# Risk of getting parvo for my puppy in unfenced backyard?



## arksun (Mar 31, 2008)

My backyard is HUGE, but unfenced . I tend to get visitors (Muscovy ducks) that always comes by everyday and they always hang around. 

My puppy is coming home in a week or so and I'm concerned about her getting sick from roaming around in the backyard (where there is duck poo -- the ducks mostly poop in a small corner since there is a water bowl there, but they might've done their business somewhere else too). The puppy will be up to date on her shots according to her age (8 weeks).

Is there a risk of contracting parvo and other diseases if we stay away from the duck's corner? Do ducks even carry parvo strains lethal to dogs?


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I don't think ducks carry Parvo. But there are a multitude of other diseases a young pup could get from them. Salmonella being one I can think of right off. An adult dog would probably be OK, but a young puppy won't have the immunities to fight it off. I would try to keep her away from the ducks as much as possible. Especially since they aren't YOUR ducks, so you don't really know how healthy they are.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

If she's 8 weeks old she shouldn't be roaming around in the unfenced yard unsupervised. Just keep her on a leash and keep her in the areas that the ducks don't go in. Don't let her eat stuff off the ground. Use common sense


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## arksun (Mar 31, 2008)

jesirose said:


> If she's 8 weeks old she shouldn't be roaming around in the unfenced yard unsupervised. Just keep her on a leash and keep her in the areas that the ducks don't go in. Don't let her eat stuff off the ground. Use common sense


That's the thing, I'm pretty sure that ducks have roamed around the whole yard, but they mostly lay around in the corner and near my patio screen. Of course I won't let her roam unsupervised, heh. I'm just being extra paranoid about when she has to go outside for potty training.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

A quick google of the "Muscovy duck" yielded many results saying they do not carry many diseases. What they do carry is mostly fowl-fowl, not anything that a dog will get.

Just don't let her eat stuff off the ground. 

Do you have a front yard that is fenced you could use for a few weeks? Probably not but worth asking


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## arksun (Mar 31, 2008)

jesirose said:


> A quick google of the "Muscovy duck" yielded many results saying they do not carry many diseases. What they do carry is mostly fowl-fowl, not anything that a dog will get.
> 
> Just don't let her eat stuff off the ground.
> 
> Do you have a front yard that is fenced you could use for a few weeks? Probably not but worth asking


I searched for parvovirus in Muscovy duck and a few studies about duck parvovirus resulted . Don't think they will affect canines though. 

I do not have a fenced front yard.  I think my only solution is to take her to the center area of my backyard where the ducks don't really stay at.


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## applesmom (Jun 9, 2007)

It's not the duck *poop* you have to worry about!

There is a widespread theory that birds can spread parvo by carrying it on their feet. When you think about it, it's certainly possible, since they obviously don't watch what they're stepping in while feeding on grass seeds etc. 

If a bird of any kind steps in poop left by a dog with parvo, it can carry the virus to the next yard it feeds in. Many birds get their water from outside water dishes and they could leave traces of the virus on that dish too.

Any animal or bird that wanders through the unfenced area could do the same.

Spring and fall are the seasons when parvo is most prevalent and the danger is highest. All anyone with a young puppy can do is keep them up to date on their vaccinations, confine them to the safest areas possible, and hope for the best.

Enjoy the new pup!


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## trumpetjock (Dec 14, 2007)

Honestly, you just shouldn't let him run around in the back yard until his full set of shots (18 weeks) is done if you're worried about it. Pups are very vulnerable to all sorts of nasties until their immune system is completely flipped over from maternal antigens to immunizations.

If it were me, I wouldn't worry too much about it. He would be under 100% supervision the entire time he was out there anyway, and wouldn't get near the poop, or the ducks themselves, at all.

One last thing.... show us some pictures!


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