Are you supposed to keep your puppy home before their 12 week shots?

Question

i was told not to take my 8 week old pup anywhere before his 12 week shots...is that true?

Answer 1

Yes, they need to be completely immune. The 6 week shot gives some immunity but not enough. See below for the main reason.
PARVOVIRUS

A viral disease of dogs, it is transmitted by oral ingestion of viral contaminated feces. Upon ingestion it infects local lymph nodes, quickly multiplies and then via the blood moves to the small intestine where signs of the disease begin in approximately 5-6 days.

The surface of the lining of the small intestine is stripped away causing the crucial barriers and digestive secretion unable to keep proper nutrient absorption. Additionally, the normal bacterial of the small intestine which aid in digestion are now exposed to ulcerated secretions, providing a direct route into the blood stream. Fluid loss from both vomiting and diarrhea is dramatic, dehydration then follows. The onslaught of bacteria and toxins into the blood will ultimately cause death.

Parvovirus affects puppies more often than it affects adult dogs. The virus likes to grow in rapidly dividing cells. The intestinal lining has the biggest concentration of rapidly dividing cells in a puppy's body. The virus attacks and kills these cells, causing diarrohea often bloody, depression and suppression of white blood cells -- which come from another group of rapidly dividing cells. In very young puppies it can infect the heart muscle and lead to sudden death.

The incubation period for parvovirus is between 4 and 14 days. This is the amount of time from the exposure to the virus until clinical signs are obvious. Puppies have detectable virus in the blood stream prior to four days and they shed the virus in their faeces for up to two weeks after they seem to be fully recovered.

Vaccination is the best protection against this disease. In some cases this does not work, protecting puppies from exposure to the disease is paramount.

A full blown case of parvovirus untreated can easily be fatal.


Because the canine parvovirus is not enveloped in fat the way the distemper virus is, canine parvovirus is especially hardy in the environment. It is readily carried on shoes or clothing to new areas.
It is able to overwinter freezing temperatures in the ground outdoors plus many household disinfectants are not capable of killing it indoors.


Infected dogs shed the virus in their faeces in gigantic amounts during the 2 weeks following exposure. Because such enormous amounts of virus are shed, there is a huge potential for environmental contamination when a infected dog has been there.

It is important to realize that because the canine parvovirus is so hardy in the environment, it is considered "ubiquitous." This means that NO ENVIRONMENT is free from this virus unless it is regularly disinfected.

A parvoviral infection can be picked up anywhere.
Whether an individual dog gets infected or not depends on the number of viral particles the dog experiences, what kind of immune experience the dog has had with the virus before (vaccinated? previously infected? how much past exposure?), and how strong the individual dog is (stress factors, diet etc.)
A typical/average infectious dose for an unvaccinated dog is 1000 viral particles. For some dogs far less is needed. For other dogs, far more is needed. An infected dog sheds 35 million viral particles per
30grams of faeces.

It has been documented that the disease can remain active in the environment of a previously infected household for a period of up to a year or more.

Please ask vets advise if you want to introduce a new puppy into an infected household.

Answer 2

Yes this is correct.

The reason for this is because of Parvo. In my area it is everywhere and it can stay viable and lethal on the ground or other infected surfaces for 6 months of more. Until the puppy has had a minimum of 2 parvo shots (actually he needs four I believe but 2 is a good start), you can expose him at any time. In fact, you can carry Parvo home from the pet store or the grocery store or the movie theatre on the soles of your feet.

And Parvo can be deadly.

If you aren't aware, Parvo can kill your puppy in three days and it is not a fun death. If your dog contracts parvo it will cost hundreds of dollars to treat and your dog may die anyway. They will have a 20-50% survival rate with traditional treatment. Adding Tamilflu gives an almost 100% survival rate. Our shelter survival rates from Parvo have increased dramatically since adding Tamiflu to the program.

Please be sure you follow your shot schedule and follow your vets advice. Keep your puppy out of public until you've had two shots.

Answer 3

Its a good idea not to allow your puppy to have access to areas where other dogs are (even the floor at the vets office) until they have completed their puppy shot series.
Adult (vaccinated) dogs to not have to be showing signs of an illness to be spreading it around, so your pup is at risk with seemingly healthy vaccinated dogs too.
Pet stores are the biggest no-no! I have personally seen clients at my practice earlier in the day with a parvo puppy (or kennel cough or even distemper!) at my local pet store WITH THEIR PUPPY buying supplies. Needless to say I ran to the manager to tattle! Also, look at how many people let their dogs "pick" a toy, all that slobber = germs too.

Answer 4

I was told you can take them out, you just have to hold them the entire time. My toy poodle started getting groomed at 9 weeks of age. She just sat on my lap while the groomer clipped her.

Answer 5

I going to say yes.

Answer 6

You shouldn't but we are not supposed to do lots of things and we do them anyways

Answer 7

you should keep them home until they have received all of their shots.

Answer 8

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES