I'd stay away from heavily populated dog places, like dog parks, pet stores and the like. Usually puppy classes can begin when the pup has had two of the series of vaccines as long as there isn't anything going around. I'd double check around and make sure there aren't any cases of parvo going around in the area you take your dog. Anything that is in your yard is probably all over your shoes and in your house, anyway. Socialization in such a class would be very structured, only exposing the puppy to puppies and adult dogs that are healthy and temperamentally safe with a young pup. But it's monumentally important to get a new puppy out and about to experience positive exposures to the world he's going to be a part of. You only have until a pup is about 14-16 weeks of age to get him exposed to a vast environment of all kinds of things. And of course, socialization should continue throughout the dog's life. But that early critical period is essential to create a well adjusted dog.
Like I said tho, depends on how prevalent parvo, distemper, etc are in your area. You're never going to be 100% sure one way or the other but each person has to weigh the risks. For many areas, IMO, the risks of not being socialized far outweigh the risks of infectious diseases. |