When can a puppy go out for walks? What WSAVA says

The guideline does not give a number of days to count from the first vaccine. The 2024 guideline of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) says socialisation can begin before a puppy’s vaccine series is complete, as long as it is done under controlled conditions: contact only with healthy puppies and fully vaccinated adult dogs, and careful prevention of exposure to potentially contaminated environments outside the home. The last dose in the series should be given at 16 weeks of age or older, so ask your vet when your own puppy can go to public places.

If a puppy is vomiting, has bloody diarrhoea, or is dull and off its food, see a vet the same day. The Merck Veterinary Manual lists these as early signs of parvovirus, which most often affects puppies and unvaccinated adult dogs.

When can a puppy go out for walks? What does WSAVA say?

WSAVA addresses this in its frequently asked questions and again in the canine section of the guideline. In summary:

• Puppy socialisation is of great importance, and it can generally begin before the puppy vaccination series is complete. WSAVA says this has been shown to be safe for parvovirus when done properly.
• Owners of puppies that have not completed the series should socialise them under controlled conditions.
• Those conditions are to carefully prevent exposure to potentially contaminated environments outside the home, and to permit contact only with healthy puppies and fully vaccinated adult dogs.
• Whenever possible, the last dose in the series should be given at 16 weeks of age or older, however many doses were given earlier.
• The table in the guideline repeats that careful socialisation, during the puppy’s sensitive period for socialisation, can begin before the vaccination series is completed.

WSAVA does not list particular places, and it does not say how long after the last dose a puppy can go out. Those questions are for your vet, who knows which vaccine was used and what the puppy’s history is.

When is a puppy’s vaccine series finished?

WSAVA recommends starting the core puppy vaccines at 6 to 8 weeks of age, and not before 6 weeks, then repeating every 2 to 4 weeks until 16 weeks of age or older. It calls the dose at 16 weeks or older the most important of the early doses, because the mother’s antibodies can be expected to have waned substantially in a large majority of puppies by then. The reasons are explained in why puppy vaccines continue until 16 weeks.

Where the risk of exposure is particularly high, WSAVA says 18 to 20 weeks may be more appropriate for the last dose, and its table says to continue to 20 weeks in especially high-risk situations. Even after a dose at 16 weeks or later, WSAVA says a small percentage of puppies may not respond. It therefore advises either a blood test for antibodies at least 4 weeks after the last puppy dose (at or after 20 weeks of age) or a further vaccination at or shortly after 26 weeks. The overall plan is in dog vaccination schedule India: core vaccines and when.

Some vaccines are licensed with a finish at 10 or 12 weeks, partly so that puppies can be socialised earlier. WSAVA does not recommend a routine 10-week finish. It says early socialisation can be achieved while following its guideline.

Why are outside places a risk before the series ends?

WSAVA describes a period it calls the window of susceptibility. During it, the mother’s antibodies have fallen too low to give full protection but are still high enough to interfere with a vaccine. In this window a puppy cannot be immunised by conventional vaccines, but it can catch disease if it meets a “street” or virulent pathogen. WSAVA says it is not possible to predict when a particular puppy’s window opens or closes without blood tests, and that vaccines are repeated every 2 to 4 weeks to make the window as short as practicable.

In its FAQ, WSAVA answers a question about puppies that were vaccinated against parvovirus at 9 weeks and developed parvoviral enteritis at 10 weeks. The most common reason, it says, is that the puppy was already incubating the disease before the vaccine. It is also possible that such puppies were infected during their window of susceptibility.

The Merck Veterinary Manual explains why places matter for parvovirus. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with infected dogs or their faeces, and indirectly through objects contaminated by faeces. Faeces contain the virus for up to 3 weeks after infection, and recovered dogs may serve as carriers. Merck says the virus may survive for several months or possibly years in contaminated areas, and elsewhere that it can remain viable in the environment for a year or longer. Merck also advises keeping pups isolated from adult dogs returning from shows or field trials.

For distemper, Merck says most dogs are infected by breathing in virus droplets from an infected animal, and that some dogs can spread the virus for months in their saliva and faeces even after they appear to have recovered.

Should I keep my puppy indoors until it is fully vaccinated?

WSAVA strongly supports early socialisation as essential to healthy behavioural development and the future wellbeing of dogs, and says it can generally begin before the vaccine series is complete.

WSAVA cites research on the risk. In a 2013 study, Stepita, Bain and Kass asked whether puppies vaccinated at least once by a vet were at higher risk of confirmed parvovirus infection if they attended puppy socialisation classes. Twenty-one veterinary clinics in four United States cities provided information on puppies up to 16 weeks old, and 24 trainers in the same cities collected similar information on puppies in their classes. In total, 279 puppies attended socialisation classes and none was suspected of or diagnosed with parvovirus infection. The authors concluded that vaccinated puppies attending socialisation classes were at no greater risk of parvovirus infection than vaccinated puppies that did not attend. WSAVA says the risk to puppies partway through their vaccine series from attending early socialisation classes is low, and that the same is likely to be true for distemper and adenovirus.

The study covered vaccinated puppies in classes in four US cities. It does not describe other settings.

When should you see a vet?

See a vet the same day for a puppy that is dull, off its food, vomiting, or has bloody diarrhoea. Merck says the early signs of parvovirus are nonspecific (dullness, loss of appetite and fever) and progress to vomiting and bloody diarrhoea within 1 to 2 days. It adds that abdominal pain may mean the intestines are blocked, which requires emergency treatment, and that severely affected dogs may be in shock and others can die within hours of the onset of signs. For distemper, Merck describes a fever, then a second fever with eye or nose discharge, tiredness and loss of appetite, followed by digestive and breathing problems and, in some dogs, nervous system signs such as twitching, paralysis or seizures. Merck says dogs with confirmed or suspected parvovirus need strict isolation, so do not take a sick puppy out to other dogs.

Frequently asked questions

Can my puppy go out after the first vaccine?

WSAVA gives no number of days. It says a puppy that has not finished the series should be socialised under controlled conditions and kept from potentially contaminated environments outside the home. Ask your vet when your own puppy can go to public places.

Can my puppy meet other dogs before it is fully vaccinated?

WSAVA permits contact only with healthy puppies and fully vaccinated adult dogs. Merck separately advises keeping pups isolated from adult dogs returning from shows or field trials.

Are puppy classes safe before the vaccine series ends?

In the 2013 study WSAVA cites, none of the 279 vaccinated puppies that attended socialisation classes was suspected of or diagnosed with parvovirus. WSAVA describes the risk from early socialisation classes as low.

What if my puppy seems unwell?

Call a vet the same day. Merck lists dullness, loss of appetite and fever as early signs of parvovirus, usually followed within one to two days by vomiting and bloody diarrhoea.

Sources

• WSAVA Vaccination Guidelines Group (2024). 2024 WSAVA guidelines for the vaccination of dogs and cats. J Small Anim Pract 65(5):277-316. https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WSAVA-Vaccination-guidelines-2024.pdf
• Stepita ME, Bain MJ, Kass PH (2013). Frequency of CPV infection in vaccinated puppies that attended puppy socialization classes. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 49(2):95-100 (abstract via Purdue Canine Welfare Science). https://caninewelfare.centers.purdue.edu/resource/frequency-of-cpv-infection-in-vaccinated-puppies-that-attended-puppy-socialization-classes
• Merck Veterinary Manual, dog owners: disorders of the stomach and intestines in dogs (canine parvovirus). https://www.merckvetmanual.com/dog-owners/digestive-disorders-of-dogs/disorders-of-the-stomach-and-intestines-in-dogs
• Merck Veterinary Manual, dog owners: canine distemper. https://www.merckvetmanual.com/dog-owners/disorders-affecting-multiple-body-systems-of-dogs/canine-distemper-hardpad-disease