I needs some tips for keeping an adult dog well-socialized. Chase was extremely well-socialized as a puppy, so he has a good base. But last summer we moved to a city that is nowhere near as dog-friendly as our last one. Where we used to live had numerous off-leash lakes and trails, lots of affordable doggie daycares, affordable dog-walking, large off-leash parks and a trainer that we loved. Everything was within 20 minutes from home.
Now we live in Toronto. EVERYTHING is expensive and far away. Off-leash parks are just fenced-in rectangles of grass. We had found a few "unofficial" off-leash areas, but we've stopped taking him there when there are lots of dogs around because Chase is VERY dominant with retriever puppies (and it seems EVERYONE has a retriever puppy!). He turns into a bully when he's with a lab or golden who's under a year and a half old. It isn't fair to the other dog, and there isn't anywhere else to go, so we just leave if a puppy comes. In Victoria, we would just keep walking along the trail when we met up with a puppy and Chase would ignore it. That doesn't work in a smallish fenced-in park.
So what would you recommend? As it stands, Chase gets walked on-leash twice a day and also goes for a few good games of fetch in the schoolyard when there are no other dogs around. But now I'm afraid that he'll become less well-socialized and might become aggressive to other dogs (as stated, he tends to be quite dominant). There's a pet store with obedience classes about 20 minutes away, but it's a beginner class (Chase has already been through 3 classes) and I'm not really wild about the training classes at big box stores. But would it be worth it, simply to keep him socialized with other dogs?
Any thoughts?