Resident Dog and New Puppy - Protection From Disease

by Laurie
(Fort St John, BC Canada)

I have a fully vaccinated 17 month dog, and will be bringing home a new puppy in a few weeks.

I know to keep my new puppy at home until she has had all her shots.

When I take my resident dog for a walk or to a park can he pick up something to pass to my puppy, IE Parvo or Distemper.

Do I have to keep my current dog at home to until my new puppy has all her shots?






Hi Laurie
This is a good question and in an ideal world the answer would be 'Yes, it's best to keep your older dog at home to prevent any potential transference of disease' however it's generally very impractical to do this as you're normally looking at a period of 8 - 10 weeks during which your new puppy will be vulnerable.

The best 'compromise' option, and what most people do, is to keep your older dog away from areas where there is the greatest risk of picking getting 'contaminated'. This would include open public areas that are accessible to stray or unvaccinated dogs, public parks, highway rest-stops, busy city streets and other similar areas.

Your yard, the yards of friends/family with no dogs, or ones that are current on their shots, small, fenced parks, walking trails, housing additions (especially gated ones) and so on are your safest bets.

Obviously it's impossible to KNOW which areas are safe and which ones aren't, but all you can do is use common sense and be vigilant. As an added precaution I'd recommend making sure to wipe off your dogs paws every time he comes in from a walk or outside excursion. You can buy 'doggie wipes' or simply use people sanitizing wipes or an antibacterial cleanser of some sort. This will all help.

Unless your puppy is one of the breeds that are at high risk of Canine Parvovirus (such as Rottweilers, Pitbulls or Doberman Pinschers for example), he should be well protected by the time he's around 12 weeks old and has had 3 sets of puppy shots. So just do your best.

Hope this helps, best of luck with both your dogs.