When Can Puppies Go Outside?
Taking care of a puppy or puppies is one of the most sensitive things when it comes to keeping and caring for dogs. The most important thing is making sure that the puppies are safe.
However, even though it is easy to eliminate the dangerous things such as electronics that you can see, it gets quite difficult to get rid of diseases such as parvovirus and distemper that you cannot see.
Luckily, research and vaccinations have made things easy for puppy owners. With the right vaccinations being administered at the right time, all the diseases that might pose a threat to the life of puppies can be prevented.
However, this is not as easy as people might think. This is because, at the age when puppies are getting their first vaccination sets, they are also developing and growing. The sets of vaccines and the development phase ends when they hit sixteen weeks of age.
Should You Socialize Your Puppies?
Research has shown that puppies that fail to get enough chances to socialize and get introduced to different and new environments before they hit sixteen weeks of age have high chances of developing issues with their behavior.
This might include things such as aggression, anxiety, and fear. There might even be high levels of aggression when they hit adolescence. These problems are going to affect the health of your puppy in one way or another.
If your puppy does not want to socialize, then it means that there is a problem with it. You might need to consider consulting online vets who can visit you and find out what could be wrong.
Now that we know that you need to socialize your puppies, when is the right time to start taking them outside? Well, this depends on where and at what age you are taking them outside.
Taking Puppies Outside For the First Time
Before getting to eighteen weeks of age, puppies get three sets of vaccinations. The vaccinations become fully effective after about seven days after administration. These sets of vaccination are administered as follows;
- Six to eight weeks against parvovirus and distemper diseases.
- Ten to twelve weeks against influenza, bordetella, and DHPP.
- Sixteen to eighteen weeks against influenza, bordetella, rabies, and DHPP.
After the first round of vaccination (six to eight weeks), you can take your puppies outside. This should be about seven days after they are vaccinated. Those that have yards at home can let the puppies wander around the yards but under close watch.
Those that live in apartments should not do this. They can, however, select a single spot where they can carry their puppy to at certain times of the day. The bottom line is, you should never let the puppy at this age go to any public space.
The exception to this is that you can take the puppy outside, including public spaces as long as they are in a puppy carrier.
Taking Puppies for Walks
You can take your puppy for a walk for the very first time seven days after they have received the second round of vaccinations (ten to twelve weeks). Even though they have a much stronger immune system at this age than before, you still need to make sure that you keep them away from anything that can affect their health.
For instance, you need to walk over surfaces that are paved such as parking slots and sidewalks. This is because other dogs, some of which are not vaccinated, leave trails of feces and urine on grass and dirty environments.
In addition, you can take your puppies to the beach, as long as the beach is not crowded. However, you need to keep a closer look at them to make sure that they avoid any dirt or anything that might affect their health.
When walking your puppies, you need to make sure that they do not interact with any other dogs. If someone wants their dogs to interact with the puppies, you can let them know that your puppies are not fully vaccinated and therefore cannot interact with other dogs.
Taking Puppies to the Park
Finally, every dog owner wants to be able to visit parks and relax with their dogs. Seven days after getting the third and last set of vaccinations (sixteen to eighteen weeks), the puppies can now be taken to the park.
After eighteen weeks of age, puppies are supposed to be fully vaccinated, and therefore fully protected against all the diseases that are common with puppies. It also means that you can now let them interact with unfamiliar dogs.
At the park, you are most likely to find other puppies as well as adult dogs. You might even find that the parks are not clean. This tells you that you should never take your puppies to the park until they are fully vaccinated.
You should also make sure that your puppies do not get into fights with other puppies, and are not targeted for molestation by adult dogs. If this happens, it might affect their behaviors even at later stages of their lives.
If you plan on getting a new puppy and bringing it home, then you need to understand a number of things to do. This is important in making sure that both you and the puppy are safe.
Conclusion
As a dog owner, you need to make sure that your dogs and puppies are healthy at all times. Having health issues with your puppies is dangerous since it might affect their growth and development. You need to follow the guidelines discussed above when taking your puppies outside, for walks, and to the park.