[Rona]

We used to carry our two month old during walks. She protested when we tried to put her in bag (as some owners do), so we took turns and carried her into a park, where she saw other people and dogs, into the city centre, next to a stadium when a match was played, to some friendly stores, we drove her to our friends where she could play with known, healthy dogs in their gardens, to our workplaces, etc. Sometimes we put her on the grass for a few minutes, but only in “dogs not allowed” areas. We tried to expose her to various sounds and noises, new people who came to visit us and we talked a lot to her, like to a baby. Surprisingly she picked up a lot of our speech at that time, but it showed she understood certain terms - instructions, names, etc. only later. She also enjoyed sitting on a window sill and watching the street.

The length of the quarantine depends on the local climate, time of the year, the spread of diseases, the kind of vaccinations, so I’d rely on vets’ advice. Our vet told us to be extremely careful for a full week after each vaccination and to use common sense – when starting walking her properly keep off the sides of the pavements, avoid lawns that seemed to be “dog toilets”, so that her immune system could gradually adapt to new 'bacteriological enviroment' etc.

I think the owner should balance the socialization vs safety needs, but some kind of risk is inevitable towards each side.

PS Lorka started attending the kindergarden for pups and we walked her every day to our local "playground" where she could meet lots of dogs and play with them when she was around 3 months.