Puppy Socialization During Vaccines

This Blog and my time with all of you has been a great blessing as it has given me the opportunity to reflect and look back at Athena's short life. Writing these posts brings to the forefront many feelings including: happiness, nostalgia (Thena, stop growing up so fast baby girl! *sniff sniff*), and, at times, anxiety. Now, I know I know, you're all thinking "But, Isabelle, your journey with her has been so bright and beautiful... really? How can writing any of this make you anxious?!?!" Interestingly enough, yes... some points of these stories do. Allow me to take a moment to elaborate on what I mean.

You are 100% correct on the fact that Athena has brought nothing but happiness to me and my little family and reflecting on those moments is wonderful and nostalgic (still tearing up over here over how quickly this furry one is growing up *sniff sniff*); however, there have been moments, as some past posts have shown, where some of the decisions I've made for her and her wellbeing have made me doubt my ability to be a good pawrent and dog mom. It is while writing these posts that I remember that feeling and, even today, I have to simply fight my good old friend, anxiety, and trust that the decisions I've share with you were made with the best: guidance, intentions, and wisdom possible. One of those many decisions that I am referring to has been on how and when I decided to socialize my furry little one.

Fur babies, like babies, have a very delicate and important timeframe when it comes to socialization. I have read, and please correct me if I am wrong on this fact as again I am no expert, that puppies should begin the socialization process by 7 weeks (after their first round of vaccines and deworming), and socialization and introduction to new: animals, people, and environments should continue on after that. For me, this was where the anxiety kicked in. Now, if you've been following our journey on here you know which arch nemesis I feared the most for my fur baby... Yup!..Parvo. Remember that one disease that I wanted nothing to do with and wasn't willing to risk losing my pup to? Yes, that was Parvo and it was exactly my main source of concern. So, as a new pawrent, especially a pawrent with anxiety, how do you deal with knowing that your little one needs as much exposure as possible to the world at that young of an age while also knowing that too much socialization before they are ready medically (aka: when they're not fully vaccinated) can potentially be a death sentence?

Someone please make me feel more sane and tell me I have not been the only one that has thought about this, LOL! Oh how watching my shows has become my blessing and my curse, HA! Anyway, when it came to the point of deciding the perfect time to go about this, I decided that, for both her physical safety and my mental wellbeing, I would have to come to a happy medium for us both. I did not want to deprive Athena from getting to know her loved ones or meeting other pups during this critical time but, I decided that I would do it in the safest and most cautious way possible. To start off, her outside exposure was limited. Maybe a few minutes outside in the sunlight for her Vitamin D and, of course, our quick trips to the front of our apartment for her bathroom breaks. Anything longer than that meant her being in my arms for a big part of the outing. Also, I made sure that, if we were going anywhere to introduce her and there was any possibility of her encountering a furry friend, that they would be fully vaccinated. Funny enough, the main encounter that I can remember of Thena's as a 2-3 month old was with my best friend and sister from another mister (and Thena's auntie). The picture in this post is actually of that encounter when her auntie got to hold her for the first time! We decided to meet at a mall and both of us made sure she was in our arms and off the floor as much as possible.

Now, how has this technique worked out for me with Athena as a 8-month old little one? Now that she's vaccinated I am more lenient of course. Now that she is fully protected, I am more comfortable with her making her furry friends on our walks or meeting friend's/family's dogs. I must say; however, that, with me being so protective and strict, I am still at a point where I'm playing a little bit of catch up. With her, it can be hit or miss when it comes to meeting both people and animals. Most times, she seems to be more comfortable with furry ones than with their pawrents, although, that's not to say that she hasn't had her moments with other fur babies that have simply wanted to say "hello". It's also been a struggle to teach her that not every new person she sees is a threat and that its ok to not bark at all times. All in all, it's been somewhat more work for me to socialize her now that she's a bit older; however, I'm willing to put in the work that was delayed a bit in her earlier weeks. For me, my thought process was that it would be better to struggle just a bit with her socialization journey a little later in her life than it was to risk losing her. Her walk times and distance have significantly increased since being fully vaccinated and I'm taking any and all opportunities for her to meet people along the way. I'm hoping that now, this new leniency and normalcy with encourage little by little to be more social and less anxious with others (whether two-legged friends or four-legged ones).

Did I make the right decision? I wish I myself knew the answer to this... this is simply the point where she and I are at today. I'm hoping that with how I weighed the pros and cons in her early weeks that I made the safest and correct decision when it came to not FULLY socializing her before she was medically ready. I guess at this point-in-time, only time itself will be able to tell me :). As you can see, this is where the little bit of anxiety comes from when I'm writing these posts as I unfortunately have a tendency to doubt myself; however, I am comforted by the fact that I know I did the best research I could, took all the guidance from her vet and experienced pawrents I could, and that each and every decision was made putting her safety and wellbeing at the forefront of my mind at all times.