Ridding the house of parvo

If I were you, I wouldn't take pups for a year.  Parvo is very hardy and will travel on shoes and dog feet, so you'll need to treat house, yard, and any other surfaces the pup came into contact with.  Throw out any shoes you had and wore around the pup while he was sick.

I don't know the bleach dilution for parvo unfortunately, hopefully someone else can come along with that answer.

I work at a shelter and restrict my shelter shoes to just one spot in my house.  I also avoid fostering pups (I'm not a baby puppy person), but I've not had any issues as far as bringing stuff home.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/the_parvo_virus_in_the_environ.html

Parvo can survive up to a year inside and up to two years outside.  A 1:10 bleach solution will kill Parvo, but soap/detergent and water won't kill it.  I don't know of anything else that will kill Parvo. 

Parvo is not airborne, but Parvo has been tracked around your home and yard by shoes and paws.  If you touched the pup and then touched a surface, that surface can have Parvo.  Clothes that touched the pup or your hands can have Parvo.  Anything that paws touched could be contaminated - walls, chairs, doors, etc.. 

Parvo is extremely easy to transfer from place to place in the home or in a vet clinic.  Many breeders go to great lengths to be sure that new puppies touch nothing in a vet's office other than the vet's washed hands. 

The above are great but I"m going to say it even more plainly ***DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES*** take a foster for at least two years.

Sorry -- I'm not yelling to be mean, only to make sure you get that.  Your shelter honestly should already have TOLD you this.  Parvo lives outside for TWO years.  The only way to have gotten rid of it would have been to have immediately (like the next day) taken up **all the sod** and replanted brand new sod.  It does truly live in the soil that long.

So no more puppies for you for two years.  Foster?  Yes, please do -- but not puppies.  Make sure any dogs you take are **adults** that have been fully vaccinated with a complete protocol.  Then they should be safe.

 Bravo for you to have brought a baby pup thru this horrid disease.  It's very difficult and I can only imagine the hours and hours you have spent.

Disinfecting your home is critical ... but you can't disinfect the yard, but at least with what you have done inside you won't bring it back to the shelter.

I'd have to agree and say no puppies for a couple years. It's just about impossible to eliminate. I went to a lecture by Dr. Ronald Schultz, (premiere researcher in veterinary immunology and vaccinations) and he commented about how they even had a hard time completely sterilizing their research environment with no porous surfaces.

Only dogs that you know have immunity can come to your house. That would mean only dogs that have had a parvo shot at the age of 16 weeks or older. And puppies that just got their parvo shot should not come to your house until a couple weeks have passed. 

Thank you for all the information. As you can imagine I'm really upset after realizing just how long before my home and yard will be safe again.

I would much rather be safe then sorry. If nothing else the thought of having to go through that again just kills me. Though I am now proud of my iv skills

We're bleaching everything we can and heavy duty washing the things we can't.

Thanks again.

glad to see you -- and  yeah, it comes as quite a shock to realize how long that stuff hangs on.

 BUT ****YOU**** are a hero, in a big big way.  To that one you made a huge difference, and to the family who is ultimately changed by having that parvo survivor you are also their hero! 

 And frankly, by posting and giving folks an opportunity to educate you have helped others as well.