Can I socialise my puppy with another dogs, who had their annual booster 2 years ago?

Question

I currently have a 9 week old Husky puppy, who has had her first vaccine a 12 days ago. She is due her next vaccine in 3 weeks. Is it ok for me to socialise her with my parents dogs( 7 & 9 years old)? Both have had their full set of vaccines when they were puppies, and the last booster was 2 years ago due to covid, and due for their next one around same time as our puppy is due her second vaccine. Currently they appear fine with no diseases or sickness and both are healthy for their ages.

I would love to start socialising her now, due to her already displaying signs that are unwarranted towards dogs that pass by our electric gate.

Whats the risk of our puppy catching diseases from them? Is it worth the risk to socialise our puppy now, or just wait for those 3 weeks?

Unfortunately there is currently no puppy classes/socialisation classes on near me due to covid, and I have no friends who have fully vaccinated dogs.

Thank You :)

Answer 1

This is a difficult choice and I cannot give you a definite answer.

On the one hand, your dog has the ideal age for socialization and the longer you wait, the more difficult it will become. It's very important to start socialization as early as possible.

On the other hand, the reason why we vaccinate puppies is that they are very susseptable to certain viruses that can cause life-threatening symptoms like very bad diarhea and lack of appetite (leading to dehydration) and a cough that can lead to sudden heart failure.

If both dogs have been vaccinated in the past, the risk of them carrying any germs without showing symptoms is still low. They don't have 100% protection anymore, but there is still some protection left.

If you want to take the risk (which is understandable in my oppinion), you can start socializing with them. If you want to take a safer route of action, don't let the dogs touch or lick each other. You could, for example, have your dog in your yard and your parents dogs on the other side of the fence. Or you build 2 temporary fences inside the yard, both in parallel but with a distance of about 20 cm / 8 inch. That way all dogs can move freely along the fence without being able to touch.

Last but not least: If your dog shows unwanted behavior in certain situations (like aggression towards dogs passing by your fence), you should start training to reduce this behavior. There are many videos by professional trainers you can watch and learn from. Calling "no" from the other side of the yard or chasing after your puppy won't have any effect. Positive reinforcement by diverting the unwanted behavior towards acceptable one is much more effective.