Six and a half month old pup- nervous behaviour around other dogs?

Sika is almost 7 months, she is a very timid to the point that she almost always pees a little when she meets people and dogs. I have tried to socialise her well, taking her through the street for walks, taking her to peoples houses, people coming to our house etc. She has met lots of other dogs. In our house she is definitely the boss out of the 2 dogs, she plays rough with jago, she can steal a bone out of his mouth and he lets her! She literally sits on him. However, out of the house with other dogs she seems to tolerate very little being done to her. If a dog gets a bit to close to her or sniffs her and she's not in the mood she'll bark at them and pretty firmly put them in their place, not really aggressive but a very firm growl/bark. She does growl first to warn them. Also, she is better with older/bigger dogs than small dogs or pups. This usually happens on the lead. I take her places to meet other dogs off lead but where we live is a small place and sometimes there are no other dogs there and I just don't have all day to hang around a beach waiting for another dog to show up for her to possibly meet it off lead!
Is this a potential problem or is simply a case of her being a dog who likes her own space? How can I help her be more confident apart from keeping up the socialising?

Hiya

Some dogs are not overly keen on being approached while on the lead (more so when they have had a bad experience with another dog being on the lead). Being restrained removes their 'flight' option, so in their eyes being on the offensive is the best defensive. Unfortunately the behaviour is self rewarding because she has learnt that by barking and growling the problem goes away.

Is this a recent thing for her? the defensive while being on the lead?

I think the first 12-18 months can be a bit of a whirlwind with a lot a of young dogs. Various behaviours rear their ugly heads then disappear, then they are perfect angels for a month, then they are back to behaving like a nightmare and so on. They grow up so quickly and in particular having hormones raging from the age of 6 months+. I guess it could be a combination of things for Sika. Maybe a bad experience prompted this, it could be hormonal (she is of the age where technically she could come into season at any time), it could be as you say that she is lacking in confidence.

Attending a training class might help while you ride the storm of 'teenage dogdom'. Controlled interactions with other dogs on leads could boost her confidence.

This is exactly what I would say, especially having a 10 month old HWV!

You'll probably remember me posting about Oscar and his tendency to "freak out". What puzzled me was he never did this as a youngster, although he's never been a confident dog, things never really seemed to worry him overly. It wasn't until he got to about 7-8 months when his sensitivities became more apparent.

Thankfully he seems to be getting over this now, I don't think he'll ever be fully confident but I do think this is a trait of the breed - they are well known for being very sensitive.

My advice is try not to worry too much, it's more than likely a passing phase. That said, I would certainly start putting a lot of work into socialising/desensitising her just to be on the safe side. Take her places where you know you'll see a lot of dogs, onlead preferably to begin with to give you more control, but sit somewhere you know she'll be comfortable with it all. Each day gradually decrease the distance as she becomes more comfortable with it. I've done a lot of this with Oscar (although the distance thing isn't really relevant as he doesn't react to any particular triggers) and he really seems to have settled a lot recently. He's also started cocking his leg which is a good sign the testosterone is flowing well helping his confidence, although I know that doesn't help you much.

I'm thinking of going to the HWVA Fun Day. It might be worth trying to get there to mix with lots of dogs and people who know the breed well.

Thanks guys. I do go to an obedience class with her weekly. She's fine passing other dogs on the lead, it's ourely when she is meeting them... even familiar dogs and people! I just can't make the HWV show much as I'd totally love to go! I'm just too far away (Orkney) and too poor! I'll keep up with the socilalising and hope it's a phase

Yes I noticed you were in Scotland after I posted the link! Never mind!

Just keep plugging away is all I can advise really, it will make the world of difference. As Labradork said to me, 7 months is still only young and they're still very impressionable.

I *think* that HWV's seem to be quite a 'flighty' breed anyway? We were doing our obedience beginners test last night... Sika's sit stay is solid at home and outside in the garden but she spooked at people speaking outside the hall last night and leapt up after 23 seconds of her 60 second stay
Thanks again

Yes I'd agree with that, Oscar's reaction would've been exactly the same a few months ago. As he matures he's learning to cope with the unexpected as that's his main issue - he's not particularly bothered by anything, just the unexpected! Which as you can imagine, isn't all that easy to desensitise him to!

Wouldn't change him for the world though, so easy to train and so, so intelligent!