Hello

New to this site!

We are the proud owners of a 13 week old Cocker Spaniel. He's doing brilliantly with all his training and is a happy outgoing pup, great around people, children and even the cat. He's loving going for walks with us but is petrified of any dogs we come across, even when they are very gentle with him. He tucks his tail between his legs, crys and trys to run away. We've never owned dogs before and we're not sure if this is normal or how to help him with this.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

hi and welcome
sounds like his not sure of himself with other dogs
do you take him to puppy classes where he can mix with other dogs?????

Thank You
There is a local class but it doesn't start till the end of January, we also met someone in the park today who attended the same class and thought it was quite poor. I will ask the vet if there are any more local classes which may start sooner.

totally
and when you take him out have him on a long line if he trys to run he cant,
stand on the end when a dog comes along and DONT make a fuss when he trys to hide and run just stand there talking to the other owner take no notice of what your dog is doing.
then take hold of the line say good boy and walk off

i walk a dog sam was like it he used to try and hide within a few weeks he was fine wouldnt know he was like it

some dog clubs run all the time look around
you really want the ones that let you let your dog interact with others as soon as you walkin you drop the lead and talk while the dog plays with the others
then do some training.

my friend runs one like that
some do stick to kc rule,s they are a bit more of the training than the socialising

Great advice, thank you.

It's worrying when you're new to it - instinct is to scoop him up and comfort him but I understand that's counter-productive!!

yes doing that you can make them worse
its hard to not to, but when you had dogs for a while your get used to there ways
they are great
could we see some picture's of him please????

Will get some uploaded soon! He is a handsome chap!!

Be very careful how you socialise a dog this scared. Remember as a cocker he is quite small, so most other dogs will be bigger than him. Choose a class very carefully, ideally you want other dogs on lead under control, while yours is free to go round and approach and socialise with the other pups, unfortunately you would need a very good trainer to know this. In a situation where all pups are let off together to "socialise" will be a nightmare for your pup and will just compound his fear, at the moment he is using flight to avoid the things he is scared of (other dogs), you don't want him switching to fight.
it is worth trying to find friendly dogs in your area, go to the dog walk on your own and talk to a few people, see if you can find some well trained dogs that will lie down whilst your pup approaches.
If you get this right, you will buil;d his confidence around other dogs. In my experience cockers are little squealers, I once had a puppy class with two cockers in who if another pup so much as glanced their way, they squealed, i took it carefully and slowly, by week five they were leading the other pups a merry dance.

yeah post some pics

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