Can I take my 8 week old puppy outside to pee
When Can Puppies Go Outside: Guidelines For New Puppy Parents
Puppies can go outside from 8 weeks old in your backyard for potty training, exercise and play. But visits to public places is trickier, as new puppies need to be protected from infection too.
Vaccinations take time to build a puppys immunity. Meanwhile puppies need to meet people in their community! Especially if they are from a protective dog breed.
Today puppy expert Pippa Mattinson explains how to keep your puppy safe from diseases as they adapt to their new life with your family. Youll find guidelines for when and how to take your puppy out in public, and tips to help you keep them safe until they are fully vaccinated like using backpacks and puppy carriers.
Protecting your puppy from infection is an area where you are quite likely to get conflicting advice. Its one of those situations where experts, including veterinarians, dont always agree and advice to puppy parents has changed in the last few years.
When Do Puppies Get Shots?
The first round of puppy shots is given at 6-8 weeks of age. At this age, the puppy will still have some maternal antibodies.
Those antibodies from their Mom, give your puppy some immunity to diseases, but wear off gradually once the puppy is weaned at six weeks. Before your pup is weaned the antibodies in their mothers milk can interfere with the vaccine.
How Many Shots Do Puppies Need?
12 week puppy shots follow four weeks after the first set of puppy shots. The final shots are given after another four weeks. Your puppy is fully protected by about 16-17 weeks old with three sets of shots altogether.
What Vaccines Do Puppies Need?
Each set of shots will include protection against diseases that commonly attack puppies and older dogs.
Your veterinarian will pick the vaccines included depending on your location, but most puppies will receive protection against killer diseases like parvovirus, distemper, leptospirosis and rabies.
Standard advice used to be that puppies can go outside in public places when they are fully protected by their jabs, at about 16 weeks old. But we now know that this may not be the best advice for your puppy.
Thats because puppies need socializing, and socialization only works well during the first few weeks of a puppys life. Its the critical period for socialization, or window for socialization.
When Can Puppies Go Outside For Socialization?
Socialization is the process of introducing a puppy to lots of new experiences to reduce the chances of them being afraid as adults.
That window for socialization is the time in the life of every puppy when they are most open to making new friends and embracing new experiences.
Puppies that miss out on those new experiences during the window may become fearful and even aggressive in the weeks to come. And the window closes at about the same time your puppy completes their course of vaccinations.
We have to find a balance between preventing infection, and preventing aggression.
Can I Socialize My Puppy At Home?
Much of temperament is innate. Not all dogs that are kept at home for the first 16 weeks are aggressive, but if you are keeping them home then book in plenty of playdates.
Arrange for dozens of different people to visit your home each week. Expose your puppy to as many new experiences (sights, sounds, and textures).
This helps, but it isnt a substitute for getting out into the sounds and smells of the world, seeing cars and truck pass by, watching throngs of different people pass by, and the endless opportunities for new experiences that tumble over one another.
When Can Puppies Go Outside?
For those reasons, you shouldnt keep your puppy shut away from the world for those first sixteen weeks of their lives. You need to take your puppy outside from the start. But with some important precautions.
How Do Puppies Catch Diseases?
Puppies dont generally catch diseases from humans. Most germs that can infect a dog cant infect people. However, your puppy can catch diseases from other dogs. And other dogs dont need to appear sick in order to be contagious and make your puppy ill.
Any unvaccinated dog could be a carrier (a dog that can infect other dogs without becoming ill). Or could be incubating a disease and not yet showing symptoms.
Even the Ground is a Risk
More importantly, your puppy can catch some diseases by sniffing or licking where an infected dog has urinated or defecated. And we all know how dogs like to sniff and lick at things on the ground. So, your puppy is at risk from exposure to unvaccinated dogs and from pee and poop from an infected dog. Lets keep these risks in mind.
The Dos and Donts
Here are dos and donts to minimize the risks of your puppy becoming infected while you help her discover that the world is a friendly place.
Until your puppys vaccination cover is complete:
- DONT put your puppy on the ground where other dogs have pooped or urinated
- DO carry your puppy unless you are certain the ground is not contaminated
- DONT allow your puppy to play with strange dogs, no matter how friendly they seem
- DOconsider letting your puppy attend a well-supervised puppy class if all puppies attending have had their first vaccinations.
- DONT allow your puppy to play with your friends unvaccinated dogs.
Keep your puppy safe in your arms outdoors. As your puppy grows, this can be a strain, but there are some tools to help you.
When Can Puppies Go Outside If They Are Carried?
Puppies get heavy quickly. For outings where you cannot put the puppy down, a lot of people use a shoulder bag to carry the puppy. This takes the strain off your back and leaves your hands free.
When Can my Puppy Start Puppy Class?
Check with your vet, but in many areas, puppy classes will take puppies after their first set of vaccinations.
A study published in the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association in spring 2013 looked at the frequency of parvovirus in puppies that attended puppy classes compared with puppies that did not.
The puppies had their first vaccination (which can be done at eight weeks) but were not fully immunized. Researchers found no increase in the risk of parvo in puppies going to class compared to stay at home puppies.
This information supports the view that socialization does not increase the risk of catching this disease.
Can Wild Animals Infect my New Puppy?
The disease that most dog owners are concerned about is Canine Parvovirus. In the UK, for example, foxes are susceptible to this disease and the virus can survive for some time in infected feces. So there is a possibility, however remote, that a sick fox could defecate where a puppy plays and that puppy could be contaminated by contact with the fox poop.
Keeping Perspective
While no one can guarantee your puppy wont get sick from the feces of a wild animal in your yard, it is important to keep this in perspective. Risks are low and have to be balanced against the issues with keeping your puppy isolated indoors until her vaccinations are complete.
When can Puppies go Outside to Potty?
Even if you carry your puppy outside many times a day to experience these things, potty-training progress will be delayed by not being on the ground.
Youll need to teach her to relieve herself on puppy pads*(paid link) then repeat the process in the yard. This may be inevitable if you go out to work, but if you can, youll both benefit from teaching her to pee and poop outdoors from the start.
Recall Training
Early recall training involves getting your puppy to follow you around in different outdoor locations while shes small. This will put you in good stead later when she is more independent.
Your garden or yard is the ideal place to begin this practice. For these reasons, the majority of puppy owners allow their puppies in the yard from their first days at home.
If you live in a high-risk area and cannot do this, it is important to carry your puppy out as often as you can and in different types of weather.
When Can Puppies Meet Other Dogs?
There are two issues around letting your puppy meet other dogs. One is from an infection risk point of view. The other is from the risk puppies run of being frightened or hurt by other dogs.
The risk of your puppy being infected with a nasty disease by a dog that is fully vaccinated is very low. So in theory, you can let your puppy play with your friends dog in the safety of your home from the very beginning.
But its important that you are aware of the other risks of letting puppies play with older dogs, even when there is little risk of infection. Thats because most older dogs find puppies quite annoying and some may not tolerate puppy impertinence for very long.
When Can I Take My Puppy for a Walk?
You can walk your puppy in public one week after their final shots, unless your veterinarian says otherwise. Make sure your puppy wears a well-fitting harness*(paid link) for early outings.
Just remember, excessive exercise is harmful to small puppies.
Socialization: The Last Word
Nature designed puppies to become fearful of strange experiences once they are capable of exploring alone, at around four months of age.
That fearfulness was a good strategy in the wolves from which our dogs descended. They lived in a world where strangers might view a puppy as a snack. For that reason, most wild animals are nervous of strangers in this way.
Fearfulness is not good for a dog living in modern human society. A poorly socialized puppy will love his family and close friends, but he will consider the rest of the world to be a threat.
Some dogs need more socializing than others. Temperaments vary, and it is not possible to be sure what temperament your dog has inherited until the window of socialization is closed.
The Labrador Site Founder
Pippa Mattinson is the best selling author of The Happy Puppy Handbook, the Labrador Handbook, Choosing The Perfect Puppy, and Total Recall.
She is also the founder of the Gundog Trust and the Dogsnet Online Training Program
Pippa's online training courses were launched in 2019 and you can find the latest course dates on the Dogsnet website
8 Things You Should Know When Taking A Puppy Outside To Pee!
It is often said in our guides to potty training a puppy that, take your puppy outside to pee and stand boring. But there are still small questions left.
Quick Navigation
- How do I get my puppy to pee outside?
- Should I carry my puppy out to pee?
- Should I carry my puppy out to pee at night?
- How long should you wait outside for your puppy to pee?
- How long should you wait outside for your puppy to pee at night?
- Why does my puppy pee inside after being outside?
- Can I take my 8-week old puppy outside to pee?
- When should I stop carrying my puppy to pee?
Heres are the answers to those frequently asked, unanswered questions:
1- How do I get my puppy to pee outside?
You have to train your puppy to go outside. This is what we do when we potty train them.
Put the puppy on a leash, and take him to the outside potty spot at regular intervals.
Make sure you fix only one spot and use only one door leading to that spot.
When he does the deed, always treat him with a doggy treat within a second.
This way, your puppy will start recognizing that path and the spot and eventually learn to go on his own.
The key is, Never give him a chance to pee inside the house.
2- Should I carry my puppy out to pee?
Carrying a puppy outside to pee is a good idea, especially at the beginning of potty training.
This way, you will encourage him to hold his bladder. Otherwise, he may start urinating on the floor before reaching the spot and you will have to clean up a lot of mess.
But you shouldnt make it a practice.
Otherwise, he will refuse to walk out to pee.
The best practice is to carry him outside to pee at these times
- immediately after, he wakes up and
- at night time potty breaks
- whenever he shows his cues like sniffing, circling, barking, scratching, staring, etc.
These are the times when there are chances that he will not be able to hold it.
3- Should I carry my puppy out to pee at night?
yes, you should carry your puppy out to pee at night.
At night, your puppys brain might not be as active as it is when he is wide awake. He might not be interested in holding it at this time. So it is best to carry him out to pee at night.
Heres how you can do it:
Set your alarm according to his schedule. A puppy can hold it for one hour every month of their age.
Say your puppy is 3 months old, so he should be able to hold it for 3 hours unless he is a small/tiny breed (make it 2 hours for 3 months old tiny breed puppy).
Wake up on alarm, open the crate door, wake him up, carry him to the potty spot and say your fixed command like go potty.
Do not make it a playtime. As soon as he finished, put him back into the crate so he could sleep again.
4- How long should you wait outside for your puppy to pee?
You should wait outside for a good 10-15 minutes for your puppy to pee.
Make it 5-10 minutes for older dogs.
Puppies have tiny bladders and they just dont know how to completely empty them in one go, maybe because they get distracted so quickly.
When you take him out, make sure he is on a leash. Take him to the potty spot and say, go potty.
Stand boring. Never make it a playtime.
When he is done, stay there! Give him another chance to relieve himself. Wait for almost 10 minutes and give your pup another chance.
Most probably, hell go again.
5- How long should you wait outside for your puppy to pee at night?
You can wait outside for around 5 minutes at nighttimes first potty break.
You must remove the water bowl 2 hours before bed and take him to the toilet before he goes to sleep.
So it is highly likely that your puppys bladder will not be that full.
He might not need another chance.
Take him to the spot, do not play with him; make it quick. When he has done the deed, wait for a minute or 2 to see if he does that again and come back.
Put him to sleep again.
This is for the first potty break.
On the second or third break, no need to wait for long.
6- Why does my puppy pee inside after being outside?
Your puppy pees inside after being outside? There are multiple possible reasons:
- He didnt completely empty his bladder outside. This is why we recommend giving him another chance.
- He smells like pee inside. If he had an accident inside, and you didnt catch it or maybe you didnt clean it properly, he might smell pee there. (dogs have a very sharp sense of smell). Following the natural dogs instincts, he might go there again.
- Medical Conditions like UTI. If it happens multiple times, check for any medical conditions like UTI. Dogs and puppies are prone to UTIs; the main symptom is peeing small amounts repeatedly.
- Urine marking. If your puppy/dog is peeing on the new objects only, it can be urine marking too. See if he lifts one leg to pee, which is small in amount. Puppies may start urine marking as early as 3-4 months old.
7- Can I take my 8-week old puppy outside to pee?
Although we dont recommend starting training as early as 8 weeks old! But you can take your new puppy outside to pee (only to set good potty habits).
Take these precautions:
- The area is hygenic: Make sure that the area, where you are taking him, is hygienic. Ideally your own yard. Of Course you dont want your baby to get exposed to germs.
- He is vaccinated: He has at least one shot of vaccination.Usually, puppies get their first shot between 8-11 weeks (sometimes earlier)
- Be with him: You cant just leave your puppy alone; stay with him and keep an eye. He might eat something that is not to be eaten.
8- When should I stop carrying my puppy to pee?
It varies from dog to dog and depends on when you started potty training your puppy. You need to understand what your puppy is capable of.
As a general answer, You can stop carrying your puppy out to pee when you think/know that he is now capable enough to hold his bladder, and somehow he knows that he needs to hold until he is out. Most dogs start understanding the potty spot in one week of training (if you have started training at the right age (12-14 weeks). But you should keep carrying him (on recommended times) for at least 3-4 weeks to be on the safe side.
Suppose you have started training an 8-week-old puppy, which is too young for a puppy to understand what is going on. You can continue carrying him out to pee until he is at least 13-14 weeks old.
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Must-have supplies during the puppys potty training
If you are potty training your puppy, you can benefit from this printable puppy potty training planner. It helps you track your puppys schedule and speed up his training.
Have any more questions? Feel free to ask in the comments!
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