I had a puppy that we got from the shelter. A couple of weeks later he started having strange symptoms. Eventually we had to put him to sleep. He had meningitis and it caused severe twitching and eventually seizures. There were respiratory symptoms before that. The vet had put him on anitbiotics because of the resp. symptoms, ie.. congestion, sneezing, etc. About two weeks after he was put to sleep (because he started having seizures) I decided to get another puppy. This time we got one from a breeder. The vet said not to have any animals or people for that matter in the back yard where the other puppy had been until we knew exactly what caused the meningitis. We just found out today that he had distemper. (Sorry if I didn't spell that right.) The new puppy is definately an inside dog but how long should we wait to take her in the back yard? I don't want to take any chances. Also, family is visiting this weekend and they have kids that will want to go back there. The other puppy died on Aug. 3rd and had been at the vet for approx. one week at that point. We haven't so much as stepped back there since then. We got the new puppy on Aug. 11th (my hubby was trying to make me feel better) Ok, so here is the question : When is it safe to go back there, for human or animal. And when we do what precautions/cleaning needs to happen? Any help would be greatly appreciated.