Seeking dog-friendly fun in New England!

April 14, 2009 12:55 PM

Seeking places in Northern New England to take our puppy!

We're picking our English Shepherd puppy up this weekend and are looking forward to a summer of puppy classes, hiking and swimming. The trouble is, we've got classes squared away, but where can we go to play? We're in central Vermont (near Montpelier) and would be willing to drive a couple of hours each way, more if there's a park where we can camp nearby. As far as I can tell, most state parks in VT, NH and ME don't allow dogs out of the campgrounds and hiking trails. We'd love to find a dog-friendly lake or dog beach or similar.

We want to be sure that he gets plenty of experience in the world off of our property, I just haven't got any idea about where to take him!

posted by youcancallmeal to pets & animals (2 answers total)

Yikes! How old is the puppy? If it's younger than four months, you probably don't want to be taking him all those places at first. There are various diseases that puppies get (including parvovirus, distemper, etc. -- stuff that is NOT fun, involves internal bleeding, WILL probably end up with a dead puppy, and will cost you a lot to treat) by being around wild animals or in places where wild animals and other dogs infected with those diseases have been. You should ESPECIALLY beware of dog parks and other places that are "dog friendly" where your puppy will have access to places with the feces of other dogs.

In general, for the first four months of the puppy's life, he shouldn't be out in the wild a lot. After the final set of booster shots at four months, wait a couple of weeks for the pup's immune system to process things, and then you can take your puppy wherever you want to.
posted by SpecialK at 7:43 PM on April 14, 2009

Yeah, he's about two months now so we're planning on taking him out at around 4 months (mid June / July).
posted by youcancallmeal at 7:56 PM on April 14, 2009