When is it Safe for Your New Puppy to make Friends?

It’s always an exciting time when you bring home a puppy. We find that puppy mums and dads are always very diligent in bringing in their new companions for health checks, and in attending to their routine care such as vaccinations, worming and heartworm prevention. We also strongly advise that you enrol your youngster in Puppy Pre-School. As well as him (and you!) learning some basic training regimes, such as “sit”, “down”, “come”, “stay” and “heel”, your pup also has the opportunity to socialise with other puppies; this is important in him having normal relationships with other dogs in future years. We have also found that dogs who have attended our Pre-School programme as puppies are always “happy customers”: they enjoy their visits to the surgery for the rest of their lives, which makes the experience so much more pleasant for them, you, and us.

Many owners are concerned about the potential of exposure to infectious disease if they allow their pup to socialise with other puppies and adult dogs too early.

Apart from Puppy Pre-School, they are also reticent about visiting parks, shopping centres, and so forth. Over the past year or so, we at Gladesville have changed the brand of vaccine we use in dogs, which has made the situation a lot easier. It is usual for pups to have a temporary C3 vaccine between 6 and 8 weeks of age. We insist that all of our preschoolers have this temporary shot before attending classes. The situation which applied previously, when we were using the old style vaccine, was that the pup would then have a C5 vaccination at 12 weeks and again at 14 to 16 weeks of age. It was not until 48 hours after the last of these injections that full immunity could be guaranteed.

Under our new vaccination protocol with the Nobivac brand, your pup can now have a permanent vaccination at 10 weeks of age- that is, her next vaccination would not be due until the yearly boosters. This is one of the principal reasons- the possibility of safe, early

socialisation - that we made the switch to the new vaccine. Not all vet practices have switched to this new vaccine, so if you have had your pup vaccinated anywhere other than Gladesville you will need to check on which vaccine has been used and when permanent protection is attained.

So now, as of a couple of days after the 10 week vaccination, your pup will be able to quite safely make new friends at the park, exchange phone numbers, and plan a social calendar that will probably end up being fuller than your own- all without the risk of contracting a “social disease”!