Hey everyone.  I apologize in advance for such a long post.  I have been reading up on puppy vaccine schedules and have so many mixed thoughts about how to proceed with Roxy.  I have searched the site and read the threads, mainly on parvo, how its contracted, etc. which is my main concern, but I am still so torn on what to do.  I know we all live in different areas with different circumstances, so I'll give a brief background:

I live in the suburbs on Long Island. Small, fenced backyard, but big enough for her to frolic around as a puppy with constant supervision.  My parents also have a house further east, with much much more room, not enclosed, but we are thinking that eventually she can explore on a long leash, walk on the beach, again with constant supervision. That area has much more wild life, such as deer, raccoons, rabbits etc. but is not nearly as humanly populated as the suburbs where I spend most of my time.  We will be at the other house for the holidays coming up, and I'd love it if she could explore our property.

When we first got her at 8 weeks, I stuck to strict front & backyard exposure only (no curbs), and walked her around my brother's property, which happens to be right next door to us. His property is not fenced so she has to stay on a leash.  We enrolled her in a puppy class, which requires up to date vaccine records to participate.  She socializes with 2-3 other puppies there at a time, once a week.

We just did the 2nd set of vaccines (12 week vaccines), and the first person at the vet said to keep her in the yard/house for three more weeks, until the 3rd set. The second person at the vet that I spoke to at a different time said as long as you have her on a leash near you, specifically out east, and keep her out of the woods, you'll be fine. So I feel like I'm getting mixed signals from my own vet's office.

Basically, my dilemma is this: I would like to walk her on a short short leash in the street at home, even if its one small stretch of quiet road, up and down, no sniffing or touching grass other than our own. My basis on this is that on several occasions, I have caught her trying to eat poop that our neighbors cats leave on our property.  Luckily, both times I had her on the leash and was able to correct her and clean up the poop as soon as I saw it (this drives me nuts and my neighbors irritate me to begin with, lol). I know that parvo isn't transmitted through cat poop (please correct me if I am wrong), but I definitely don't want her eating some strange animals poop, and I have zero control over where those cats go.

I'm just trying to find the happy medium between leash training a pup, especially with cars, as we are in a pretty high populated area, exercising a puppy with limitless energy and avoiding diseases that she is not yet fully protected from.  Again, I know everyone's situation is unique so I welcome anyone's thoughts or opinions.  I don't think there is a "right" answer, but at the same time, I know how crucial these few short weeks are with a puppy and I want to make the most out of them that I possibly can, while still keeping her safe and happy.

Again, thanks to all.

Ah yes, the kitty treats in the yard. We had a bunch of feral cats in our neighborhood when we lived in Florida, and Ghost was constantly snacking. Drove me nuts.

On the Parvo thing, as long as it's not a heavily dog trafficked area you should be ok. Don't take her to a dog park or pet store, or other areas where lots of dogs congregate. As long as you're careful about it, she should be ok.

I lol'ed at "kitty treats"

Thanks so much for the reassurance, we love taking her for little walks and she is doing pretty well on the leash.