Can I take my puppy for a walk yet?

Yes. You can walk him around.

No, no and no. Do the right thing and wait for your puppy to have all of its recommended shots by your Vet and then wait about 2-3 more weeks, then you can. You will have many years together with your puppy and it will be that way if you follow the rule, be careful, no pet shops or stores, parvo I hear can stay in dirt and surrounding areas for up to a year, not sure, talk with your Vet. Good luck! 

Of course you can. As long as you keep him away from all other dogs. IGNORE the idiots saying no. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) recommends that pet guardians begin taking puppies on walks and public outings as early as one week after their first round of vaccinations, at about seven weeks old.

Can you, VERSUS "SHOULD you" require differing answers.  Anybody can DO anything, provided in this case the 9.5 week old has been successfully leashed-trained.

No puppy should EVER have been vaccinated at 6 weeks.  That was a WORTHLESS vaccination (given TOO soon) and it fought with the mother's still active anti-bodies  - in the puppy.  So it was cancelled OUT and *DOES NOT COUNT*.  

Each vaccination requires TWO WEEKS time (after it is given) to stimulate and mount any antibody response.  THREE puppy booster vaccinations are suggested, because MANY puppies even when vaccinated at the RIGHT AGE, do not show a full "TITER TESTED" protective response.

Distemper and Parvo viruses are FATAL in up to 80% of unvaccinated or INCOMPLETELY vaccinated puppies and the viruses (esp Parvo) are in the ENVIRONMENT (EVERYWHERE) and are HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS and hard to kill - for up to a YEAR - after deposit.  

We have not even covered how high the RABIES rate is in YOUR local area in wildlife or feral pet animals.  (Your puppy will not be protected AT ALL from rabies - should it get EXPOSED) and RABIES is 100% FATAL.... in unvaccinated animals.  Rabid animals, can be very AGGRESSIVE & come out of NOWHERE.

So, to answer your "SHOULD YOU" question - please WEIGH how important is it to take puppy out for a walk - if puppy sickens & DIES?

No.  Only walk around in the yard on a leash till he has ALL his shots - including rabies.  This way you can practice leash work  so he's well behaved when you do take him out of the yard.

• "Can I take my puppy for a walk yet?"

You CAN if you have a leash and are capable of walking.

But "SHOULD I take my puppy for a walk yet?" will usually get a different answer, depending on how you word it.

• "My puppy is 9 1/2 weeks old. He was given his first parvo/distemper shot at 6weeks old. 2nd shot at 8weeks. 3rd shot is due at 10weeks. Can I take my puppy for walks around the neighborhood yet?"

The "CAN I" calls for the same response as your original question.

But the information about vaccinations 2 weeks apart raises questions:

💥1: WHY did Pup get its first "shot" at 6 weeks old?

Did their dam die while whelping them? Are they HORRIBLY in-bred? (Meaning that 1 or more ancestors appears as as the parent or grandparent of both the sire and the dam - or may even appear AS the sire or dam as well as behind the other parent.)

Normally the antibodies in the colostrum (aka "first milk") that a brood produces during her first day after starting whelping, will last 10-to-13 weeks, but some bìtches produce very little colostrum, and some pups are raised on ground inundated with viruses from other animals. Either way, the antibodies will be used up before the pup's immune system is mature enough to start generating its own antibodies in response to the attenuated viruses in the vaccine.

💥2: Is the vet greedy? Or ignorant?

Most vaccine packs carry a label that they should NEVER be given closer together than every THREE weeks, nor further apart than 4 weeks. Without further information from you, it looks as though YOUR vet is aiming at getting paid for 6 checks-then-vaccinations instead of the normal 3 for pups that aren't orphans.

💛 The regime I recommend is "shots" at 8, 12, and 16 weeks old. And so far as the CORE vaccines are concerned, that's it for life.

❤️ If your district has rabies, the LAW states the ages at which the first (usually at 18 weeks old?), 2nd (12 months later?), and subsequent (currently every 3 years? - but laws might change soon) "shots" must be given. And you must keep the Vaccination Record Book as proof of what was given, when, and by which vet.

💜If you are in a heartworm or ticks area, discuss the preventatives with a vet, but you don't need to start them just yet.

I don't take my pups for off-property walks until the first fine day 2+ weeks AFTER their FIRST Core vaccination at 8 weeks old. Which means not before 10 weeks old. And I then try to take them places where dogs do NOT run free (to terrify wee pups), do NOT piddle-poo-vomit (spreading viruses to kill wee pups. You can't rely on any vaccine having worked until 2 weeks after the final booster given at 16 weeks old. But pups NEED safe experiences of all the moving things, scents, sights & sounds in your district before they reach 3 months old and move into the "need routine & security" stage for at least a month. So you just have to do the best you can, then repeat the early experiences until Pup shows that it is moving beyond that "need routine & security" stage at, or after, reaching 4 months old. Many under-socialised pups remain timid throughout their life

King Les The Lofty - first pup in 1950, GSD trainer & breeder as of Easter 1968

I would not recommend walking the pup around a `built up area` until he has finished the vaccination course. 

If you can drive somewhere in the countryside where not many other people or dogs go, then walk him there. 

That is what I do with MY pups  to get than used to the outside world and to see cows in fields and horses and sheep etc. Tractors and trailers. Cyclist, motorbikes.

You can also do this safely from carrying the pup in your arms or in a knapsack. 

Its never caused any problems with the pups and they mature into adults that are calm around other species of animal and are used to seeing big noisy traffic.  

The crucial socialisation period for a puppy is from 7 to 14 weeks approx, and this can be crucial to how the pup reacts as an adult dog. 

So, yes. `Carry` your puppy around the `neighborhood` but do not allow people to actually touch him and dont walk him on the ground. 

Its amazing what knowledge a pup can absorb just by seeing things going on, from the safety of your arms or knapsack. etc. 

Good Luck and don`t take any risks by allowing him on ground where its frequented often by people and dogs. 

I wouldn't.   Even if having had 2 sets of vaccination should be better than none.  It's only another few days before he'll have had all his shots after - just as it only takes one dog to infect him!!  It's not worth the risk.  Normally you should leave another few weeks after the last set, before putting him on the ground off your property.   And taking him our should be done gradually in any case, depending on the breed/size of the puppy.   We used to take ours to the kerb, getting used to being on a collar + lead, and to start to get used to the sight and sounds in the great wide world.

I know outside the UK, 3 sets of vaccination is given but why was your puppy given his first set at only 6 weeks?   Unless for some reason he didn't have mum's first milk (colostrum), being vaccinated at 6 weeks is pointless as it simply won't take.   The natural immunity from mum should start to drop away from around 5 weeks, but not be fully gone until at least 8 weeks after which external vaccination can be given with a good chance it will take.   Our puppies were vaccinated at 10 weeks the first time and then done two, sometimes three depending on the vet, weeks later.   I can't remember what we did when living outside the UK.

Why have two people TDd me - I was asked for my opinion and I gave it, according to MY views about this.  Even if you disagree with my answer, that doesn't mean I'm wrong. 

What difference does waiting another week make compared to the puppy happening to walk where another infected dog has been (it doesn't need to have met the dog) and contracting Parvo, for eg.   The puppy should be protected after the first shot, but in fact if it hasn't 'taken' for some reason (usually because with that pup, natural immunity hasn't totally gone) the subsequent shots are boosters.   I knew of a couple who titre tested EACH PUPPY in their litters before going ahead with external vaccination so they knew which puppy needed what.

My VETERINARIAN says no.  What does your VETERINARIAN say (as opposed to strangers on the Internet)?

Your puppy does not have immunity at this point in his life.

No. Two weeks after the FULL SERIES of puppy vaccines is finished you can start to walk your puppy in public places. The full series should be finished at around 16 weeks. I am not sure where you came up with that vaccine schedule, but that's too frequent and too early. Should be more like 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, with about a month between each vaccine.  The most current studies show vaccines before 8 weeks are useless and can even interfere with natural immunity. A lot of the newer research is actually indicating that 9-10 weeks may be more appropriate and effective for a first dose. If your vet is who is advising this, find a new one. They just want your $.