I took my 12 week old puppy to her first puppy training class night and she has a confidence issue around other dogs, she is scared of them.  She is great around other people, great at home etc, just has problems around other dogs.

At home she is training really well, but at the class when other dogs were around I could not get her to do anything because she was so scared of the other dogs.

I do intend continue taking her to the training class's to try and overcome this but was thinking if I could take her to just some puppy socialisation class's then that may help her confidence.

Does anyone know of any socialisation class's around Newcastle upon Tyne or have any other suggestions to overcome this.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated :)

My current vet's practice run Puppy Socialising classes, for puppies who have had all their vaccination shots.  They do limit the age so the puppies only meet other puppies.   They'd not accept my 4 month pup who came to us at that age, sadly.   Perhaps you might ask your Practice?  

Thanks MamaBas, spoke to my vets and they no longer do a puppy socialisation class :(

What breed/type is your pup and what kind of background did she have and were there many in the litter?

Unless she goes into a complete panic as soon as you even get close to the class I would consider asking if you can just go and sit at the back of the training class and have your pup with you and simply let her watch. You'd need to ensure that everyone else and their dogs gave you plenty of space and did not attempt to interact with you or the pup for the first few weeks.

Much depends on the atmosphere of the training class- is it quiet and relaxed or is there lots of barking and stressy vibes? If the latter then find another class as there is no way your pup will gain confidence in that kind of environment.

While you are watching you can try to feed her high value treats or even let her chew on an appropriate but highly aromatic puppy chew. Her ability to take food or chew is a good indicator of how stressed she is feeling, if she is food orientated but refuses even the most yummy treats, then she is probably too stressed in that environment. However, if she shows some interest in the treats then the first step is to see if you can get her to relax at distance from other dogs/pups. So long as she is in a relaxed state you can slowly, slowly, over a number of weeks, try to get nearer to a few calm dogs. Avoid high energy teenage pups and very bouncy pups for now.

Unless she is a very large breed pup and too big, you can also just hold her on your lap or in your jacket for the first few weeks. Don't fuss her just let her take everything in from a position she feels more confident about. 12 is very young, she is just a baby and probably also going through one of the developmental fear phases that all pups have.

Agree 100 % with freelancerukuk! That is exactly what I would do.

Thanks a lot, much appreciated.

She is a Shih Tzu, both sire and dam are show dogs.  She was from a litter of 5 and everytime I went to view her she was absolutely fine with the others.

I did ask the trainers if I could just sit and let her watch to try and get used to the other dogs because when we first entered the class, on 2 occasions she screeched really loudly when other dogs came beside her.

It was a busy class, quite a bit of barking.  The trainer has offered me to take her to a morning class, which is quieter.

She is very food orientated but was refusing the treats at first in the puppy class.  After about half an hour, she did start getting a little better.  At the end of the class, she was brave and approached another dog and had her tail waggin.

Even before attending the puppy training I did sense that she had a confidence issue with other dogs as when I am out walking her as soon as she sees another dog she tries to run away and hide.

I think I will try the quieter training class and try to persist as I really want her to overcome the confidence issue.

Do go for the quieter class and ask for complete distance from other dogs and take it really slowly. She is very young and of a small breed too and, as I said, she is probably going through her second fear phase- this is the time when all pups suddenly become aware and simultaneously wary/anxious about various things in the environment. You can practise the training you observe in class at home with her, but use class itself as a means to building her confidence.

The idea of using treats or chews is to build a positive association with proximity to other dogs but you need to build up the distance slowly- any signs of panic and you have gone too far and need to take a step back. If she gets to the point that she can be put on the floor in class then you can also use toys and games to increase the feelgood factor.

I don't know how experienced or good your trainer is but if he/she understands behaviour and learning theory then she should have a good idea of what to do- the above is classical conditioning it is not operant conditioning as would normally be the case in a training class.

When you are out walking I would also try to give her space from other dogs without getting all stressy about it- Perhaps, for the moment, don't go to areas where you know dogs will be offlead and run over to you. She needs to meet other dogs but in a controlled way, where she can go at a pace she can cope with. Again, a nice calm, adult dog of a similar size and weight to her would be good and might help her learn the ropes. Perhaps ask around and see if anyone has a calm and older toy breed that she could get to know and perhaps you could go out on walks with.

Thanks a lot, really appreciate it.

Spoke to a friend who has the same breed and going to try taking her to her puppy training class as she said it is a lot quieter and the dogs are all small breeds.

Fingers crossed, she likes it and gets used to the other dogs quickly.

I do most of her training in the house, just usually do loose lead training outside and try to keep her where no other dogs are.  She is doing really well with her training when no other dogs are around.

I use treats all the time whilst training her and reward her at the end of the training session with an off lead play time.  Again, she is really excellent when off lead, stays beside me, doesn't run off.

Its just the confidence of being around other dogs.

Hopefully a smaller, quieter class with all small dogs will master it :)

Yes, fingers crossed but do take it slowly and be led by her reactions, just go an inch at a time.

You do want at some point to also get her used to larger dogs too, but using the same critical distance technique. would your friend or the trainer know or own a large breed dog that is very calm and quiet that could at some point be introduced to the room, though not directly to your puppy? Anyway, that is the next step.

Agree with freelancer 100%  it is quite common for some puppies to want to just sit and watch especially the first few sessions.
Some puppies just like to sit underneath the owners chair or near their feet at first, but within a couple of weeks they have come out of their shell.
Just let her sit and watch for a while, same with dogs outside, don't go too close and don't allow other dogs to sniff her till she is a bit more confident.
Very often the little quiet one, becomes the star of the class after a few weeks as they will be watching and taking everything in.
Good luck and let us know how she gets on.

If there is a ringcraft training class near you these can be much better for pure socialisation, as that is what you mostly do between the odd turn on the mat for the being judged practice.

both sitting around in a relaxed way chatting to other owners and their dogs while waiting your turn, and the being gone over by a pseudo judge are great socialisation, the one with people and dogs and the other for the dog to be happy to  e examined, great for future vet/groomer visits.

As your asking pup to do very little, they can relax and just take things in.

My singleton Cavalier was scared of the other dogs in our puppy class when she was a puppy, luckily all except one happened to be small breeds. Like others have said, let her just watch from a distance, if by the end of the class she was willing to approach that other dog that's a great sign, she probably is very small compared to most of them so don't force it, go to that quieter class and she will get used to other dogs I'm sure.

Thanks everyone.  Spoke to another breeder of the same breed and I am taking her to a small ringcraft class tomorrow night, which has a lot less people and all the dogs are small breeds.

Hopefully this is the first step in the right direction,  fingers crossed :)

Once again, many thanks everyone, really appreciate it

>would your friend or the trainer know or own a large breed dog that is very calm and quiet that could at some point be introduced to the room

My old Bearded Collie who I lost just over a year ago, was ideal for nervous pups.  She loved pups so much that she would lie down as if sleeping.  Pups would pluck up courage eventually and crawl all over her.  She never budged, as she adored pups and didn't want them to go away.  I have so many photos of her with tiny Chi pups.  All that moved was her tail, as she couldn't stop wagging.  Naturally the braver pups eventually used her tail as a ragger.  :-)

I don't own a Chihuahua that is worried about large dogs, and all the vets comment on it.

I found the floors too slippery at the vets surgery for puppy socialising, when they were allowed to be off lead, there were always a couple of mad pups and I was cringeing at large breed pups legs going in every direction.

Vet puppy parties are not usually a good idea. Run by people who have no idea about dog behaviour, often a free for all with dogs being bullies/being bullied. If you are still looking for a good trainer in that area, I would contact Jackie Muir (she's on FB).