Puppy immunization period

Question
My puppy is 8 weeks old now and I live in a house but I have to move to an apartment when he is 12 weeks old, he will have had his immunization shots by then except for the booster at 16 weeks. The apartment bldg accepts dogs and they even have a fenced off area for dogs to exercise in.  Although stray dogs can't get into this area there is nothing stopping anyone with a dog entering.  Considering his immunization shots won't be fully completed will he be OK using this fenced in area to go to to toilet.  What do dog owners in apartments usually do?  

Answer
Sharon,

Congrats on the puppy!! Typically, a puppy would receive its first combination vaccine at 6-8 weeks of age (as soon as you get it), and receive a booster every 3 weeks until it reaches 16 weeks of age and receives its last combo booster and its first Rabies vaccine. This is because a puppy's immune system is not mature enough to hold the vaccine for very long until it reaches a certain age - and that age is different for every dog, but giving boosters until they are 4 months old is considered the safest, most effective way to protect every dog. If you follow your veterinarian's vaccine schedules and stay up to date with the puppy's boosters, it will be safe for him to use the fenced area. The combo vaccine is usually a DHLPP-C (Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Parvovirus, Parainfluenza, Coronavirus) but some veterinarians use a DHLP or DHLPP. To protect him against heartworm disease (occurs nationwide and is carried year-round by mosquitos), you'll want to start him on a monthly preventative like Heartgard, Interceptor, or Iverheart - an inexpensive generic form of Heartgard, and to protect against fleas and ticks you'll want to apply Frontline each month. You can order Frontline online or buy it from your veterinarian, the heartworm preventative is prescription only and will have to be bought through your vet. Your puppy is old enough to start using Frontline, and at 12 weeks will be  old enough to start using Heartgard. Heartworm preventatives also prevent hookworm, roundworm, and whipworm infections - which are all passed from dog to dog, so you'll definately want to use it if he is using a common area.

Good luck!

Ashley