Am I being to protective about this situation?

[Smitherman]

My pup is 10 weeks old, so she is going on her 2nd set of shots. I walk her every other day BUT I do not walk her where any other dogs are I do jot let any other dogs that I dont know around her. I understand socialization is important but I am afraid of her getting a disease. She is meeting new animals and dogs but what I am saying is I am cautious about her being around a strange dog? & I wont let anyone besides me take her walking on the account of this reason. I also wanted to know if she is large, small, or average? She weighs 15 pounds and from her back to the floor is 13 pounds.

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[GerMutt]

You can cure nearly any contagious disease she may contract, but you can never get back the lost time for proper socialization. If she is only meeting a small number of dogs, she may only be comfortable with them and therefore will have trouble with new dogs when she gets older. If you wait until she is completely vaccinated, you won't be socializing her until she is 6 months old (as that's when rabies vax are given)...by then you are WAAAY too late. Not to mention you are not giving her acquired immune system any practice.

Also, I wouldn't worry about her size. Large breeds that grow too quickly are prone to bone/joint problems. As long as she's a healthy weight for her height and she has a good coat, you are doing well!

[Abby142]

You could set up meeting with dogs that you are know are healthy, stable, and fully vaccinated. That way you still get the socialization without the risk of her getting sick.

I was the same way when Jade was little, actually I didn't even take her for walks. But i set up plenty of play dates with friends dogs. I don't think Jade missed anything. She is very good in all situations, no dog aggression, people aggression, resource guarding, just a happy little girl who loves to play.

[Phoebes]

When I was at that stage with my dog my vet told me to be very careful. In my case I live in a tropical area and the vets were seeing a high incidence of Parvo at the time. So my instructions were to keep him indoors until he was done with his shots. We had a potty area for him in the garage and would carry him in and out of the car. But again that was because of the very high risk in my area.
I also had 3 other dogs that were healthy so Shadow could be socialized and I brought him along to work and when I visited anyone so he was exposed to other people and my friends' dogs indoors.
Sure whatever disease can be treated, but especially when the dog is at a stage of growth and development, I prefer to do all I can avoid it.
My Shadow's brother Jason developed Parvo after his 2nd set of shots at approximately 9-10 weeks. Jason was hospitalized over 2 weeks and it was so sad to see him so weak and thin. He started out as the biggest of the litter and was estimated (by his bone density and bigger feet, etc) that he'd grow to be the biggest of the litter. He's fine now, thank goodness, but he's noticeably smaller than his 2 brothers I know of. So it does seem that it affected his growth and there was the time lost and expense due to his hospitalization. He had another brother who was only allowed in his owner's home and yard and also contracted Parvo, that person had some neighbors whose dogs got sick, but that one died.
So maybe I was crazy protective... but there was no way I wouldn't have been!

[SS-GSD]

I've had my puppy out since she was 6 weeks old. Most of it was carrying her for a couple weeks, but it still allowed me to get her used to seeing and hearing the world. By 10 weeks old she was walking around and socializing without holding her. She went everywhere with me, even out to eat (Many restaurants with outdoor tables will allow dogs) and to the human park where she saw different things like rides and a carousel with the loud music playing. (And lots and lots and lots of kids!!) She even went shopping in Walgreens with me one day. Lol! (I did ask for permission to bring her in first) Many stores like Lowes, Home Depot, Bass Pro Shop, Tractor Supply, ect allow animals too so we socialized in those places as well. By 10 weeks old my puppy had met over 100 people and been exposed to all kinds of noises, different types of terrain/footing (Very important - Expose to grass, concrete, grating, ect), different kinds of animals (dogs, cats, cows, ducks, geese, birds, pocket pets, ect)...She's alive and healthy, never been ill. I can't imagine missing out on such an important socialization period. Not to mention things like parvo can be carried into your home on your shoes/clothes so even if you keep the pup at home it's still going to be exposed to the virus. Most dogs carry the parvo virus, the immune system is just built up enough to fight it off. If you've got another dog in the house, it can be shedding parvo in your yard when it poops which exposes your puppy.

[Jag]

There is nothing wrong with waiting until after the 3rd set of shots to take your pup out and about. My breeder and vet both said to wait until then. If it's a well bred pup, you're not missing anything. Socialization isn't a short period of time that you 'miss'. A well bred pup can not be taken all over for a long period of time and still be fine when it is taken out all over later. I took previous pups out in public, etc. before they'd had their 3rd set of shots. Luckily, nothing happened to them. Why take that risk, though? If you've got a genetically unstable pup, socializing isn't going to change that, either.

[Finnick<3]

By 10 weeks of age, its best that a healthy pup be participating in puppy classes with other healthy pups.

I wouldn't take a young pup to parks, stores etc but a good puppy class is a great idea for you and your dog.

[Shaolin]

I waited until the 3rd series of shots as well. That was on the advice of the breeder and our vet. I went one step further and waited until he was 1 before we went to a dog park. Until then, we did lots of socialization with friends who had dogs that we knew were safe. I saw no problem with waiting to meet "strange" dogs and I don't feel as if his socialization took a hit.

[blackshep]

I'd avoid places like dog parks and pet stores until she's got all of her shots.

But otherwise get her out there and socialize the heck out of her!

I was the same way, but her breeder told me to just use my head, avoid high traffic area's where she may have a bad experience or be around a lot of dogs who may or may not be UTD on vaccinations.

Are you doing puppy classes? That's great place for them to meet other pups, and good training places require proof of vaccines.

She's a bit smaller than my girl was at that age, but I think my female is larger than average.