puppy extremely shy

[big hoss]

I have a 9 week old, nine pound, female GSD named Kyra, that I have had for 1 week. I took her to petco today for puppy socialization hour. Before anyone else got there, she was sniffin around with a beagle puppy and having a little fun. When she got into the room with the 6 other dogs, she would have none of it. She went and sat under a chair and would not play with any other dogs. When a 4 month old lab came to engage her, Kyra gave a low growl at the older and much bigger lab, until the lab went away. The in house trainer said that she was still so very new to us and her world away from her mother and not to be worried, but I wanted to find out from other GSD owners if they have had this same thing happen to them with their puppy. And did the dog change as they got older

[onyx'girl]

She is waaay too young to be in that situation. A single puppy playdate would be better, and safer. She isn't protected very well by her vaccinations to be around other strange pups in a pet store.
You are overwhelming her with this type of socialization at her age. Find one safe, healthy pup to play with until you can get her into a good training class(preferably not petsmart/petco)
This protocol is what I'd follow for vaccines, though you have to take into account your location and risk for illness: Dr-Dodds-ChangingVaccProtocol

[Lucy Dog]

You're asking for trouble bringing a puppy without full immunization to a place like petco or just around strange dogs in general.

Regarding the shyness, where did you get your puppy from? What kind of socialization did your breeder do with your puppy? How were the sire and dams temperament?

[selzer]

What Onyx'girl said. 9 weeks old should not be on the floor in a pet store. Should not be trying to hold her own around 4 month old puppies. That is kind of like putting a six week old baby with a two year old.

She has had a set of shots, but those shots may or may not have taken effect, because nobody knows when each pup's immune system kicks in. If the shots are given when the pup is under the dam's immune system, they are completely ineffective. This is why they give a series of puppy shots. So you do not know that your pup is protected even from parvo or distemper. But, there are also many types of sicknesses for which there are no vaccines, or vaccination is generally not given for one reason or another at this point like bordetella, leptospirosis, coronavirus. Puppies and elderly dogs are the most susceptible to disease. So please do not take the puppy back, not until the second set of shots or preferably the third set.

As for the behavior, I would not worry about it. The puppy was overwhelmed by many and older dogs.