Meeting other dogs and people on walks!!

Our border collie pup is settling in nicely and we seem to have got over several hurdles with her, one being the crate which she goes in and dosen't make too much of a fuss over now (thanks everyone for your help). Now we have another problem! We got her late (17 weeks) and she had her first lot of shots. Then we had to wait another 4 weeks until the next lot before taking her out. She was fine until she saw another dog or person in fact and then would start this growl in her throat and then proceed to cry and wail like she was being murdered. I am guessing it is anxiety and I try to distract her but she is beside herself so anyone approaching her is very stressful for me. I would like her to go to a socialising class for pups but to be honest think she would be thrown out for distressing all the other dogs. Help!!!!

I would not get too anxious, it sounds like barrier frustration to me, I would try and find a good 1:1 trainer to begin with who has some stooge dogs to introduce her slowly to known adult dogs with great manners.

Once she has started to mix well you can then go to group sessions.

Yes I would agree with the above. I have had the same with my puppy Maddison in that she seems to be scared of people and dogs, maybe not to the same extent as your little one but she got out and about a little earlier. With people she will back away and try to hide behind me if she is on the lead, or will pull ahead to try to get past people quickly. If she is off the lead and she doesn't like the look of a person she will bark at them and then quickly run away. With dogs she was barking at every dog she saw, her hackles were up and she seemed very distressed.

We have been working with a trainer 1-1 for the last couple of weeks, and she has met his stooge dogs and some of the calmer dogs that he minds during the day for people. It is going well and I feel she is slowly generalising to become better with all dogs. It is a very gradual process so expect results to be slow. We have been taking Maddison and the other dogs to the market to get her used to the crowds. She now looks to the stooge dogs to see how they are behaving and copies them. She even allows strangers to pet her, because the other dogs show her there is nothing to be afraid of.