My Dog is Socially Awkward

Today I took my dog, Bear, to a dog park. I never knew these things existed in San Antonio, much less where to find one. Well, my mom found one so we decided to take Bear there since he is lonely. As he jumped out the car he seemed pretty excited to be in a new place. I walked him on the leash into the fenced in area that made up the "park." Once we got into the park where there were dogs of every kind running free he suddenly stopped being excited. He got nervous. He started shaking and drooling. I decided to take a risk and take him off the leash. I thought he might sprint away and start making friends. But, of course, he didn't. He stayed frozen at my side. "Go on," I urged him. He just looked at me. "Go play!" I insisted, gesturing out into the air. He seemed to understand that a little better but he still didn't move. I started walking. "Make some friends..." I tried suggesting only halfheartedly. To my surprise he trotted away... straight to the nearest person. Wrong kind of friend.

The whole time we were there he maintained contact with my body, refusing to even acknowledge that the other dogs even existed. The only time he ever tried to be friendly was to passing people. My dog is socially awkward and does not know how to interact with other dogs. Even when other dogs would come up to him and get right in his face or sniff him he acted as if they weren't there. It was pretty strange. I can't pretend to understand.