questions about new puppy

[ams3651]

I have a chance to get a Blue Tick puppy, says they are about 10 weeks old. When should they have their first shots? Is 10 weeks old enough to leave mom? After loosing my beagle Sadie a few months ago Ive considered getting another dog and everyone else here wants another one. I tend to like the hounds which concerned me with the chickens. Sadie loved them but she was introduced to them as chicks and always thought they were her kids. I didnt want a puppy but maybe raising the dog with the chickens would be a good way to go. Advice?

 

[ChickenFanaticAB]

Blue ticks are beautiful dogs and 10 weeks is certainly old enough to leave mom, that's probably the best age for them to be leaving. I don't quite remember when pups get their first shots, but I believe they start at around 8 weeks, and there are like 3 rounds of shots, could be wrong though, hopefully someone else can answer that for you. While a hound probably isn't the best choice of breed to have with chickens, all dogs are trainable, and as long as your chickens and dog are kept separately it shouldn't be a problem, and you never know, maybe your dog would be great with chickens, never can tell. One thing worries me though, you said you didn't really want a puppy. I'm sure these pups are adorable, but like all puppies, he or she will be a lot of work, so make absolutely sure that you are ready to take on a puppy before you decide. If you are ready for another dog, but are only taking this one because he is available, just know that there are plenty of dogs needing homes out there. If you are ready for the puppy, then go for it! You really can't dwell too much on whether or not it will be good with the chickens, simply because every dog is different.

 

[ams3651]

Im certianly taking all things into consideration. Thanks for your advice. Im not against getting a puppy but I do know its some work. Im home all day so he wouldnt be alone and I could work with him. I didnt really want to do it before but since loosing Sadie I think Im going a little soft

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Most breeders give a parvo shot at 4 weeks an a 5 in one at 6 an 8 weeks. they are sent to there new homes the day after the 8 week shots. They then should have another dose at 10 weeks an a last one at 12 weeks. I believe lots of people with hunting dogs do the 7 in 1 shots for the week 10 an 12 shot. That covers the basics. You will have to ask your vet when you are required to get the rabies shot in your state an he might advise additional shots for things rampant in your location.


One set of "puppy" shots is actually enough but because the time that puppies become susceptible an the shots will actually work verys between pups the every 2 week system is used.

 

[turney31]

We have a black and tan hound as our guard dog and he doesn't pay any attention to the chickens.

 

[blaundee]

Whenever I get a puppy, I give it a parvo shot, then 3 weeks later give it another parvo shot, then 3 weeks after that give it a third parvo shot. I just buy them all 3 at the feedstore, and store them in my fridge. When they are 3 months old, I take them to the vet for a rabies shot, and a year after that I take them for another rabies shot and parvo shot.

When they are 2, I take them to the vet for a rabies shot (only vets can give rabies shots in NM) and get a parvo shot at the same time.

When they are 3, I get a "3 year rabies shot" and a parvo shot- then every 3 years after that, they get a "3yr rabies shot" and a parvo shot.

 

[phaethona]

I'm not familiar with the breed, but my bit of advice is to get written proof of ALL vaccinations that may have been done before you bring him/her home. then take the pup straight to a good, reliable vet and they'll get you set on a course for the rest.

I have a cattle dog that we adopted at 4 months of age. we got him from a vet tech who fostered animals rescued or dropped off at the vet. she gave us his shot record which said that he'd had his parvo, but within 3 days of being home with us, he got sick. we took him back to the vet and had him tested, came back + for parvo. I didn't want them to care for him, but they agreed to foot the bill since he had caught it before coming home with us, the total was $1800. they gave him a 50/50 chance of survival. he spent 8 days locked in a tiny quarantine cage in a closet, and all they could do for him was put him on an IV drip and hope for the best. we went down there every night after my husband got off work, sat with him, tried to lift his spirits. as luck would have it, he gained enough strength to eat on his own, and they called me and said I could come get him, so I went and picked him up and called my husband and told him to meet me for lunch and suprised him with our puppy(who insisted on sitting on my lap the whole way there)
long story short, try to deal with trustworthy caregivers. I don't know if these people just forgot to give him his parvo shot or if they didn't want to spend the money, but either way, their lack of competence nearly cost him his life and devastated our first experience with a family pet.

and I'm not certain, but I think the parvo test was fairly inexpensive, might not hurt to get one done just to be sure. especially if the pup spends a lot of time outside and around other dogs.

As far as the chickens go, a puppy would be easier to train than an adult. My dogs tried to "play" with them a couple times in the beginning(got a hold of one and tossed her around) but we were able to redirect the behavior and now the only time they go after the chickens is when they're trying to steal the dogs' food, and I don't reprimand them for that because they have a right to defend their food and they never hurt the chickens, they just nip at them to leave. just make sure to get the point across that you won't tolerate aggressive behavior and they should be fine. maybe try short, supervised introductions until they can be trusted alone together. but have a plan B in case things don't go that smoothly at first.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Good Luck!! so exciting!

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

If he got sick 3 days after being at the vets office I would assume he got it there. Shots are a preventative but some dogs it never takes an they still get parvo. Things go bad sometime even when everything is done right.
The parvo test can shows positive for parvo from the vaccine so how useful it is is questionable.

I'm lost as to the point of giving a parvo shot to adult dogs. Assuming they got immunized as a pup it should last a lifetime. An if they do happen to get it as an adult they usually fight it off with almost no symptoms. Parvo needs the rapid growth of a puppy to really thrive so its not a big worry for adults. At least thats my understanding of it.

 

[arabianequine]

I am pretty sure package says to start vaccinations at 6-8 weeks.Then ever 3-4 weeks till 16 weeks. 3-4 doses should be fine.

Rabies at 6 months and a vet has to do it here in Washington too....but they won't do it no sooner. Then again at a year and then every 3 years.

 

[phaethona]

Quote:
He could have got it from the vet, but it's not likely. He was brought in to the office and was supposed to have had all of the first round of vax there and then he went home with one of the vet techs, where he lived for 4 months before we adopted him. She had about 8-10 other dogs living outside in her backyard. when we picked him out of the litter, he seemed really mellow and calm compared to his siblings, that's one of the reasons we picked him. well now we know that it wasn't calm or mellow, it was lethargy. And it wouldn't have been from the vaccine itself because the record said he got the shot at 6 weeks old and when we got him he was 4 months old, plus in his case it wasn't just a positive test, it was the full blown virus. Doing things all over again, I could have taken him right back to the vet office and had him tested as a precautionary and when it came back positive I could have either started his treatment sooner or picked another dog. but since I didn't, I got the kids excited and attached to a cute little puppy, to find out he only had a 50/50 shot at surviving. my kids would have been heartbroken if he hadn't pulled through, but thank goodness he did. so the moral of the story for me was if I had gone ahead and tested him right off the bat, I could have saved a lot of worry, so in this case it proved to be very useful. and I think most vets would able to determine a false positive due to recent vaccination. And I'm not a vet, but I'm not so sure that a vaccination can "not take", once the pathogen enters the blood stream, the body's natural response is to develop immunity to it. barring pre-existing severe immune deficiencies(in which case vaccination wouldn't be recommended anyway), at least some degree of immunity should have coded for future exposure...when done correctly. I don't know who's fault it was, but I do not believe he was vaccinated properly, whether they had a bad batch or completely forgot, either way they weren't competent enough to vaccinate him for parvo. that's why my original point was to advise the OP to find a good, trustworthy vet and try to adopt from credible and trustworthy fosters/breeders as well. Sorry if I'm sounding like a know-it-all, it's just that I learned a lot from that experience, and if I were to do it all over again, I would have questioned more, and the first thing I would have done before bringing him home to meet the family is take him in for a full workup, including a parvo test. JMO