Puppies!

[DogCatMom]

That was my main question. Really, in my yard, what ARE the chances of my dogs picking up an infection? The only dog aside from mama they'd be around is T, and he's up to date on everything (so is Gunner, but he's just so big he might hurt them). I guess there's a chance they could get something from the chickens...but what?

I "rescued" a 22-week-old puppy from his breeder in September 2004. "Rescued" is in quotes b/c I did pay her a fee for him, but the conditions in which he and his littermates, their mother, and another adult dog (no relation) were kept were hideous. The Cav. King Charles Spaniels were in the house; the Berners and unrelated Lab were in an unsanitized former chicken pen. :evil: That very night, when we put Puppy to bed in a crate, he went in easily enough, but almost as soon as we were in bed, he started crying, howling, raising Cain. I thought it was the usual "I don't want to be alone" stuff and waited 5 minutes, but DH (a unique circumstance!) said, "Let's go check on him."

Oh. My. God. Poor dog was covered in liquid diarrhea, crate was a disaster. I took the dog into the downstairs (= dog) bathtub and bathed him, DH took the crate outside and hosed it off. Here we are, 11:30? midnight? doing this stuff with a non-house-trained puppy. He slept the rest of the night in an ex-pen with blankets on the floor.

Next day I called the "breeder" and reported the diarrhea. I was absolutely floored when she matter-of-factly said to me, "Oh, yeah, all my puppies break with coccidia." WHAT??!! In fact, by the time we got Puppy to a vet, he had six kinds of parasites: coccidia, hookworms, whipworms, tapeworms, roundworms, and something that the passing of time has drained out of my brain. (It wasn't giardia or fleas, though.) Neither of my two resident dogs had any of these problems, so Puppy had brought them with him from the unsanitized chicken pen, where the group of five dogs ate, slept, played, toileted, and were watered. :angry: (I guess we were just "lucky" that Pasteurella wasn't in the group of crudolas that he acquired.)

So, yes: there can be transmission between chickens and dogs. Coccidia specifically; I don't know for a fact that any of the other parasites my doggie had were directly from the chickens; they could have been in the soil of that unsanitized chicken pen from other sources.

 

[Dood]

If its only your dogs in the yard then at 3-4 weeks they should be pretty mobile and you can take them out with supervision.

Dont let them get any chicken (or any other kind) of poop on them and don't let then mouth any dirty sticks, debris or mucky dog toys.

I would not take them out on wet days as rain often stimulates parasitic larva to move to the surface of the soil in the hopes or being eaten or licked off at a later date.

Don't let them drink from rain puddles, rain barrels or ponds as they can catch leptosprosis, giardia, coccidia and tapeworms from wild animal urine and feces that has dropped into the water.

If they get mucky then clean them, don't let them lick themselves or mom lick them clean.

Give them a safe house with a familiar blanket that they can hide in if the world gets too overwhelming and to sleep in as the mental simulation will tucker them out more than wobbling around.

 

[Cottie]

If its only your dogs in the yard then at 3-4 weeks they should be pretty mobile and you can take them out with supervision.

Dont let them get any chicken (or any other kind) of poop on them and don't let then mouth any dirty sticks, debris or mucky dog toys.

I would not take them out on wet days as rain often stimulates parasitic larva to move to the surface of the soil in the hopes or being eaten or licked off at a later date.

Don't let them drink from rain puddles, rain barrels or ponds as they can catch leptosprosis, giardia, coccidia and tapeworms from wild animal urine and feces that has dropped into the water.

If they get mucky then clean them, don't let them lick themselves or mom lick them clean.

Give them a safe house with a familiar blanket that they can hide in if the world gets too overwhelming and to sleep in as the mental simulation will tucker them out more than wobbling around.

So, basically, take them to my kids little play area on the opposite side of the yard from the other animals, with the nice soft lawn.

 

[Dood]

Yes.

On dry days.

When was the last time you de-wormed the mother? If its been more than 3 months you must be sure to keep the kids away from the puppy poop and take a puppy stool sample to the vet to see what they have to find out the type(s) of de-wormers you need to use on the pups.

 

[tailwagging]

I second that. I've known hundreds of dogs raised both ways...and the ones who were kept inside until after their shots were almost always more shy, more easily stressed, and more difficult to handle. Not always, just usually. I personally believe that the slight risk of infections is less important than the risk of a dog being maladjusted and biting someone down the line.

the "slight risk" is no long as slight as it use to be. the new parvo IS deadly and there is no vac for it. I suggest keeping puppies inside or in a very very save place where NO one can handle them until at the very lest 72 hours after Neopar has been given at 6 weeks and the very best not until the last (3rd core) vac is given between 14 and 16th week.

http://oakhillsanimalhospital.com/parvo.shtml
http://vetmedicine.about.com/b/2008/04/ ... strain.htm
https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pag ... -FAQs.aspx

 

[Cottie]

I second that. I've known hundreds of dogs raised both ways...and the ones who were kept inside until after their shots were almost always more shy, more easily stressed, and more difficult to handle. Not always, just usually. I personally believe that the slight risk of infections is less important than the risk of a dog being maladjusted and biting someone down the line.

the "slight risk" is no long as slight as it use to be. the new parvo IS deadly and there is no vac for it. I suggest keeping puppies inside or in a very very save place where NO one can handle them until at the very lest 72 hours after Neopar has been given at 6 weeks and the very best not until the last (3rd core) vac is given between 14 and 16th week.

http://oakhillsanimalhospital.com/parvo.shtml
http://vetmedicine.about.com/b/2008/04/ ... strain.htm
https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pag ... -FAQs.aspx

:shock: This reminds me of recommendations to not take babies out in public until they're 6 months old.

 

[tailwagging]

if the weather is nice I start taking my sheltie puppies outside at 3 weeks old, for short periods of time. With that said my yard is fenced in and no other animals come inside the fence. At 5 weeks old I start taking them for short car rides, and let them meet new people. I am very vigilant about socializing my pups since shelties can be shy if not properly socialized at a young age.

I second that. I've known hundreds of dogs raised both ways...and the ones who were kept inside until after their shots were almost always more shy, more easily stressed, and more difficult to handle. Not always, just usually. I personally believe that the slight risk of infections is less important than the risk of a dog being maladjusted and biting someone down the line.

That was my main question. Really, in my yard, what ARE the chances of my dogs picking up an infection? The only dog aside from mama they'd be around is T, and he's up to date on everything (so is Gunner, but he's just so big he might hurt them). I guess there's a chance they could get something from the chickens...but what?

deadly stuff can be walked in on your shoes.
go to the store you may bring home parvo. kids come home from school may bring home parvo. pick up feed at the feed store, i beat you dollars to donuts that parvo is there.... and once it is in your ground it can be there for years.<br /><br />__________ Wed Aug 28, 2013 4:30 pm __________<br /><br />[/quote]
:shock: This reminds me of recommendations to not take babies out in public until they're 6 months old.[/quote]
yup that is what they are, babies with no immune systems and only mom's first milk to protect them and as that fades....please please please order some neopar.