socializing question

[Storm1]

I would like to know what behavior a dog would exhibit when it has been socialized. I was at a relatives house who has a 2 year old male German Shepherd. He proceeded to tell me that if I didn’t get my puppy Storm socialized I would have a lot of problems in a couple of years. Storm is a 5+ month old GSD at slightly under 70 lbs. Upon releasing his dog, he proceeded to exhibit various behaviors that I would think a socialized dog would not use. It started with putting his neck over the top of Storms neck and got progressively worse. He would roll Storm so he was belly up, growl, and mount him (for lack of a better word). A couple of times he had Storm lying on his back and he grabbed him by the neck with his teeth and growled. I spent a good part of my day forcing his dog away. My relatives response was “This is what dogs do with each other”. Can some of you experts here confirm that this was the opposite of what the objective of socializing a dog is?
Thanks

[oc_spirit]

Sounds like their dog is simply very dominant and was putting your puppy in his place. Adult dogs sometimes dont tolerate puppy antics too well regardless of being socialized to them so when a puppy starts trying to get the adult to play and such the adult will correct them. So long as the puppy wasnt being bullied or getting hurt I would have just let them be. The puppy needs to learn his rules and boundries AND needs to learn dog body language meaning where now it might take a growl and a correction from an adult dog to stop a behaviour but later when he learns all it will take is a growl from them for him to smarten up. If you keep interrupting him like that he will never learn and could even become an obnoxious dog as an adult because he will think you will always be there to step in and "save him"

[RedyreRottweilers]

Normal dogs doing what normal dogs do.

Your interference likely caused the dog to continue his explanation to the puppy of how subordinant he is because you failed to allow him to make his point, so to speak.

My rule is, no blood, no interference.

[Zoom]

What OC said.

[Storm1]

Storm was not showing any inappropriate behavior toward the other dog. When he approached he would crouch down and lick his chin. There was no nipping or aggressive puppy play of any kind. Sometimes he would try to hide under a chair to get away. I don't see in my original post anything where a conclusion should have been made that my puppy needed to be taught a lesson.

[Zoom]

What you were seeing was dominant behavior from the other dog towards your dog. Your dog is the submissive one in that group and the other dog was reinforcing that. Storm may not have been puppy bouncing around, but the other dog was making it clear that he was calling the shots.

Now if Storm was hiding under chairs and the other dog was still trying to get to him, then the other dog was being a bully. But it doesn't sound like a huge cause for concern to me.

[Storm1]

What you were seeing was dominant behavior from the other dog towards your dog. Your dog is the submissive one in that group and the other dog was reinforcing that. Storm may not have been puppy bouncing around, but the other dog was making it clear that he was calling the shots.

Now if Storm was hiding under chairs and the other dog was still trying to get to him, then the other dog was being a bully. But it doesn't sound like a huge cause for concern to me.

So would the others dogs behavior be considered to be what a properly socialized dog would exhibit. That was what I was being told. I'm aware that these were all signs of dominance.

On the other comments:

I think some of you would probably feel differently if it was your pup having another dog roll him on his back, wrap his teeth around the puppys throat and growl.

[otch1]

You are obviously upset by this. This is somewhat normal behavior coming from an adult male GSD, when you bring another GSD, 5 mo. male into his home. It can be a little upsetting for a new owner to see sometimes, interpreting this as their puppy being bullied and even threatened. You will have to trust that the dogs understand each other though. You'll want to socialize them as much as possible before your puppy is mature and decides to challenge the 2 yr old. There's a difference in correcting the puppy and being a bully, though. If there are teeth around the throat, growling and pinning of the pup, yelping (I don't allow mounting) and you're certain your puppies' done nothing to warrent this, reccommend you divert their attention. Lighten things up a little bit, take them out of the adult males house and in the yard to run a bit. Make certain your relative has complete control of their dog off leash. My past adult male dogs would certainly display this behavior whenever I had a young boarder come into my home, if allowed! The key being that if I tell them to "leave it", there is no question that my dog will focus on me again and let me correct an occasional rambunctious puppy, myself.

[Zoom]

Socialization means that dogs have been taught how to have coping skills for various situations. They know how to deal with loud noises, different looking people, people with disabilities, strange dogs, vet offices, ect. without reacting in an overly fearful or aggressive manner (barking, lunging, biting). They know how to properly react to both canine and human body language.

The older GSD sounds like he was acting like most adult male GSD's do. I know it's distressing to see when the dominance is aimed at your relatively young dog, but it's all part of canine life. Your dog was smart enough to submit to the more dominant dog and thus avoid a fight.

[Storm1]

Thanks, I guess I’ll have to lighten up a little next time the dogs are together. My last GSD mix and My wife’s family GSD showed very little of this behavior even though it was almost the same exact situation. I also failed to mention that this took place 2 separate days, and the first day was at a "neutral" household.

[Zoom]

Every dog is different and other dogs will react different to them. My Aussie loves most dogs and loves to play with them, but there are some dogs (mainly certain huskies and female yellow dogs, oddly enough) that he just plain doesn't like and he will make them go sit in a corner in daycare.

[Jynx]

I do agree with the poster's assessments of this being normal dog behavior. But living with GSD's for my entire life , I personally, would not let a dog continually "dominate" a 5 month old puppy. A few times to show him (her) that "hey this is my house " is one thing, but if he continually did it, the entire time , I would have removed the 5 month old from the situation.

GSD's now a days, can be so "quirky" to begin with, while I know dogs can be dogs, and most times will work things out themselves, I prefer not to let any of my young dogs hang out with a dog who will continually try to show status/dominate.

Just an opinion
diane