[MyPemCharlie]

Hi Sabrina,

Charlie is about 7 1/2 months now. When I take him to the dog park, I watch him like hawk for behavior. He seems to be dominant over some dogs and subordinate to others, but gets along happily with most dogs. He's a "middle of the pack" dog I guess.

Anyway at this age, older dogs will start to put pushy little teenagers in their place if they aren't socializing nicely. That's why your neighbor's dog will bark at her when he's had enough. My neighbor's rottie and mixed dog do the same with Charlie (whereas they let him get away with murder when he was younger).

As long as none of the dogs are getting too anxious (trying to get away) or too aggressive (really stiff body language, growling with teeth) I let them work it out.

Charlie tried to bully one dog out of dozens of dogs last weekend, and I pulled him away for "time out". The other dog's owner was laughing and said it was "OK", but I told her I wasn't going to let Charlie be a bully. He was clearly making her little dog afraid and angry. And one dog came up to try to bully Charlie, where Charlie was looking for an "out". I pulled Charlie away from that dog since its owner was nowhere in sight.

Anyway, for the most part, some biting, growling, chasing and 'rough' wrestling is normal play and socialization. Just keep an eye on the body language. You'll be able to tell if a dog needs to be timed out.