Puppy Kindergarten before final shots?

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

Belle is a 9-week-old 4.7 pound mini labradoodle.  Honey is a 13-year-old 4.5 pound silky terrier being treated for inflammatory bowel disease.  Belle wants to play.  Honey doesn't.  Belle doesn't give up. Honey, who doesn't have a mean bone in her body and is not a "yipper", just curls up in a ball and shakes.  I've been working on a "leave Honey" command.  Belle does back off, for about 30 seconds, then tries to play again. Distracting her with various toys also only helps for a brief time.  I built Honey a secluded area, which Belle takes as a personal challenge to breach, with some (highly entertaining) success. Belle and I spend a lot of time outside running around the back yard chasing balls and arguing over sticks, but as soon as we come inside, she is after Honey again. Even putting Belle in her crate for a brief time out doesn't deter her. Clearly, Belle needs a doggie companion to play with, and Honey needs peace and quiet. I feel terrible for both of them.  So I am trying to find an alternative doggie play opportunity. Belle gets her second shots next Wednesday.  Is Puppy Kindergarten out of the question until after the final shots? Does anyone have any other suggestions? We could really use some help.

[Audrey and Colby]

When Colby was eight weeks, my vet recommended me taking her to a reputable training facility that is extremely concerned with cleanliness and to carry her in and out of the classroom. She goes to puppy class twice a week, and our facility also has a drop-in puppy playtime on the weekends. All the puppies and dogs there have to have proof of whatever vaccinations they are supposed to have, and none of the puppies are allowed to interact with the other, older dogs there. The vet said the risks of her not being socialized properly were much greater than her contracting a disease at that facility. She is thirteen weeks now and she when she started classes she was very afraid of all other dogs except for goldendoodles. Now, she's not afraid at all. It's amazing how much good the classes have done already, and we've found other puppies she can play with for puppy play dates away from the training facility.

[Tracey & Spike]

We did it with Spike. We found a program that starts them between their second and third shots. Where we took him they have a room that is dedicated to the unvaccinated puppies. No other dog is allowed in the room. They fully sanitize it between classss and it was way above board. We felt totally safe taking Spike there. In fact our vet loves them. We still take him to that school to this day :) He just goes to the big boy rooms.

[Laura and Angus]

You can definitely do puppy classes early on. We didn't take our pup there until later, but there were brand new babies there....our trainers hold their puppy play class and training classes in veterinary facilities. Just ask about the health/cleanliness factor.

[Paige and Leo]

We did classes early on. He was about 10 weeks old. He is still going and loves it. It is a well known facility and they have a place for puppies. It was a training class and we also did a puppy socialization class. It really helped and he loves going to class.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I did puppy play time sessions on the weekend and they have the puppies sectioned off in age groups and once they have had all their shots they divide them by weight. I think it was really great for my puppy as my other doodle who is much more low energy needed breaks from all the puppy energy. You do take risks that you could bring germs home to your puppy and other dog.

I know in humans being treated for IBD part of the protocol is immune suppressing drugs, I have no clue if it's the same for dogs but you may want to check because if you have a non vaccinated dog bringing other puppy germs and what not home to a dog that is immunosuppressed that could bring trouble. I do not have a dog with IBD and maybe it's no big deal- hopefully not but its just something that came to mind.

An other option would be to see if a trainer could come out to your place, I looked into that for me and it just wasn't worth the price for what I found in my area. Your baby is super cute though! And I do agree with others that it is a great experience for the puppy and you do meet tons of puppies for future play dates, hence why I did it too :)