16 weeks and scared of other dogs?

[Alice10101]

Getting a bit worried about it actually!
Is it normal for puppies to be afraid of other dogs? 
We've socialised him all over the place but not with other dogs until he was 12 weeks cause he wasn't done with all his vaccinations.
Since then he's been going to the dog park all the time and also to puppy classes once a week but he's just terrified.
At the first puppy class we couldn't even put him down cause he was screeching like a banshee! He's got better over the last few weeks but still turns into a banshee if another dog comes close. 
At the park he's off the lead and will run and hide between my legs if another dog comes over. I try not to reinforce it any way and always tell him he's such a good boy when he finds the courage to approach another dog (which has only been twice!)
The other puppies in his class are so confident!
I worry that he could be aggressive when he's older if he doesn't overcome his fear 
What can I do!?

[JeffD]

Can you find someone with a pup of similar age and ask them to come around to your house. The pup might find it easier with one pup same size on his home ground. Lots of dogs may just be a bit much for him at the moment.

Worth a try.

[Ruby Tuesday]

If he didn't meet other dogs until he was 12 weeks, you've missed the really important time to socialize him. But, it is too late for that now, so...

In our training classes, you wouldn't be encouraged to pick him up if he was crying. That way you are rewarding and reinforcing his fear. We would suggest that you put him on the floor, and pretty much ignore him (unless he showed signs of wanting to meet the other dogs, then praise him). Even if he hid under your chair we would just let him work things out for himself. Try to keep his lead loose too.

Do you have any friends with gentle dogs that he can meet? It is a good idea to work at this now and sort it out as soon as possible. Good luck.

[Walshies]

It is a difficult one this. Whilst in a perfect world all dogs would tolerate each other where do you draw the line? It is ok to say ignore him but what would happen if the other dog took a piece out of him. Each case on its merits I suppose but it is a risk nevertheless.  Incidentally, if most dogs aren't allowed in contact with other unknown dogs until their second jab (usually 12 weeks old in most cases I think) then how can they be socialised fully before this juncture? I suppose you would have to make the effort to search out other dogs who were fully vaccinated but again this appears risky to me. I may be wide of the mark here and I bow to more experienced people's opinions however in my short time as a dog owner, most dogs our pup has met have been intent on giving him a hard time and appeared vicious. It is a risk I am not prepared to take unless I know the dog.

[Ruby Tuesday]

You only ignore the fact that he is scared if there is no good reason for it. If there is a proper reason for him to be scared, then yes, you deal with it of course! I'm not advocating letting dogs attack your puppy, just letting pup sit and watch the world and work it out for themself.

Personally I haven't come across any adult dogs who were intent on being nasty to our pups, generally they are tolerant with them because they allow them 'puppy licence' but maybe I've been lucky. We did take both our pups to meet other dogs who we know are of sound temperament and who are vaccinated. There possibly is a small risk but we felt it important enough to take in order that our pups were socialized. It is just a personal decision.

[kalami]

May be he's just not a dogs dog
We did everything by the book with Bella and still seemed to fail her, she was always timid. Puppy classes were a no no. Bella met with other puppies and basically as they were usual boisterous puppies made her worse.
We went to obedience type training, although we didn't achieve much as she could already sit, stay, recall etc we kept on for approx 10 months, dogs were all on leads and it just got her used to being around dogs in a controlled environment.

Until we got Molly Bella never socialised with other dogs, that was her choice, on walks she'd walk around them, if I was talking to other owners she'd sit patiently nearby, on meets she'd just fetch her ball and ignore everyone else

Whilst out how many dogs do you see actually socialising, not actually that many, some dogs just plod along with there owners, others are very ball orientated. Not many round here actually play.

Is yours a worker, it might be he would rather fetch things and be trained with balls etc than socialising with other dogs.

I have Molly too who is the complete opposite and she's one of those dogs I used to dislike those who 'just wanted to play'. But even now Bella doesn't play like many dogs fetch is her favourite and she'll chase Molly around when she gets the toy first but that's it, at home she very rarely plays.

I would carry on with some training, find out what makes your dog tick and enhance that, if you know any older dogs that he could socialise with. Going on col meets, they are great for socialising and owners are respectful of other dogs
I could go on but have tea to cook

Where do you live?

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

Around where I live there are lots of dogs that don't want to play, including puppies. I've also noticed that a lot of working cockers aren't interested in playing with other dogs at all - they're fixated with retrieve games! My puppy (show-type and 6 months) was scared of some breeds when he was younger - including whippets, as they are really jabby (long jabby noses and long jabby legs!). He got his playing confidence through playing with a tiny, younger puppy - a cavapoo, when he was about 14 or 15 weeks old. Since then he'll try to play with anyone. He's not particularly interested in retrieving games. Are there any dogs you know that are smaller or more timid that you could introduce yours to?