Can My Young Puppy Meet Other Dogs?

No. Unless you know the other dog very well, your puppy should not meet new dogs. This means no playdates with friendly doggy neighbors. Aside from potentially harmful diseases the puppy may be exposed to, allowing your puppy to engage with other dogs can be detrimental to future socialization efforts. 

As Daniel explains:

"You don't want to develop negative experiences with other dogs that'll maybe instigate some sort of reactivity for your dog later on down the road. That being said, socialization is important - for dogs to see other dogs and be indifferent towards other dogs, or even curious - that's totally fine. But, only in the human world have we created the situation where a primal animal has a face-to-face confrontation." 

This means that you should avoid dog parks, especially if they are widely attended.  But even if you are attending a small dog park with few visitors, it is best to avoid interaction between your puppy and other dogs. According to Daniel:

"There are other ways to socialize dogs with other dogs and get them acquainted and indifferent and see dogs as benign and not something you know that should either instigate high excitement or aggression. That's totally valuable and there are practices for that."

But, just allowing your puppy to meet with other dogs is setting both you and your puppy up for a very dangerous situation. Even if the dog you are meeting is friendly, it may not always be so. It can take just one second for a minor disagreement to escalate into an all-out fight. A single nip or snap on the other dog's part - even if only playful - could lead to fatal consequences for your puppy. Better to not risk it.