" kira " . . . that is my supervisors' name , and she's no dog lololol . good name though , two distinctive syllables makes it easy for the dog to distinguish the sound .

you said " we " . . . i presume you and your wife ? can we assume she is on board with your approach to raising and handling the dog ? if she will be involved in the raising of the dog , even a little bit , consistency in how you both deal with the dog is very important .

i'll let the vet types handle the vaccine question . . .

my girl is supportive , didnt read all the stuffs like me, but shes 100% with anything I say about dog.

Here's Dr.Dodds vaccination protocol. I think she does a great job of balancing the desire to minimize vaccinations with the very real risk of Parvo.

http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/66693331640/dodds-dog-vaccination-protocol-2013-2014#.VKXJakvob9N

http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/78666367482/maternal-antibodies-vaccines#.VKXJDEvob9N

I personally didn't feel safe leaving Parvo and Distemper until 9 weeks. She has recommended that some people give it younger in certain high risk situations and we're headed to a dog school with lots of contact with young puppies. I ordered vaccines that are just a modified live Parvo and just Distemper rather than a 5-in-1 combo and did it at home. So in my case he'll have gotten a Parvo and Distemper vax at 6.5 weeks and we'll pick the schedule up with his next shots at 10-11 weeks(depending on travel stress) and then at 15-16 weeks to end the puppy series. He'll get Rabies at 20 weeks and unfortunately I have to pay a vet to do that one. At a year I'll give another Parvo+Distemper.

Just to add. I don't know your situation over there as far as what diseases are running around. I know here in Phoenix, AZ Parvo normally runs rampant because with our weather it can live in the ground for up to a year. We also have a lot of Distemper cases(mainly cats) but not nearly as much as when I lived in El Paso, TX. Knowing that is what lead me to vaccinate earlier than the protocol suggests. If I was in an area where it wasn't a concern I would have waited. Animal control and rescues are a great source of information for this although most of them over vaccinate so I wouldn't get a vaccine schedule from them.

TUG

Can I play tug with my pup ? In some videos ED says yes, then he writes in the middle of the screen " do not play tug games with pup"

So Didnt get it :-D

If I understand it correctly, the reason for giving a series of puppy shots is to ensure the pup is protected when the maternal antibodies wear off. Since that time is depndant on the individual and wears off at different times for different pups then pups are routinely given several shots to ensure protection (when given before the antibodies wear off then the vaccine is ineffective). Given a preference, I'd wait until 7-8 weeks for the initial vaccine and then 2 more (or one more then titer to check for sufficient immunity) spaced 3-4 weeks apart. Rabies vaccination is requied at 4 m/o in my state. I'd avoid places with unvaccinated dogs until the pup is 12 w/o (and recieved a second vaccination) But I'm fine with them being around safe dogs that have been vaccinated in the past and I think that it's good to expose them to as many safe scenarios as possible before 12-14 w/o since that is a prime socialization time.

is this not a dilemma, people want to get their pups out and about for socialisation but do not want to expose them to parvo etc until the vax takes hold?

how do you guys deal with this?

not so long ago many people were of the extreme mind set to keep puppies isolated in sterile environments.

I dealt with it by going to low risk environments. Visiting different friends (new places + new people), SAR training, taking him everywhere around the farm, walking around the local tourist town (lots of people and things to see, other dogs were few and well cared for), family pinics. The professional opinions I've read from the past 5 or so years have pretty unanimously agreed that the benefits of socialization in low risk environments do outweigh the risk of disease.

fabio , i think at 12 weeks , just as a test , it would be okay to dangle little soft items on a string for the puppy to demonstrate what prey drive he might have . i wouldn't actually be tugging against the pup , just allowing him to pull on the item himself .

let him determine the level of play , if any , keeping in mind his teeth are very sensitive so don't use anything that could snag and get stuck .

and if he doesn't want to play , don't force it .

at the early stages you are really only doing this to determine what drive he might have . the last thing you want to do is have him have a bad experience at a young age which might make him NOT want to play with you in that fashion later on . do not jeopardize your future , just to satisfy your curiosity now .

at those early stages , you are using food as the thing he wants from you .

believe me , the pup will find his own ways to demonstrate and exercise his drives .


so i guess the short answer is :

no .

Thanks,

just 1 little question, how you would let the pup enter in the crate during the first trip to home ? its 2 hours drive, maybe he get traumatized by being in the crate and will associate that to the crate ?

Something I should do as first time in the crate in the car ?

thanks

Don't worry about it. Put puppy in the crate and drive. Just treat it as a normal thing and puppy will be fine. Efforts to get puppy to go in on his own or other attempts to convince pup that the crate is a good thing will just work against you. Why make it a bigger deal in pups eyes than you have to? Thousands of puppies fly or drive several hours home every year and I've never heard of long term effects from it. I guess it's possible but I've never heard of it. My puppy yelled his head off during the drive but clearly did not have a bad association with it.

You may want to put down puppy pads or have extra bedding on hand. Some pups get carsick or decide the change of scenery means they have to pee.