When Can Puppies Go Outside?

It is difficult to know whether your new puppy is ready for the big outside world. You may be asking yourself when can my puppy go outside? When will my puppy be ready to go play at a dog park? In this article, we are going to give you all the information you need to know to determine when your puppy will be ready to go outside.

2 Weeks Old

When your puppy is only a few weeks old, it is best to keep the, completely indoors with the mother. They are still figuring things out, trying to wrap their little brains with what’s right in front of them. They still need to be with the mother, drinking milk, and staying close to her. As a general rule of thumb, you should keep your puppy with its mother and inside for the first eight weeks of its life.

Puppy Outside

8 Weeks Old

You need to properly wait until your puppy is old enough to have all of their first vaccines. This will typically be around eight weeks old. This is when they will get their first round of shots, and they will have to get more at sixteen weeks old.

You can certainly start to bring your puppy into your yard at eight weeks to start potty training and also to get just a little exercise. However, until your puppy gets all of their necessary shots after sixteen weeks old, your puppy should not be taken out into the great big world on walks, parks, or around other dogs.

You need to keep your puppy safe because they can still get germs and other issues from being outside too early. Try to keep your puppy inside as much as possible until they have seen the vet and got all the necessary shots.

If the mom dog lives with you at home, then the puppy will still get antibodies from the mother’s milk to protect the puppy’s immune system. These dogs can typically go outside sooner. If you purchased the puppy at eight weeks old and it doesn’t have the mom dog with it, then you will need to be careful of your puppy outside until it gets all its shots.

16 Weeks Old

Now finally, at sixteen weeks old, your puppy can go outside with you where ever you need to go. You can start going on walks all-around your neighborhood or city. You can take your puppy to dog parks to socialize with other dogs.

Still keep up to date on all of your dog’s veterinarian visits and follow instructions that your veterinarian recommends. Below you will find quick tips on what to avoid before your puppy is sixteen weeks old.

When Can Puppies Go Outside

Things to Avoid Before your Puppy is Sixteen Weeks Old

Here you will find a few tips to help you in the weeks before your dog is officially old enough to do everything outside.

Stay Away from Unknown Animals

When you have a new puppy, you need to be cautious of which animals you let your puppy be around. Other unknown dogs can carry disease or may not be up to date on vaccines making them very dangerous to little puppies.

Your own dogs should be fine to be around your puppy because I’m sure you will have them properly vaccinated and taken care of. You will also want to keep your puppy away from animal droppings. This can be droppings from other dogs, deer, foxes, raccoons, etc. Fecal matter from animals can also get little puppies very sick!

Stay in The Backyard

Before you, puppy reaches the recommended sixteen weeks age to go outside, you can allow the puppy to be out in a fenced backyard. The fenced part is very important because you do not want any critters or animals getting in near your puppy’s space. You can also use this as your puppy quarantine space that’s just for them so they can get used to what the outdoors is like.

Keep the Grass Short

When your dog is outside in the backyard, you need to make sure the environment is safe. Keep your grass short that way; you can see if any critters got in your yard or if there is something dangerous in the yard. This will keep your dog safe as well as you will be able to know where your tiny puppy is in the yard.

Keep Your Dog Inside as Much as Possible

Remember that our puppy is not fully vaccinated yet, so you need to keep the puppy inside as much as possible. You don’t want the outside elements to get your dog sick. Stay away from dog parks, parks, busy stores, and just simply taking your dog out places. Stay home with your puppy, and enjoy that puppy time.

Beagle Puppy Outside

Can You Still Socialize Your Puppy Without Going Outside?

Yes, you can still engage your puppy in socialization without having to go outside. You may already know that socialization is extremely important for puppies. When you socialize your dog, they become a very friendly dog throughout their life.

If you wait too long to socialize your dog, new experiences will actually scare them instead of the dog being curious about new things. You need to start early while your puppy is still under ten weeks old.

Keeping your puppy inside for the first few months of its life is the best option. You may be asking yourself, how do you socialize your dog without going outside? There are a few ways to give your dog home socialization.

  • Get your dog used to loud noises such as appliances, vacuums, and the lawnmower sounds. You can hold your puppy the first few times when using something with a loud noise to let them know it’s okay!
  • When someone comes to your front door, you can bring your puppy with you to open the door. This will teach your puppy that it is okay for people to come and knock on the door.
  • If you have other dogs in your home, your puppy will learn great socialization skills by playing with the other dogs in your home. If you do not have any dogs, you can check with a friend to see if their dog has been fully vaccinated and had a check-up recently and if all that checks out, you could have a puppy play date.
  • Remember to always praise your puppy when they are experiencing something new to promote positive behavior.

What Age Can I Take my Puppy on a Walk?

Walking around a city or even a neighborhood can be life-threatening for your puppy before they have all their vaccinations. Streets are usually dirty, and you don’t know what kind of bacteria or germs are on the street.

Even if an unvaccinated dog came through there and peed somewhere and your puppy sniffs it, it can potentially get your puppy sick. So just be aware and try not to take your puppy our for a walk around until after they got all of their vaccinations.

When you do start to take walks with your puppy, start your dog off on a leash to begin training your dog. how to walk properly and what the leash is for. This will make training a whole lot easier!

Can I Put My Puppy on the Ground at the Vet?

Now the chance of your puppy getting sick standing on the floor at the veterinarian’s office is quite slim, but you never really know right. Sick dogs go in and out of the veterinarian’s office throughout the day, and if your puppy were to sit in the same exacts spot as where the sick dog sat, then the puppy could potentially get sick.

When you get to the vet’s office, either keep your puppy in a travel kennel or hold the puppy on your lap before the vet can see you. This will just give you peace of mind knowing that your puppy is safe with you and not getting sick.

Lab Puppy

When Can a Puppy Be Around Children and Other Adults?

When your puppy comes home at the eight weeks of age, they can start socializing with other adults, children, and even dogs that live in the same home as you. Keep your puppy inside as much as possible and play with your puppy. Get the puppy used to people because early socialization is extremely important.

You won’t have to worry to much about a person getting your puppy sick just as long as your puppy is eight weeks old. If your puppy was just born, I recommend waiting to allow children and other family member to hold the puppy. Let the puppy get nutrients and anti-bodies from the mother milk.

When Can Puppies Go Outside with Other Dogs?

There are so many great resources that most cities have like dog parks. Dog parks are great ways for you to get your dog outside with other dogs to play and socialize. Puppy’s cannot go to one of these places until the reach the appropriate age of sixteen weeks and you get the okay from your veterinarian. Most oft hose dog park places do not allow dogs that are not fully vaccinated.

If you have dog in your home that are up to date on all their shots your puppy can play with those dogs but any other dog you should wait as long as possible. If you have a close friend that has a dog and you want to have a doggy play date just make sure the dog isn’t sick, up to date on shots, heartworm pills and all of that.

Conclusion

As you can see the answer isn’t as simple as it seems when it comes to when can puppies go outside. You can essentially begin letting your dog outside in your yard to potty train and just short exercise breaks at eight weeks old. Once your puppy gets it second round of shots at sixteen weeks old your dog will be able to do so much more like going on walks, play dates, parks, and so much more.

When did your puppy first go outside and explore the world? Let us know down below so we can connect with you. I hope this helped you if you getting a puppy soon.

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