One of the things that makes me mad

Last week end I went to petsmart to buy some stuff for the dogs. I met three adorable puppies... One was 9 weeks, the other 7 weeks, the other 8 weeks. The 8 weeks puppy was sooo small, and the owner was holding it (maltese I think?). The poor thing was shaking, but it's good for him to see new things!

But the other two. Oh, they were adorable, a boxer and a lab. But they were on leash on the floor. I'll pass that the lab owners were buying eukaniba food, but how can they leave a non vaccinated puppy on the floor in a petstore?

That made me really mad. Of course I didn't say anything, but do they even realize the risks they are running for their dog??? Didn't their vet tell them it's not safe for a dog to be in contact with other dogs until they got their full set of shots? Even on the forums I read, I keep seeing people who say they are taking their 9 weeks old puppy everywhere, are people that misinformed or irresponsible? Or am I just paranoid not to leave Tips on leash outside until he got all his shots in 3 weeks?

I think people just don't know. I doubt most of them are intentionaly putting their puppies in danger, they probably just don't know/understand the risks involved.
And your not being paranoid in my opinion!

I take Belly with me to Petco and Petsmart but I keep her in alittle Kangaroo Pack. Is that ok? She'll get her last shots August 16.

I think you are paranoid. Isn't it true that puppies can get a lot of the necessary anti-bodies from their mom as long as they are nursing?

Remember, not everybody is a "dog expert" like you seem to be. I know you mean well Fran but you come across sounding very arrogant a lot of the time. I have only been on this forum for a short time, but almost all of your posts make me cringe when I read them. Until now I just bit my tounge because I am fairly sure you mean well.

Even if you don't care how people see you, it hurts your desire to share your obviously good knowledge of dogs and dog issues.

One guy's $.02 (Canadian) so take it for what it is worth.

Firstly I think It's obvious that they weren't still nursing and someone irresponsible sold the puppies far too early!! It's true that anti bodies are passed over in the milk, but these aren't enought to prevent your pup from getting Parvo etc!!

I would be concerned that an 8 week old pup was on the floor of a Pet shop!! Disease can be spread so easily, especially when you have such a large amount of traffic in pet stores! God only knows how many sick dogs/sick dog owners pass through in a week!!
In fact I would have gone over and explained to the owners why it wasn't good to leave their pups on the floor!

I don't find Fran at all arrogant, I think Fran is just concerned! I think however that the best way of moving forward is to share the knowledge you have with other people! Someone else with an 8 week old pup who may be taking their pup to the pet store blissfully unaware of the dangers, may read this thread and learn something!!

Getting personal doesn't help anyone!

although that puppy shouldn't have been in a pet store without all it's vaccs sometimes you can't help but take your puppy out in the open without all the shots. we had to take teddy outside all the time when he was a puppy without his shots. he coudln't just go whereever he wanted to in the house.

Fran if it makes you so angry why didn't you say anything. You seem to feel pretty passionately about the issue but just let it walk right by you without a word. I think you are being a little harsh on other people. LIke puckstop said not everyone is an expert and don't know EVERYTHING there is to consider. Some people just don't know. I don't think you are in a position to judge them because you don't know them. If you were that concerned you should have shared your knowledge with them. if they get pissed off oh well at least you tried. but I don't think its right to just assume they are irresponsible or stupid. They did have THREE puppies all at once so they couldn't be that smart about it. Next time help someone out. Talk to them about their new puppies and share your experiences and concerns. but be n ice about it, don't accuse them. not everyone is born a dog genius

I wouldn't take my 9 week old to a petstore, where there might be a concentration of dogs, but it is equally, if not more important to me to get my very young puppies socialized, risks of parvo, included. What good is an unsocialized dog? So, I think moderation and reasonable caution are needed but not to the point of not getting a puppy out to see the world. And that needs to be quite well saturated by the time the pup is 16 weeks old and continued.

Mocking, sarcasm and personal attacks on members here for their opinion is not in line with the way this forum is run. Everyone is entited to their opinion and entitled to word it any way they choose as long as there are no insults and no flaming or jabs made in a personal way.

I once saw a young yellow lab puppy being held by someone at PetSmart. First I heard them say it was six months, then six weeks - it was definitely six weeks, it was so tiny, and shivering like crazy.

It totally agree Doberluv that they need to be socialized too, and the maltese was in the owner's arms, which is much safer than on the floor. The other two were small enough to be held, but were on the floor. I took Tips out to Petsmart as well a couple times, but I held him the whole time. I agree that the socializing problem is a big one, and I have the problem as well with Tips But there is still time once a dog has got his third shot to spend lots of time socializing them safely before their 16 weeks in my opinion... as long as people don't wait too long.

Sparks, I disagree, I would never take my puppy out without his shots, except in my yard, and to the vet (where he met people and other dogs, too), or at least he would stay in my arms. I am lucky, because some of the other puppies that were there the day I picked Tips up got sick, because they got in contact with sick dogs without having their shots. Tips didn't get sick, and I'm not going to risk it now. There are way too many irresponsible owners out there.

I didn't say anything because I don't want to sound arrogant - that, and the fact that English isn't my mother tongue still embarasses me sometimes with some people who don't understand me, and the fact that I actually applied to that store to work and didn't want to start arguing with customers (they never called back as they said they woul thoughd, but I can't say I'm surprised as it's plain impossible to find a job when you're not American and you only have a French college degree without experience and references - but I guess it's a good thing I didn't get the job). Also, I think that if people want to learn, they will look for information themselves. The worst way of getting your point across is to start talking to someone out of the blue and try to tell them what they are doing wrong. Oh and the puppies were not together, they each had different owners.

Puckstop, I guess I'm sorry you find me arrogant that I'm the first one to ask for help when I have a problem with one of my boys. I'm a new owner, I'm still learning. Everything I know, I've learned it from forums, and put it in practice as much as I could. I'm not a perfect dog owner, but I do my best. People come for advice, I give some. Often they don't like what they're hearing, but I'm doing the best advice I can. Yes, sometimes I'm a bit critical on some people, because I was once one of those irresponsible dog owners (although I mostly blame my ex), and it's the dogs that suffer from it. So if it means having to be harsh to make people react... so be it. If they just rethink their situation, I will have done my job. If you don't say anything, you will just have more people taking their 8 weeks pups to the petstore...

Ne te fache pas Fran il n'en vaut pas la peine.

Fran, I had no idea, as I'm sure many didn't, that English wasn't your native language! One of the things that we've all got to be aware of on a forum like this is linguistic blunders. Sometimes things just don't come across in the tone in which they are meant.

As far as socializing time goes, I've always heard about the 16 weeks window, but as Charley is paranoid about the pups going off the farm until they are several months old (he thinks, for some reason, that I might allow them to be stolen or lost???), I don't do that. They're actually quite well socialized though, especially for a breed that makes Dobermans look like social butterflies, lol!

At 13 weeks Yukon was fully vaccinated and that was when he started going everywhere with us. Before that he stayed at home or went for walks but no other dog contact. He was vaccinated early because there was confusing to his birth date, but the vet said no problem he's old enough. He is on the once a month heartguard as well and is dewormed every three months as instructed by the vet. He will require a booster at age 1 year and then go on every three year rotation except for the rabies he needs yearly as it is a hugh problem here. Heart worm blood test will be needed next year as well and every two years. He sure likes his raw food and is looking prettty good.

This subject has come up before on this forum and while I agree with both sides, I do feel some take it a bit too seriously. I mean, I allow my children to walk on the floors, go to daycare without having their full vaccinacions (they don't receive their full shots until around 2 yrs old) Should I keep holding her until then? Some people even allow their children to be exposed to chickenpox just to get their immune system to fight against it. And what about flu shots? I just think some people need to ease up a bit and every battle with their own beliefs isn't a fight with everyone else. hope that made sense. lol

Makes perfect sense and is so true. I'm following my vets advice with the dog and my doctors advice with the kids.

That's not the same thing at all... If there was even a small risk your kid would be exposed to a virus that could kill him in a few days, somehow I don't think you would leave him in daycare

Sorry but I don't see how you can compare both at all...

Have to agree, those two are not comparable.

I also would like to say that as an owner you have to make the best decision you can. Many people out there are not informed and that's all it is, just ignorance not stupidity. Stupidity is when you know better and still take the risk etc. You have to weigh the risks vs. the benefits in this type of situation. Like Doberluv said, an undersocialized dog is no good to anyone. There is a brief period of time when socialization can really set in and it's usually before 11 weeks. They say you need your pup to meet 100 new people by the time it's (can't remember the age , but know it's young)!! I agree that is the pup is small enought to hold in public places then that may be the best answer. We took Norman to Home Depot and pushed him around in the cart. He got tons of positive attention and met a lot of new people and heard a lot of new noises etc.

Excuse me!!! And go ahead and roll your eyes Of course I wouldn't. However, they can not receive their full vaccinations until the age of two! Just as it is for other children. Children are exposed to viruses everyday in school with ALL THE OTHER KIDS. GEEESH do you have children? My point was, there is some point to the madness of getting on someone's case about stuff. Get off you high horse please. I tried to be nice about my OPINION. No need to jump on me with the rolled eyes.

Yes, but none of those viruses are going to get your children killed in a week or two, like parvo would. I respect your opinion, but you need to make comparaisons that make sense. I don't think that if your kids could catch AIDS by crawling on the floor you would let them do it. That's the same thing.

And no, I don't have kids, been trying for two years, thank you for keeping those kinds of comments for yourself...

I agree with Fran.

Just to be clear because for some reason this post can to my email and not the others, I'm not rolling my eyes to anyone at all. What is right for me may not be right for you. I will follow the advice of those I pay to know what I do not and here kids are fully vaccinated at 18 months however some countries don't fully vaccinate children until 3 years old and some don't vaccinate at all. So it is an age long argument where everyone has an opinion and everyone's opinion is right, just not right all the time. Who's right who's wrong, who cares here we are sharing information and trying to learn from each other. Not everyone has the perfect thing that works for you that's why I read everyone's post and chose to use the information that seems to fit best and if that doesn't work then I chose something else to try but never ever would I say someone is wrong for there opinion. How can you be wrong with your opinion, it is yours? Thank you very much for all replies I listen to each one and feel no one is dumb and no one deserves to have rolled eyes sent to them.