I wasn't sure where to put this. I seen on the one sticky that the rule of thumb for walking dogs is 5 minutes per month of age, but when should you start walking the puppy. I know its an odd question, but should I wait until all of her first rounds of shots are in? We won't be getting her until Sept 17th, but research and education are very important to me right now. I used to think that it was good to socialize them right away and walk them right away, but a lot has change and with the worries of parvo....

I think walking and socializing as soon as possible is still important it just has to be a little controlled, this is what I did...

I started walking with Orion the day we got him home, but we stayed on the property until he had all his shots. I thought it was best to get him started on leash manners straight away and into the routine I had decided on for him. Ever since he has been walked at 6 am and 8.30 pm regardless of weather and at 6 months old he walks loose leash about 90% of the time and sits almost every time I stop unless I stop to prevent him chasing a cat
I also used the leash around the house to get him used to it which helped him get used to the leash really well.
I stuck with the 5 mins per month rule especially since we do most of our walking on pavement.
One thing I would advise when it comes to walking is to use different collars for different things, it sounds really obvious but I didn't and boy did I pay for it!

We did puppy pre school for socialization (run by our vet center and held in the clinic) and had a number of family friends lined up with sensible older dogs (all up to date with shots etc) to have controlled play dates with, I was also lucky enough that my mother got a pup a few months before I got Orion so they have grown up the best of mates
I am still working on socializing now lol he is super excitable when he meets a dog for the first time but we are getting better.

Best of luck for when your baby girl comes home, Orion is my first Husky and I was so nervous getting him but everyone on this site has saved my butt multiple times with all the advice so try not to over think it too much and just enjoy her she will be a bundle of fun I'm sure!

We have lots of dogs in our neighborhood so we waited until Harry got his full round of shots before going on a walk. Started off light at 10-15 min or so at first.

Thank you! I will start out on our property as well, that is a great idea! And Georgina, you also mentioned about different collars, what about harnesses? Are those a good idea? I heard they promote pulling in some dogs and that you should teach a dog leash manners with a collar first..is this correct?

I start socialization (outside of family dogs and very close friends) two weeks after the puppy series is done. This does not include Rabies.

Sorry I should have been more specific, Orion has two collars and a harness and 3 leashes - sounds like such an overkill when I write it down! He has a standard flat collar for round home with his tags on it that he wears all the time, his second collar is a martingale which I use specifically for walking/training and his harness is for play time and car rides :)his harness at the moment is a chest plate harness so when he is old enough I will also get him one suitable for biking.
I have a 4 foot flat leash which I got for him as a puppy for potty trips etc now it is really our back up leash, his walking/training leash is a 6 foot multi use training lead so can be shortened etc and his last one is a 10 meter lunge line for beach trips etc so he can have safe freedom

I've found that by having separate collars for separate uses it has helped Orion to understand what I am expecting from him because he associates each with a different thing. So when I get out his martingale and a clicker he knows it is time to work whereas if I get his harness out he dances in circles because he knows we are going to do something fun.
The mistake I made initially was just having him on his flat collar for everything so when I got his lunge line and he got to sprint round for the first time and go right to the end of the line, he tried to do the same thing on our next walk with the short leash and it took weeks to get him back loose leash walking because there was no differentiation for his as to why he could do one thing on one leash and couldn't on another.

I hope this makes sense

Georgina that actually makes perfect sense and it is a wonderful idea! Thank you so much for your explanation and help!