Help trying to Socialise our Dog

Toby is a Rescue Dog and is about 12-18 months old and has come from Cyprus (Long Story), we're in the UK.

I was told he was good with dogs but this doens't seem to be the case.
SOME Dogs he will sniff and be ok with, other dogs he will sniff and growl then bark and/or attempt to lunge (Doesn't lunge much to be honest).

I don't want him doing this and I've been off out to parks in the hope to meet some dogs. Most owners are fine with me greeting Toby with theirs after I explain I'm trying to Socialise him and I explain that sometimes he will growl, although it now seems he will growl MOST of the time

What should I do?

I THINK I'm the pack leader (Put in another post about it) so I don't think he's sizing the dog up.
I put him on the other side of a gate of a dog and at first there was sniffing, the other dog was barking, Toby wasn't and then Toby lost interest. I can't always put dogs on the other side of gates though lol. Not idea what would have happened if I then opened the gate though

Taking him to a good obedience training class would be a good start. That way he will gain lots of positive exposure to other dogs in a controlled environment.

To be honest, I think it is hard for anyone to tell you why he is behaving the way he is without seeing it in person. Dogs tend to react differently when they are on the lead compared to when they are off. My terrier will go nuts barking at other dogs when on the lead but when off the lead, will completely ignore them.

Have you tried him off lead with another dog yet? if you have any family or friends with dogs you could meet up with that would be good. Use a muzzle if it makes you feel more comfortable.

Firstly..ditch the pack leader thing. He knows you're not a dog, so there's no 'pack' to be leader of. Some of the rules of being 'leader' apply in terms of being the one in charge of a situation, but not in this "I'm a dog and I'm top of the pack" way that certain trainers would suggest
http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0521112711.htm

Secondly, growling is good! It's the canine version of "No" or "Please leave me alone". You should never punish a dog for growling, because you then run the risk of teaching them to foregoe this warning and going straight to a bite.

Try to get to the bottom of his behaviour with other dogs, study his body language to try to get a feel for his state of mind.
In my non-professional opinion I'd say chances are, he's growling because he's uncomfortable. But he keeps getting introduced to dog after dog after dog - he's not going to change his state of mind very well if he's always uncomfortable. He needs to have his feelings towards dogs changed - his fear turned into good feelings, and this is best done slowly.
The way I suggest thinking about it is to think of a phobia. If you're afraid of spiders, for example, are you going to feel good if you go into your hallway in the morning and meet a spider..then you go down to the kitchen and meet another spider, and then to the living room and there's another spider. Chances are, the more spiders you bump into, the more on edge you get. You start to anticipate a spider in the next room, and because you're instantly on edge, if there is another spider, you'll probably react to it worse than that very first spider in the hallway.
However, imagine you saw that first spider, and your friend who was with you realised you were afraid of spiders. They made it their mission to help you get over your fear of spiders. They went ahead over you and removed every spider in your house - so you could get into a more relaxed state of mind, not having to worry about bumping into spiders. This is stage one, calming you down. Then they decide to tackle the fear itself. They take you to a mutual friend's house and the mutual friend has planted a spider at the far end of their massive living room, in a jar so it can't go anywhere. Your friend walks you in, and lets you clock the spider, but you're at a comfortable distance from it so you're not too nervous. Slowly, they build up to you getting nearer to the spider. It may take minutes, hours, weeks or months but slowly they get you nearer to that spider. Once you can go near that spider, they introduce another. And then they change another factor - they may repeat this in the kitchen so you get used to seeing spiders in a different room.
With fearful dogs, the principle is the same. You cannot effectively get over a fear when the trigger of the fear is putting you into that negative state of mind. You need to find his trigger point, his threshold to other dogs, and toe the line behind. This can be much more effective with staged situations rather than random dogs down the park because you can have more control over all the factors. It might benefit to find a trainer or a behaviourist willing to help you out with this.
http://www.apdt.co.uk and http://www.apbc.org.uk are good places to find the above, who will use fair, modern methods.
In the meantime, you may want to look into a few books - Patricia McConnell does a basic but concise booklet called Feisty Fido
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feisty-Fido-...3119654&sr=8-1
Also look up "dog reactivity" online - but again, try to avoid anything suggesting dominance or pack leadership.
http://www.moellerdog.com/resources_aggression.htm
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/the...atment-summary

BAT is a great method to look into too
http://functionalrewards.com

I can offer no expert advice but agree that 'growling' (because it usually precedes any other behaviours) is a GOOD thing. Dogs can't talk. To me, a growl is a very useful advance warning indeed. Whether it is a warning that they are not v. happy with the situation or a warning that they are about to try to rip your head off!

Advance warnings have to be a good thing. Without those - it's surely straight onto the next stage?

If you wish to socialise your dog, please ensure you have a picture of what you hope to achieve and why in your head.

Socialisation is not, per se, necessarily a "good thing", it can have unintended consequences.

You should seek the guidance of someone who is used to dealing with such issues.