How old before taking to a park?
 

Our breeder said our puppy could be taken with us to public places after she is 16 weeks old and has had her 3rd set of vaccinations. The vet said 20 weeks and after the 4th set of shots. I've never heard of waiting until 20 weeks. Is this really the standard or are they just trying to sell us more vaccinations? We hate leaving her home and are dying to take her with us!!

As far as I know, a puppy should really only be getting 3 'sets' of shots, unless the 4th set your vet is referring to is the rabies vaccination. If so, I think its all a matter of perference as to if you would wanna take out your pup before or after the rabies shot.

My Vet said I could take mine out after their third set of shots.

All the vaccinations do the same thing. The reason you get a series is because the first shot given at 8 weeks usually does nothing because the antibodies received from the mother are still pretty high at this time and kill the vaccine before your dog can "fight it" and gain immunity. Only about 5 percent will receive immunity from this vaccine.

The next at 12 weeks, the maternal antibodies will be lower so the vaccine is effective in a higher majority of puppies (like 25% more or so).

The maternal antibodies are usually gone by 16 weeks so this shot is sometimes the last given, but there is research to suggest that a small percentage (like 5% or so) still do not achieve immunity so some vets give another at 20 weeks. At any point you could have a titer test performed which would show if the puppy's body has made immunities against a disease rather than revaccinating.

After giving an "effective" vaccine. It takes about 2 to 3 weeks to produce the antibodies and be protected from the disease so this would be about 20 weeks (after the 16 week shot) for most puppies and although a few might be immune as early as 12 weeks, there will be a few that won't have immunity until 23 weeks (3 weeks after the 20 week vaccine) . I would not give the rabies until the pup is at least 6 months old. I would listen to the vet in this case, better safe than sorry.

i wouldn't do it until 6 months after their rabbies shot

puppy shots
 

My vet said the first set is at 6 weeks and your saying eight. Should I wait until 8 weeks and why. I am wondering because we have an appt at the vet for 6 week shots next Tuesday,

There is almost no chance of the vaccine working at 6 weeks so why stress out their immune system. If the mother was unvaccinated, I might consider 6 weeks, but I personally hold all off as late as possible. I say keep the pups isolated (no prospective buyers coming in) and wait until 8 weeks. There's a lot of evidence coming to light that vaccines are harmful (but a necessary evil) so I believe the majority of breeders are waiting until at least 8 weeks.

Post this question on the breeder's section or do a search there for more opinions.

All my dogs have all thier shots so I will cancel until 8 weeks. How about 7 weeks and I will call for wormer tomorrow. I was wondering about 7 weeks because I have 2 that want the pups at 8 weeks. They both are previous yorkie owners. The one lady said she had a 9 point champion at one time. Your thought please.

Here's a good link for a vaccine article
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...ht=vaccination

I definitely wouldn't send them out without vaccinations, but I wouldn't let them leave at 8 weeks either. A pup is much more acceptable to stress at that age and more often than not you are going to run into hypoglycemia issues because the pup doesn't eat well for a few days after being rehomed and people drag them around to show them off. I definitely think you and the new owner are asking for vet bills that are unnecessary and wouldn't happen if you waited until they were older.

I have a lot of experience with Yorkies and even I got one that had severe hypoglycemia and seizures. The pup needed 24 hour around the clock care and I racked up close to a $1,000 in vet bills. The pup was 8 weeks. I can't say for sure it wouldn't have happened had I waited until 11 or 12 weeks, but I think the chances are that everything would have been ok. I had driven to Houston (12 hours from me) to get the puppy so taking her back to the breeder wasn't really an option for me. The pup did live and was fine, but I handfed her pedialyte every hour around the clock and fed baby food chicken until she was 3 or 4 months old.

Mine had their rabies shots at 4 months. The vet said those are the last ones until they are a year old.

I would not take them around other dogs until they have had the rabies.

peeka and boo started thier shots at 6 weeks and then the vet said every 3 weeks untill 16 weeks so they will get 4 sets of shots they are 10 weeks and got thier 2nd set on monday. hope this helps.:thumbup: