[AllDogBoots]

I just found out that a new dog park had it's grand opening last month. It's about 25 minutes away. There are no other dog parks remotely close. Coopy and I really want to go.

With that being said, we are going to need lots of advice. Cooper is not a very well socialized dog. He loves people but doesn't have much experience around other dogs. I took him to a dog park several times when we visited my mom in Florida. There was a small dog area and some dogs were probably around 25 pounds and some around 5. I was a bit scared as I'm sure Cooper fed off that. My mother said to take his leash off immediately. I hesitated but did. She just said not to worry about him, he'll figure it out. Cooper stood by me most of the time. He didn't really want to play. He didn't want other dogs to sniff him although he was interested in sniffing them. He ran up to every person in the park and wanted to sit in their laps but the dogs were a different story. He ran with 2 dogs for about 5 minutes but then I suppose he got frightened and took off at lightening speed towards the exit gate. I was afraid for him when the dogs got excited and chased him to the gate! I then ran full speed to rescue him.

We went there 4 days in a row. Each day was pretty much the same. When a dog came to sniff him he walked in circles or briskly walked away. We spent most of our time walking around the perimeter of the fence (leash off) while he scurried between my legs whenever a dog approached.

What am I to do? We want to try out this new park. Am I supposed to force him to allow other dogs to sniff him? How can I help him to become more social and less fearful?