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Q: At what age is it safe to put your puppy in a kennel? I`m considering doing this at 11 weeks. My husband is concerned about health issues. How many days is safe?
A: I am glad you took time to ask this question, because it could in fact be important to your pup's health. In general, I would agree that 11 weeks is too young. Here's why.
A puppy does not fully build its immunity to serious diseases such as Parvovirus until it has had its full series of vaccinations, including the booster shots usually given about 16 weeks of age to as late as 20 weeks of age. So at 11 weeks, your pup is very likely to be susceptible to Parvo, a very nasty bug, and other diseases.
Of course a boarding kennel will work very hard to sanitize its facilities, but some of these infectious agents are hard to kill, and you never know when an adult dog that is a carrier will be at the boarding kennel you choose.
Here are a few Web site references to help you on this. They give the recommended vaccination schedules from different veterinarians:
Vaccination Schedule:
http://www.hooked.net/~jwl/shots.htm
Background on Types of Vaccinations:
http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/ceps/petcolumns/vaccinep.html
Schedule of Vet Visits for Puppies:
http://www.veterinarymall.com/info/puppyvac.html