Well it appears that our little angel's halo is crooked...
Izzy is having some definite issues with other dogs. In his last five encounters with other dogs, Izzy has snapped at four of them. All of them have approached in a friendly manner, and exhibited play behavior. Some of them have gotten a little too personal in his space, some of them have not. Either way, even when the dog is removed from the situation, Izzy continues to try to go after them. It doesn't appear to be dominance related, but I could be wrong. The one dog that he didn't have any problems with was Jake, my parents white GSD. But even then, Izzy didn't have any interest in him at all, didn't want to play with him, etc. Currently, DH and I think it may be due to insufficient socialization with large dogs. (He has had 100% positive meetings with small dogs under 30 pounds. Weird.)
So, my questions for the oh so wise dog owners here..
How can we help socialize Izzy? We live in a rather rural area, and unfortunately don't know anyone within a few hours drive with a larger dog that we can work with.
What should we look for in a trainer? We know that we're not experts, and so we'll be seeking one out. Unfortunately, we'll probably have to drive a minimum of one hour each way to get to any trainer we find, but, such is the cost for our baby.
Any other advice or tips? Noen of these events have changed the way that we feel about our baby, but we want to do right by him and help him get over these problems.
Also, if you have any questions about any encounters, etc. let me know. I just left out details for the sake of keeping the post relatively un-novel-like. Thanks in advance for all of your help.