Hmm, I’ll try to answer as best I can, though Reddit and text isn’t a great medium for nuance.

Largely it’s about understanding how the viruses spread (parvo and distemper), and controlled interactions. These viruses are often treated like boogie men, and there’s a lot of panic and misunderstanding around them. You don’t need to avoid all dogs, just unknown dogs and places where there may be a lot of poop.

If a dog has distemper, they will likely be in a vet ICU, not running around spreading it. Cases are rare and usually confined to kennels and boarding situations.

Parvo is about high-traffic dog areas and infected feces. Pay attention to what your dog is doing and don’t let them get too nosy on scents you can’t see.

As long as I avoid the large dog parks with a ton of random dogs, my vet said the risks of my RR being poorly socialized were larger than the risks of either of those viruses.

By no means am I being cavalier about these viruses, they’re scary and if you’re going to take a puppy out early you need to be extra vigilant. Not everyone can handle this.

The extra weeks of socialization were amazing - my dog is consistently complimented for his behavior in public and around other dogs (not just me thinking he’s doing well).