I have a 15 week old GSD female. I have had her since she was nine weeks old. I also have a 10 year old GSD/Golden Retreiver mix at home who has a great temperament and is very sociable and well trained. I am always present when they are together and there has never been any problem.

My GSD seems to be afraid of adult dogs. I don't know if this is normal for pups and they grow out of it or not. I understand the need to keep them away from strange dogs in case they are attacked and have done that but here are two instances that have me concerned.

About four weeks ago, I was walking both dogs around our block. A large excitable Lab came running out of a house toward us. I quickly picked up my pup and the Lab went directly over to my older dog and did the usual sniffing thing. The Lab then realized I had a pup in my arms and came over to sniff. At this point, my pup started wimpering and whining and was obviously terrified.

Today, I took my pup to the local park to socialize it in a new environmnent with adults and kids around. As we were leaving, an old dog that was unleashed came toward us. I stepped in between and the dog got about 8 feet away as its owner came running after it apologising. The dog then quickly lunged forward to smell my puppy and she recoiled and whined again. Obviously scared. The owner came and got her dog right away.

Also, a couple of times when we have been outside on the front of our house, my pup has reacted in shock and ran back toward the house when a neighbors dog barked from their yard.

Is this normal? I would appreciate any feedback.

I have 2 GSD's and have seen some of the things your talking about in my 4 mo. old. IMO, I would enroll in a puppy class and get your dog around other dog's the same age. Socialization is the key thing and will lead to a more confident adult dog. In my situation, my young dog barks aggressively at any dog. Since I have had the opportunity to socialize him more I have noticed that he has stopped and is acting more normal. JMO hope it helps.