Afraid of other dogs???

What was your reaction to this fear?  What action did you take?

Could you maybe arrange some together time with a friend who has a small, gentle dog?  A dog park can be pretty overwhelming, especially if there are a lot of big dogs tearing around.

Well, Cookie would run in the other direction from the dogs with her tail down and hide in between the legs of me, my boyfriend, my sister, etc...I tried to coax her out of being so afraid like saying, "It's okay Cookie, it's okay....They just want to be your friends..."
 
Also, I don't really know anyone with a smaller, gentle dog that she could get used to.

I was afraid you were going to say that.  When you are coaxing her when she is acting fearful, you are actually encouraging the fearful behavior. 
 
I would join a puppy education class where socialization is allowed.  When the pups play your dog will probably hide for a few weeks, but about 3-4 weeks in she will start coming out of her shell, and interacting with the others.  I would start working on this right a way.  The longer the fearfulness goes on the harder it is going to be to fix this.
 
This is not uncommon behavior, but is certainly not appropriate.
 
Good Luck

I was afraid you were going to say that.  When you are coaxing her when she is acting fearful, you are actually encouraging the fearful behavior. 

Absolutely agree with Mic here.  One of my fosters came home and was fearful of the other dogs.  He had some medical problems and they sensed them and tended to pick on him, which would turn him into a blubbering mass.  He's been home for over two months and I'm still tossing him into supervised situations so that eventually, he'll be able to be WITH everyone without mom around.  Had I coddled him, we'd be further behind than when we started.  He's 100% healthy now and even the pano is bothering him less, so he CAN hold his own with the others, and needs to do so.

What would be the best way to react to her when she is hiding and yelping?
 
I realize that by coaxing her I am condoning the behavior and teaching her thats its okay to be afriad of other dogs but I'm not sure of what exactly I'm supposed to do. If she runs up to me and hides behind me, what do I do?

Our 2 year old Border Collie was like that when we first started taking her to the dog park. But after going a few times she has gotten so she plays with everyone! She is little miss social!
If Cookie is a small dog, take her everywhere you can! Even if you are just going on an errand. Let her interact with other people often and also dogs. It's not going to change over night. We took Zoe to the dog park every other day or every day for 2 months before we saw any change in her.
We have a similar problem with our peek-a-poo Dora, but she's not afraid, she barks at EVERYONE and EVERYTHING! But I take her places with me every chance she gets and since we got her in October she has done so much better. I took her to pick my husband up from our church's Easter contata and she barked twice when we got out of the car but after that she was so quiet and well behaved!
It just takes time for socialization skills. And it's hard work. But in the end you will be much happier!

When your dog is showing fear when there is no danger you should not do anything.  COMPLETELY IGNORE THIS BEHAVIOR!
 
Make sure that you praise the dog when she is being calm and confident!

Okay, I won't acknowledge her fear. On a happier note, she was taken to the dog park yesterday by my sister and she had a much better time! [] (Proud Mama over here!) I was told that she only yelped once but she got used to it rather quickly and pretty soon she was able to walk around the park. By herself yes, but....it beats her hiding in between my legs. I know its going to take time for her to get used to other dogs but I think we're on the right track. Believe me, I wasn't expecting an immediate recovery!  We also have her signed up for obedience school next month so she can get socialized with other puppies.
 
The funny thing is, is that she loves people! I've taken her everywhere that they allow dogs and she's so good! I've taken her to the laundromat with me and to the Nail Salon when I was getting a manicure and she just sits and soaks up the attention! I think she actually prefers humans over other dogs which I know I don't want that to continue. As much as she is my baby, she still is a puppy and needs to make other puppy friends! []

I'm so glad to see this post. I'd love to hear how things are going with your puppy, and if you've found any solutions that help.  I'd also love any more advice that people might have.
 
I have a 5 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel - I've been trying to socialize her with other dogs for almost 2 months now. We've had play dates with just one other puppy, with 2 other puppies, a drop in puppy play group, we've gone to the "small dog" side of a dog park, and she is also in a puppy kindergarten class with 5 other puppies. The only dogs she's not scared of are my parent's 2 adult Cavaliers - she loves to play with the male, and she'll play with the female as much as she'll allow (she's older and grumpy). Sometimes, if there are only 3 or 4 puppies in our puppy class, she'll play a little with the Westie in the class, otherwise she'll just hide or run around the edges of the room ignoring all the other dogs. My best friend got a puppy a few weeks before us, and we really wanted them to play together, but my dog is scared.
 
She's not aggressive to other dogs, although she will bark and warn them a little if she's in a corner and an aggressive puppy is pushing her too much. When she's on the leash or behind a fence (i.e. "safe"), she's very curious about other dogs and is willing to meet them - will approach and sniff them. It's when she's off leash and exposed that she runs away with her tail between her legs. When she does hide, I just ignore her. I don't try to coax her out or comfort her. It's hard to try to work with this because she is so little - even in puppy class, all of the dogs are bigger (the Westie is 7 months old). I don't know any way to find just a group of smaller puppies. They have a small dog drop in play group at our training school, but it's for adults and she's still too young. I really wanted her well socialized while she was still a puppy. The puppy play group I went to was chaos - tons of puppies (I think there were about 30), and most of them were larger breed puppies or much more outgoing smaller breeds.
 
I guess I just don't know if this is something I should really worry about and spend a lot of time working with her on, or if I should just accept that she doesn't really like playing with other puppies. I think with the way she is, she'll be fine for our life - she loves to go with us to my parent's house, we can take her anywhere with other dogs on leash because she's perfectly comfortable in that situation, and she really loves people any where we go. Does she need to play with other puppies to have a fulfilled life if she really doesn't seem to enjoy it? I think she's getting more uncomfortable at puppy class every week instead of better. She's fine when we're working individually, but she almost never wants to play with the dogs during the playtimes in class.

Just my opinion, but I don't believe every dog has to play and run around with other dogs to be happy or well adjusted. Many dogs simply enjoy human company more. It is important that your dog is not aggressive or fearful of other dogs however. When my dog was young (up to about 2yrs) he was very social with other dogs. He loved to run and wrestle with any dog he could get close to. Now (3yrs) he has a few doggie friends he really likes - the rest he simply ignores. They will come up and try to play with him with no luck. Now when it comes to people, Kobi loves anyone on two feet. As people enter the dog park, Kobi runs to the gate - right past the dog - to the owner looking for a pat on the head.

I don't think it is a problem for your dog not to want to play with the other puppies - so long as your dog is not aggressive, and is not so frightened that she is unable to go on walks or go places with other dogs...  Each dog is different, some love to play, some don't.  It is great that your pup will play with your parents' dogs, as far as not wanting to play with strange dogs, IMO, not a big deal and not something that is necessary for a fulfilled life.  What does the trainer is class say about your pup's reaction to the other dogs? 

Thanks for the responses. The trainer says that it's just "her" that she doesn't really seem to like or be interested in most other dogs. One of the trainer's dogs is 8, and she said he's never really had much interest in other dogs. She didn't really seem to think that it was anything I should work on, especially since she's not aggressive and she's fine when she's on leash. She did ask if there were any dogs that she played with.
 
I know that it's her, but I can't help but feel that I have a defective puppy sometimes! It just happened that several of my friends and I got puppies at the same time, and we were looking forward to them playing together. The other puppies love to run and wrestle together, but Annie just runs away and hides in corners. Oh well, I keep hoping they'll be more comfortable together when they are all past the puppy stage and don't want to wrestle together as much. Annie's fine as long as they're not trying to play with her.

I'd be really concerned. A four-month-old puppy who is afraid of other dogs is at high risk of turning into an extremely dog- aggressive dog when she gets older. Most aggression has its roots in fear and misunderstandings. Puppies who don't interact with other dogs and puppies never learn how to talk to other dogs.  I would take her near dogs, maybe sit quietly at a safe distance from your friend's puppies, and reward her being calm and relaxed while she watches. Wait for her to want to start interacting with other dogs. Just throwing her into contact with some wild pups is like your dad trying to teach you to enjoy swimming by throwing you off the dock-- doesn't work.