Socializing to other dogs

long walks with another dog really seem to be the best option. Don't force her to meet other dogs. At 10 months, you have to move fast and get her social now - or you will have much bigger problems later on. Have you tried just letting her off leash and seeing how she does? Many dogs do not do well on leash, but are fantastic off leash.

What kind of dog is it? Is she spayed? Pictures?

Make sure you are keeping yourself calm. Any tension - the dog will pick up on, making her more stressed.

You are doing the right thing by trying to socialize as early as possible. Ideally this should have been done much much earlier but this is a start. As they get older it can be harder and harder.

I would suggest seeing if you can set up doggy play dates. maybe try going to the dog park very very early when there may only be one or two dogs their to gradually introduce her.

I also want ot commend you on the fact that you know your dogs limits and that a full dog park might be too much....you'd be surprosed how many owners just throw em in adn see how it goes, LOL

Has your dog ever shown signs of fear or aggression to unkown dogs?

10 months is really late, possibly too late, to socialize her. you may need to find a specialized "helper dog". Your other option is to teach her to just ignore other dogs and stay away from off-leash encounters.

I disagree. When I got Casey, he was a little over 10 months old. He had a TON of problems - one including slight DA, I think mostly due to his fear aggression, but dog aggression none the less. He is now one of the most dog social dogs I know. He loves puppies, the park, he goes dog sitting with me, comes to work with me  -everywhere. We just got back from spending two hours at the dog park.

10 months is late, yes - but not too late, IMO. Work needs to be done NOW, don't put this off anymore.

Yup, Erica, same with us and Coke.  He was adopted out as a wee pup to an older couple who promptly each had serious health issues.  Their friends tried to take care of him, but by "tried" they basically just kept him outside and fed him, didn't really hurt him, but he wasn't exactly being treated as a pet should.  Finally they gave up and brought him back to the rescue and he was adopted to us when he was 16 months old.  Socialization has never been an issue with him.  If anything, he is TOO friendly.  We've yet to have a single bad incident with him an another dog, and he's met a LOT of dogs.  He's a great "dog park" dog b/c he is social, loves to play, doesn't mind packs of dogs, but is also good at reading other dogs' signals and being the submissive one.

I should have added that we have been working on socialization since we got her, but people was the first priority as she was at one point terrifed (even aggressively) of men. She has made significant progress on that fron since we got her 6 weeks ago.

We have let her off leash with another dog. They met on a walk on neutral ground, came back to our yard after all appeared well and within a few short moments all hell broke loose and we had a fight. That was the last off leash attempt a week ago.

She is going to a single session class tonight. We'll see how it goes.

BTW . . . Is it possible that she is protective of my wife but not me? The dog and I have surprisingly bonded well (I say surprisingly considering at one point she wouldn't come near me without growling). She has also bonded with my wife, and what I suspect happened with the other dog  is that the other dog got too close to my wife and gracie was defending her "momma". Is that possible? I wonder if perhaps gracie should meet other dogs when my wife isnt' around . . . .

Shohin

BTW . . . Is it possible that she is protective of my wife but not me? The dog and I have surprisingly bonded well (I say surprisingly considering at one point she wouldn't come near me without growling). She has also bonded with my wife, and what I suspect happened with the other dog  is that the other dog got too close to my wife and gracie was defending her "momma". Is that possible? I wonder if perhaps gracie should meet other dogs when my wife isnt' around . . . .

We've had a few similar incidents between our 2 dogs and while I don't consider it guarding in the protective sense, I do see it as resource guarding. Our older lab was well socialized but our younger lab was 2 or older when we rescued her, and even now after 6+ yrs, we still have to be watchful of her reactions and never would I think of taking her to a dog park. I do agree about the leash sometimes causing additional problems, but my suggestion would always be to let her drag a leash until you're sure that things are going smoothly. Unfortunately for us, our 2 seemed to get along great for quite a long time (months) before they had their first fight, so our initial observations gave us a false sense of security. We manage them very carefully now and there hasn't been a problem for over a year - yay!! 

 Good luck - it sounds like you're approaching this the right way by using caution but seeking advice and assistance.

Oh man I hope there are never any problems between Gracie (adoptee) and winston (long time resident). The only thing I see between them is some jealousy when winston is getting attention, she shoves her nose right in the fray to get in on the action . . . . never aggressively though. Its more cute than anything else. The problem with the other dog was a friends dog that used to play regularly with winston, but not since gracie came along.

Shohin

Oh man I hope there are never any problems between Gracie (adoptee) and winston (long time resident). The only thing I see between them is some jealousy when winston is getting attention, she shoves her nose right in the fray to get in on the action . . . . never aggressively though. Its more cute than anything else. The problem with the other dog was a friends dog that used to play regularly with winston, but not since gracie came along.

Having a male and female might save you from the problems that we've had. If you can imagine two dogs being pushy for affection, then you can see where it becomes a problem. It sounds like Winston is tolerant of that and our previous dog, a male, was also. Now that I've experienced the dynamics of what my 2 females are like vs. what my female and male were like, I can see a significant difference. I wish I'd known more about the potential for problems before we experienced them, but we love them both and seem to make it work.

Hi there. There are a lot of guidelines to socialization - the most important things to remember are to not overface the dog (overstimulation to the point where she can't listen to you) and to always make every interaction positive.
http://dogstardaily.com/socialization-wi...

"Being the Alpha" is not something you have to worry about. Stay in charge of the resources and you'll be fine.
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/alpha-...

Well, yesterdays class went very well in my opinion. It was her first experience with us sround many dogs, loud noises, and lots of strange people. She was noticeably timid at first, but after some time the tail started to wag and she was readily takin treats from the multiple trainers there. She sniffed out a couple other dogs without incident too.

 All in all, we are pleased. We feel comfortable enrolling her in a full class at this point to continue with the regular exposure.

Yay Gracie!!!!   You go girl!  There is nothing to be afraid of anymore...

Way to go Shohin, congrats on all your successes with her so far.