Parvo is a deadly disease to a young puppy. What most people do not seem to understand is a vet and/or a breeder, will give a puppy a series of three shots (which includes parvo immunization). The vets use the formula of three shots over a period of time, because it is not certain when the immunization process works on a small puppy. Some puppies will be immunized and safe after the first shot, others will not be safe until after the third set of shots.
What is also not understood is a dog may be immunized and free of getting parvo, but that same dog can still infect other animals that are not immunized, including small puppies. How can this be? Assuming your dog is up-to-date on their vacinations, he/she is safe only unto him/herself. All you have to do as an owner, is take this same dog for a walk in a dog park, into a pet store, or to your local vet and the dog as well as yourself can pick up parvo from the ground or floor, if, an infected animal has already walked on that same ground or floor. If you should have a dog carrying parvo and you want to take it along to a kennel to "see if the dog will get along with the new puppy", you are running the risk of infecting the whole kennel and putting every puppy in it, at risk.
Many people do have their dogs up-to-date on vacinations, but they don't get kennel cough done unless they are planning on putting the dog into a kennel while vacationing. Again if the dog is exposed to kennel cough and then visits a kennel with puppies, the puppies will get the kennel cough. Kennel cough is not as dangerous to puppies as parvo is. But when you have brought your dog who may be at the beginning of contacting kennel cough to a breeder's place, the result will be puppies getting kennel cough. You have placed the breeder in the position of having to put out several hundred dollars on medications that have to administered several times a day to each pup for a period of ten days. As each pup gets better, it has to be separated from the rest of the litter so as not to get re-infected creating even more work for the Breeder. While a puppy is coughing and hacking away for 10 days, you have effectively held off the process of trying to find reputable homes for these puppies, as they would be viewed as being unhealthy, if a prospective pet owner was to visit them.
It is now considered prudent of a reputable breeder not to allow any dogs that do not already belong to the breeder, to come onto the property. It is also prudent for a reputable breeder to ask you to remove your footwear and depending on the age of the pup, to ask you to wash your hands before handling the puppies.
Both diseases are expensive for the breeder to deal with.......but Parvo breaks a breeder's heart. A breeder spends more time with puppies when he/she has them than anything else for at least 8 weeks. A breeder loves each and every one of those pups as if they were his/her own and does everything humanly possible to ensure their health and wellbeing. To have nurtured and loved a litter, only to put out thousands of dollars to try and save a litter infected with parvo, knowing that maybe, out of a litter of 10 pups, only 2 might survive, is beyond devastation and heartbreak.
Sometimes you will see adds or reports of owners complaining that they dealt with a disreputable breeder because they got a puppy that had parvo. I have seen this complaint many many times. I have to ask myself, was it really a disreputable breeder, or a new puppy owner who didn't take the warnings seriously? Did the breeder fail to inform all new puppy owners, not to take their puppies to public areas until all three vacinations had been administered. Did this breeder know, not to let any puppy touch the ground until they had, at least been immunized once. Had the breeder banned all other animals from the breeder's property and asked visitors to take precautions when visiting the pups?
Even when you try your best as a breeder, there is always a new situation that occurs that you haven't been prepared for.
HERE IS WHAT RECENTLY HAPPENED TO ME AND IT LEFT ME SHAKING WHEN IT HAPPENED.
I was transporting 3 puppies to three Alberta families, from BC. It was a 7 hour drive to a mutually agreed upon location in Alberta. I also took the mother of the pups along to keep me company on the return trip. After travelling for 2 1/2 hours, I decided to stop in Golden to let the pups have an outdoor break and a drink of water. The puppies were 8 weeks old and had their first shots. Stopping anywhere in public to let the pups out was taking a chance, but had to be done. I picked a very remote area in a parking lot that looked unlikely that anyone else would take a dog. Please note, that I also have signs on my van indicating I breed Standard Parti Poodles, so who and what I am doing would be fairly obvious to anyone observing. I let my adult female out of the van as she always stays close by and then I proceeded to put 3 puppies on 3 separate leashes and bring them outdoors. As I am trying to control 3 pups all tugging in different directions, across the parking lot, a woman lets her small dog out of a pick-up with it's leash dangling freely and the dog makes a bee line for my puppies. the woman saunters over slowly a long distance away from her escaped dog.
My heart was in my mouth. In a split second, all I could see was this strange dog racing towards me, the mother dog getting ready to defend her young, and my fear of the puppies getting infected. As all my hands were holding leashes, all I could do was put my foot out to hold this woman's dog back away from the puppies, until she arrived to control it. When she finally got to me, she was screaming that I had kicked her dog.
I, too, am now furious that she has created the problem and wants to lay blame elsewhere. I told her to get control of her dog and get him away from my puppies and, also told her the pups had only had their first shots and could get infected. She retorted back, "Well my dog is up-t0-date on all his shots". If I didn't realize it before, I certainly realized this was a very uninformed dog owner and there was nothing to be gained by exchanging remarks. She finally got her dog away from the pups, but the mother dog was going to follow her and her dog, to make sure she stayed away.......Again this woman yells back, "Now who doesn't have control over their dogs". I could see this woman had worked herself into such a state that there would be no reasoning with her. Having dealt with peoples' logic under these kinds of circumstances, I knew that when she had finished exercising her dog, she would make a point of deliberately walking near my van upon her return, as if to make a point. I frantically gathered up my puppies and put them back in their kennel and got the mother dog back into the van. I had barely caught my breath and.....true to form, this woman walked directly past my van on her way back to her pick-up.
IN SUMMARY
I do inform my puppy owners about the dangers of parvo and one of my new puppy owners did talk to her vet in Calgary about my comments. That vet told her he used to see 3 dogs a month with parvo, now he sees 30 dogs a month with parvo. He recommended that a new puppy should not leave the yard of its new home until all 3 sets of shots were complete.
I have three breeder friends who have all lost a litter to parvo. One breeder had already given her litter its first shots. She only saved 2 puppies out of a litter of 11. The other two breeders lost all the pups.
As breeders, we do not wish to make it hard for you to visit and pick a puppy, but we do need you to understand what we are trying to do to protect these precious little bundles as best as we can to make sure you get the happiest healthiest pet for your family.
