[Brien]

This is such an interesting topic. When we got Bodie he was 8 weeks old. He had already received his first round of shots.

On one hand you hear (especially from the vet) to not take them out until they receive all their shots. And then you hear that it's important to expose your puppy to humans and other dogs at an early age. So that was our quandary.

What we did is limit Bodie to our yard and walking in the cul-de-sac. Because we don't get stray dogs or others coming through the circle we felt pretty comfortable with this. We also limited Bodie's exposure to two other dogs that are neighbors. One of which is a beagle. So they immediately took to each other and became play pals.

After a couple rounds of shots we started going further, maybe a couple blocks away from home. And once he got his last series it was off to the dog park.

So I think by limiting his exposure to other dogs and areas was a good idea. I'm really against complete isolation until all the shots are done. 8-16 weeks is a crucial stage for their development and learning how to interact with other dogs. But you have to be selective.

But to your point. I too wonder how likely a dog is to get sick when taken outside before all the shots are done. I can understand the vet saying no, no, no since they're always going to side with caution. I just wonder how valid it is.

 

[Brien]

And see we took the different approach and Bodie has never been afraid or skittish around humans or dogs. When we go to the dog park he plays with ALL the dogs no matter if they're different breeds, big, small, fast, slow, etc. He's kinda like a social butterfly at the dog parks. He plays and interacts with everyone. Sometimes we'll encounter an aggressive dog at the park and we either intervene and keep the dog away from him or leave. But essentially he gets along with everyone... well except the cat. He loves to chase the fricken cat all around the house!