Puppy Afraid of Other Dogs

Hello All. We rescued a 11 week old puppy about a month ago from a shelter. She is now about 15 weeks old, 26 LBs and is a Lab Mix. We've noticed she is super timid of a lot of different things which I expect. We do not know much about her before she came here to live with us. Anyhow, Yesterday on a walk we were approached by a Golden Retriever off leash and our puppy immediately recoiled and tried to run the other way. Before I could pick her up and remove her from the situation the Golden was already at her. My puppy freaked out. She was screaming bloody murder and urinated on herself and it really freaked me and my wife out. It was my belief the Golden was only trying to say hello but I don't speak dog. LOL. Anyhow, I have owned many dogs and I have never had a puppy that wasnt confident and curious around other dogs until the other dog did something to change that. I am worried something traumatic happened to her before coming to live with us. I read that once a puppy has been bitten by another dog she will never forget that and will always be extremely afraid of dogs and eventually will most likely turn into dog aggression.

What are we up against here? Is this something to worry about and if so how do we go about nipping this in the bud before this becomes an issue or fixing whats already happened?

Sounds like she needs a lot more socialising with other dogs, gently at first of course, then she will realise they are not all bad. Maybe one dog at a time if possible.

If you can go to conneaut lake bark park in Pennsylvania and speak to someone there. They can help.

Seems the puppy had a traumatic experience. I agree with socialising with other dogs or even with puppies too in a "safe place" where you can build up positive emotional responses, filled with toys & etc.; environment where good things happen hoping the trauma will be soon replaced with positive events.

Not an expert in dog behaviours. Consult a dog professional. Hope everything will be okay

I agree with GC Reagan, maybe the time will come and your dog will change his behaviour and I know there's a training program for that. But don't lose hope, expose your doggy to the park maybe one day it will helped to change this kind of behaviour.