Outdoor Safety for Puppies

Puppies are born with compromised immune systems and under the watchful eye of their mum can stay happy and healthy. When it’s time for them to explore the outside world, there are few extra security blankets they need and they’re often in the form of vaccinations. Puppy vaccinations tend to start at around seven or eight weeks followed by a second jab two weeks later.

It’s only after they have these two vaccinations that they are safe to start venturing into the wider world with the extra protection against some nasty diseases and viruses they can pick up in the environment.

Keeping your pup safe before their immunity can have the boost it needs is the best method of keeping them safe which is why you can’t take your pup out on walks as soon as you get them home.

The age a puppy can go outside depends on how old they are when they’re first vaccinated. To complete their full course of vaccines, they are usually around the ten-week-old mark. However, many vets will recommend keeping them indoors for another week to give the second vaccination a chance to start to work before they are allowed to explore outside.

Allowing them to explore the garden is a little bit different. The main risk of walking an unvaccinated puppy outdoors is all the unvaccinated dogs that can spread diseases to them. They may not have to even encounter these dogs, but diseases and parasites can be shed into the environment too. Puppies should not be going into the wider world before they have their immunity protection but, in some cases, where you can manage the environment like in the garden, they may be able to venture out a little earlier.

Toilet training your puppy is an important part of bringing them home and many owners can start this as early as day one. Unvaccinated puppies can venture out into the garden. Not only does it build their confidence and make outside less scary, but it means you can start encouraging them to go to the toilet there and avoid as many accidents indoors.

The garden just needs to be fully enclosed with no unvaccinated dogs having access to it, finding ways to make your dog friendly could never be easier with our handy guide. If you have another dog in the home, it’s still fine for your puppy to go in the garden as their older pal will ideally be fully vaccinated and your pup will be living with them anyway.

If there are spaces like the front garden that aren’t enclosed and other dogs may wander onto the property, these areas are still best to avoid until they’re fully vaccinated.

Your new addition can start to explore the world after they’re fully vaccinated and only then will they have the protection for their immunity in full effect. The general rule of thumb is to walk them for five minutes for every month of their life. If you’re taking, your puppy out at ten weeks, a ten-minute walk is ample.

At twelve weeks they can progress to fifteen and so on. This gradual progression means they’re able to build up their muscles, so they don’t strain themselves by doing too much, too soon.

In the few weeks before you’re able to go for walks, you can start helping your puppy get used to the equipment they will need for getting out and about. You will need to decide if you want to walk your new addition on a collar or harness and then find the best ones for you and your puppy.

You can go through to process of getting them used to wearing a collar or harness and even walking around the garden, so that when they do finally get out and about, these aren’t new things to them.

When puppies don’t have their full immunity before their vaccinations, they are far more vulnerable to picking up diseases out on walks. Understanding a puppy’s vaccinations can be tricky for first time owners, but as an short overview, their vital vaccinations will cover them against diseases like:

A dog with good immunity will be able to fight off diseases while puppies can get very sick from them and in many cases like when a puppy contracts Parvovirus, it can be fatal. Along with their vaccinations, all puppies who get to go out on walks should be protected against fleas and worms too so they’re not vulnerable to parasite infestations.

For everything you need to get your puppy ready to start going on walks and all your other new puppy essentials, take a look at our range of products in-store and online.