New puppy advice please

[Dumplingpud]

We have an 12 week old German Shepard puppy. I’ve booked in for her second vaccination this week with the original vets as my local one uses a different vaccine. She’s been microchipped and registered to us. I’ve sorted out pet insurance and our local vet has her details ready for when she is at an age to be neutered. I’ve also enquired about puppy classes. It’s been over 10 years since I last had to deal with a puppy and now panicking I’ve forgotten something.

She’s a lovely dog but is very timid and likes to hide a lot. I know it will take time for her to settle in but she’s a lot more timid from my last dog. Is there anything I can do to help her feel a bit more settled and comfortable?

Didn’t want to just read and run- and am sure people who are a lot more knowledgable than me will be along soon with good advice!
Like you say she’ll take time to settle, has she got a blanket that came with her so has familiar smells?
I know people are divided on crates but we made our pups (now 12 weeks) crate into a den, so blanket over the top and bed, familiar toys and nice things inside so he had somewhere he felt was his and ‘safe’
Hope she settles soon

My puppy was/is quite timid - took him 3 days to walk into our front room! He didn’t want to go out of the house - I spent a lot of time just sitting on the doorstep or out the front, feeding him and letting him get used to it, trying to let him take things at his own speed. We gave gentle encouragement but didn’t push him too hard as thought that might be counter-productive, just kept persevering with little steps. He’s 7 months now and he’s still nervous of people coming to our house, but he likes going out for walks these days and is very sweet-natured.

Thank you for replying she didn’t come with a blanket just a chew toy and some food. I had a blanket I’d bought to go in her dog bed so wrapped the chew toy in that in hope that the smell would transfer.
Because of her hiding I have ordered a crate and a cover to go over it. I never used one with my last dog so I’m going to read up on it as I would like to just leave the door open for her to come and go as she pleases in hope that would build confidence but not sure if that’s what your supposed to do.
I put her collar and harness on tonight and we had a walk around the garden to see how she was we had some bouncing around and as I bent down to stroke her she’s licked me and we’ve had some tail wagging. She just became timid again once we came in the house.

Thank you for the reply olddog. We’ve let her approach us and when she’s moved towards her food and looked up when we have said her name we’ve made a fuss of her. Do is currently on the floor rolling puppy balls around she’s started to chew one that rolled up to her so hopefully it’s a good sign.

I found the Facebook group Dog Training Advice and Support invaluable.

We took our puppy out from day 1 (in a bag or carried - cocker spaniel so appreciate your pup is heavier!) and sat on park benches witching the world go by and giving him lots of treats whenever a dog / person / child on a scooter went by.

He was nervous when he first started going for walks - he'd be so excited to see a dog but when we got closer he would hide behind me or DH. We tried to choose calm looking dogs on leads to interact with and stand a chat to their owners for a minute or two, letting pup decide if he felt brave enough to say hi. A couple of retired greyhounds were the best as they had no interest in pup so he didn't feel crowded.
My main tip would be always ask the other owner if it's OK to say hand, and wait a few seconds for the "but" before letting pup go close! The amount of times I got "yes... (big pause) but she might snap/doesn't like puppies/is pretty grumpy"

Thank you for the advice :) I will join the fb group. She’s still hiding but when I walk past her I stop and hold out my hand she’s started wagging her tail and licking to say hello. She has 2nd vaccine today so we can start going for walks at the end of next week. I tried letting her out this morning she took one look at the rain said no thank you and went back to her hiding spot.

Join us on the puppy survival thread! A new one had started recently for October.

That's really sad she's so frightened. I wouldn't be rushing her out for walks until she is more confident with you. If she's already scared in the house then the outside world will be terrifying.
Does she play with toys?

I will thank you returnoftheowl.

.somethinginthewater. She started to last night I bought a puppy kong, a couple of chew toys, a cuddly toy and some balls. She played with dp and the balls last night and she’s taken the cuddly off me this morning. She loves being in the garden she bounces around and runs around my legs. For now I’m just concentrating on using the harness and lead around the garden.