dogs and they're all on leads.

I've got Nando walking to heel in the garden however he's getting bored of lead training as he has a very active mind and I don't want to undo the good work by him getting bored/distracted and wanting to pull etc or to loose interest in me. I've tried with distractions (I.E toys on the floor and with my niece who gets him very excited and makes him lose all interest in me) and he pretty much has the hang of that so there's not much else to do before he needs to go outside!

He is a GSD so I think early socialisation is important with him, too.

There are socialisation classes in the area but I've not heard much about them and didn't want to take him to a free-for-all type thing. My aunt has just got a new puppy (A flat coated retriever) who is 8-weeks old so hopefully given she has the right sort of temperament we can socialise her with Nando.

> My aunt has just got a new puppy (A flat coated retriever) who is 8-weeks old so hopefully given she has the right sort of temperament we can socialise her with Nando.

Lol, be careful, my FCR has turned a friends GSD into an honourary FCR :) :) :) all in a good way you understand.

Once mine have had their first injection I always take them for a little walk up and down the road to see the outside world.

The puppy classes we run allow pups to come along once they have had their first injection - as advised by our vets.

We did find one who would allow Nando after his first vaccs however to be honest after looking at their website I wasn't too impressed as they ran classes but are not part of any associations other than a new 'C.L.A.S.S' certification and i have no idea what that is!

If its any reassurance I was told by a police puppy walker that they have theres out the dauy of the second injection, she proved the point by showing me her tiny gsd pup.
I am sure Bella and Nando will get on like house on fire, I am not sure if Brooke thinks she is fcr or gsd !!