Puppy Parvo Prevention

Parvo & Post Parvo Puppy Protocol

Canine parvovirus (commonly called parvo) is a highly contagious viral disease that can produce an often life-threatening illness in puppies and dogs. It can be transmitted by any person, animal or object that comes in contact with an infected dog’s feces. (Think dust carrying a tiny piece of dried feces! It can happen.) Puppies, adolescent dogs, and adult dogs who are not vaccinated are at risk of contracting the virus. Parvo disease is spread from dog to dog mainly through exposure to contaminated feces. It can also be spread through contact with contaminated objects such as hands, clothing, food and water dishes, toys, bedding, floors, and shoes. We never know if an animal that we rescue has been exposed to the Parvo virus. That is why we are asking you to take some simple precautions when you bring home a puppy or set of puppies from GPG. These guidelines are very simple and will help us keep your home free from the virus. Preventing the spread of the virus is also VERY important. These guidelines cover two types of "quarantine:" Quarantining your new puppy within your HOME so that a Parvo outbreak in your home will be a contained and manageable event. (This applies if you wish to be able to foster puppies again in the near future, and is optional,) and quarantining the PUPPY from catching or spreading parvo outside your home, which is mandatory for anyone fostering a puppy. There are no guarantees against parvo in any case, but these guidelines may greatly reduce the risk of it catching and spreading and hopefully give you peace of mind.

Puppies are at greatest risk of catching parvo at the point that they lose their mother's antibodies (obtained through nursing) but have not established their own immune system. Because there is no way to predict when this occurs (at some point between weaning and 16 weeks old,) puppies must receive a vaccine against parvo every 3 weeks until 16 weeks old. The idea is to "catch" the puppy as close as possible to when it loses its maternal immunity and help it establish its own immunity. In addition, we occasionally rescue adult dogs who have never had vaccines or never been fully vaccinated, but also have never been exposed to parvo (for instance, dogs who never left the home or backyard that they were born in and were never exposed to new dogs), and these dogs although adults may have no immunity to parvo.

Vaccination

• Puppies may attend "puppy only" events with their littermates. (These events would only be held in areas where there have never been unvaccinated dogs.)

• Puppies may attend adoption events with vaccinated GPG adult dogs, (again, at locations where unvaccinated dogs are never present)

• Please remember that at puppy events all precautions must still be followed - keep puppies off ground, use hand sanitizer frequently, give the puppies frequent rests and potty breaks, etc.

What do I do if I've had a dog/puppy in my house that has has parvo?

• You must clean every area of your home with a bleach solution (1 part bleach to 32 parts water)

• You must also clean all dog items (bowls, toys, etc) with the bleach solution

• If you do not correctly disinfect your home, any future dogs or pups will be exposed

• It is almost impossible to disinfect carpet, grass, dirt, or wood – so parvo can live there for years