In rec.pets.dogs.behavior James wrote:

Well, the original poster had asked how she can get her dog to be
better accustomed to strange dogs. Obviously interacting only with
other adult dogs that she is familiar with is not working. I'm not a
dog trainer by profession, but I still stand by the dog park as an
excellent training tool for puppies, even if you're not doing any
actual training while you're there.

Dog parks often make the problem worse because of the rude and unruly
behavior of the dogs there. Sometimes continuing to attend a dog park
when a dog is clearly NOT enjoying the experience can permanently fix the
dog with aggressive/defensive behavior toward other dogs.

I did not correct my dog's growling in any way. Negative responses
from *adult* dogs to his growling while playing was enough for him to
get the idea (after it happened a dozen times - and to clarify, the
negative responses were nowhere near as severe as a fight). The only
time I stepped in was when he was showing overly-aggressive behaviour.
Granted I didn't remove him for an hour, but it was for a few
minutes, and don't dogs forget why they're being isolated after 30
seconds anyway?

The hour is INTENDED to make the dog fogret the interaction. The removal
should not be done in a way that the dog perceives as "bad" or unwanted.
The removal is to avoid creating unwanted patterns of behavior and get the
dog out a situation in which it feels it NEEDS to behave that way. The
function is to have the dog look to its human to control the situation and
to protect it, and to not engage in either self help or bullying.

As others have stated, I could secretly be raising an aggressive dog
that has learned not to growl before it lunges at my throat when I'm
drinking my coffee tomorrow morning. But the way I see it, my dog has
gone from a puppy that went to the dog park, growled and tried to
dominate every other dog there, to a puppy that is now entirely
accepting of strange dogs, and has learned to read another dog and
determine if its the type of dog that will rough house with him like
puppies are known to do (he ignores the ones that don't).

It could easily be. Especially if you are correct that you have not
supressed your dog's natural warning and escalation scale. But you still
have a very young dog on your hands. His behavior today really isn't
going to predict whether he will be as accepting and accomodating of play
style in the future. I've been where you are. I've believed what you
believe. I bought the tale that a dog that is well socialized (plays
with) other dogs as a puppy will be good with dogs as an adult. I got my
surprise and I learned better.

I can't possibly see the harm in continuing to introduce Holly to the
dog park, as long as her interaction is monitored. For all the quotes
I heard about "a dog is a dog", I'm surprised more people aren't
believers in the way a dog learns how to act socially in the wild.
And no need to tell me I'm raising a "wild dog"...

Dogs DO learn by their interactions with one another. And I DO believe in
the way dogs learn to act socially in the wild. That is nothing even
remotely resembling what you get in a dog park. Dogs in the wild are not
constantly exposed to strangers. Dog pack members are pretty stable
except those born into the pack. Adult dogs attempting to join an
existing pack usually find the introduction rather violent. Death is
sometimes the price a dog pays for trying to join strangers. Which is
exactly why normal adult dogs are NOT comfortable in the boisterous dog
park environment. Correct stranger to stranger dog behavior is to engage
in a variety of signals at a distance. The Turgid Rugas video tape on
"Calming Signals" may be of some help to you in understanding normal dog
to dog social behavior.

Oh a "A dog is a dog" does NOT mean that all dogs are basically the same.
They aren't. We have done a marvelous job of creating dogs very different
from their wild brethren, or preserving various aspects of that earthy
wild behavior, depending upon what it is we want from the dog. Different
breeds vary tremendously in very basic characterisics. Labrador
retrievers who can live peacefully with the family cat are common. Jack
Russell Terriers who can be trusted alone with the family cat are rare.
Correct temperament for the Golden Retriever is to invite the burglar in
and show him the silverware. That is completely incorrect for the German
Shepherd Dog or Malinios. Some breeds are highly protective of their pack
members but have virtually no drive to protect territory. Some breeds
have a high drive to protect terriotry but much lower drive when it comes
to pack members. Some dogs have very high prey drive, others virtually
none. Even in prey drive different breeds can have decidedly different
reactions to specific types of prey. Teaching a Retriever to retrieve is
simple. Teaching a whippet to retrieve is an accomplishment. It does an
injustice to the dogs when we assume they are merely blank slates to be
written upon. We have created these breeds with various inate behaviors.
Those are not easily disposed of by mere training and socialization.

Diane Blackman