My 5 month old dog is big and confident around the house and outside and wants to say hello to everyone and every dog he comes across, well that is until a person approaches him to stroke him....when somebody does want to say hello he backs off and or ducks and is very wary/nervy. Also when he is in the house if someone comes in he doesn't know he'll bark, but as soon as that person goes to say hello ..he's off.

He goes to ringcraft also and on his last visit was desperate to get away from the 'judge', does anyone have any suggestions?

I've got one like that at the moment -it's very common in my breed. They tend to grow out of it by 18 months but it does take a lot of dedicated work as well. NEVER allow a person to walk up to the dog, always let the dog make the decision and let the dog approach, not the other way around. Get as many people as only possible to offer him treats, but again don't force anything as it can make it a million times worse. Be very careful at ringcraft as many ringcraft classes have made shy dogs a lot worse by forcing things. He needs to build up his confidence and realise that strangers can mean NICE things.

I absolutely endorse Marianne's advice :)  Dont put pressure on this lad as it is counter productive.  Gradually allow him to decide to say hello and discourage anyone from trying to 'win him round'. 

Put him away before visitors call.  Seat them down in the lounge or similar so that when he comes into the room they are shown to him as being 'safe' and 'acceptable' to you too :)  NB - Ask visitors to ignore him entirely!  Over time when he's showing signs of relaxing, perhaps ask they throw treats in his direction without making eye contact or speaking to him.  Allow him to find his 'safe distance' and gradually when he shows signs of this relaxing you can work from there.  More speed less haste with this :)

At ringcraft skip the 'going over' stage for now - stick with teaching him to stand and bait, be looked at from a few feet away, then moved off and set up again :)

When he is less wary of physical approaches ensure anyone wishing to stroke him does so under the chin or on the chest - never a hand looming over his head!

best wishes, Teri

There is no pressure on him, we walk down the street and as we come up to a person he is pulling at the lead to say hello, but as soon as the person responds he backs off.....why does he want to say hello when the person isn't interested, then when the person wants to respond to the dogs attentions he backs off?
And with regards to ringcraft he loves the other dogs and the majority of the people, but sometimes just decides to 'play up'

We have a similar issue with Ruby. She will get all excited and 'woofy' when someone is approaching, but then will shy away if they try to stroke her. Our trainer recommended that we ask the stranger to offer her a treat (I usually have kibble with me and ask them to offer her that). The transformation is amazing once she's accepted the treat - she turns into a complete tart, letting them stroke her and rub her belly! :-) I'm told this will ease off over time, and she will grow out of it.

why does he want to say hello when the person isn't interested, then when the person wants to respond to the dogs attentions he backs off?

Most people approach a dog with their hand out to stroke them on the head and like Teri says a lot of dogs dislike this. I even have an adult dog who doesn't like his head touched -not even by me. (I make a point of always touching my pups' heads very frequently and so all my other dogs are fine, but this one was returned to me aged 18 months and hence have this problem as he wasn't used to it.) Because he trust me I can make him let me touch his head, and so before we go in a ring at a show, I stroke his head repeatedly because then he gets into the frame of mind of having his head touched and will let the judge do it (again so many judges start off by stroking the dogs' head.) But whenever anyone outside a ring approaches him and tries to stroke his head he backs away. He doesn't mind being touched on his body and he isn't shy at all, very confident in fact.

And with regards to ringcraft he loves the other dogs and the majority of the people, but sometimes just decides to 'play up'

Please don't think of it as playing up -a dog backs off because they're scared, and whatever the reason, there IS a reason. We may never be able to tell what the reason is, but the dog has one. It could be something like the perfume worn by the person, the clothes, that they're smokers, their mannerisms, anything, that make them feel wary of certain people but not others. You could compare it to some people being scared of rats but not mice, of snakes but not worms -yet they look very similar.

And before anyone says snakes and worms, rats and mice are just a size difference -my ex husband was terrified of worms but would happily handle snakes. :)

I have the same problem with my TT but then she was in a kennel until she was 6 months and only used to the breeder and his helpers but she is slowly  coming out of herself. Best just to not force the issue and keep up the trainng. Funny thing is if i meet someone with a dog then she likes the person but if it's a man on his own she's alot more nervous.
i'm continuing with more training classes but don't put any pressure on her and she gets lots of nice cheese when she does well.   

My 5 month old does this too!!!!!  When we're out walking in the woods or whatever he goes rambling up to people looking cocky and full of himself, they say "Hello" and he's back between my legs like a whippet!

At our KCGC class we have two trainers - he quite likes the one, but no way does he like the other one! 

Having seen your other post, i'm not experienced in showing, but i wouldn't want to be putting a dog in the show ring until you are sure its confident at ringcraft. I currently have a pup just like this, infact 3 of the litter were and 2 weren't so its not the way they were reared, but i'm not forcing anything at this stage until she is comfortable as if she feels backed into a corner she may learn that aggression makes the scary thing go away and i don't want her to feel the need to do that.