Adult male 'retaining' socialisation?

I have a rather strange question to ask and just want to hear about other people's own opinions. I have a 5 month old Staffie boy who unfortunately is not going to be neutered (very long story and definitely not my idea) who is well socialised in my opinion. He meets on average about 2-3 new dogs a week and plays with around 5-6 on a daily basis (not all at the same time but different dogs on different days). Currently he is very submissive (typical puppy behaviour - licking at lips, rolling onto his back etc.) when meeting a new dog, particularly if the dog snarls at him.

He is a confident boy who loves to play and happily plays with a lot of dogs though the only time he gets a bit unhappy is when a large dog is too rough with him - jumping on him etc. (usually when they're not well socialised and get way too over excited at the presence of another dog) and then he gets a bit snappy (doesn't actually bite, just a lot of snaps on thin air).

So the question I have, is how do you find your adult, intact male staffie? Does he retain good socialisation as he gets older or does he become more aggressive/cocky etc?

It's a little different for me cause my boy's an EBT. But at 3 years old I wouldn't say he's aggressive, but neither is he over friendly and certainly not submissive.

But then he never has been!

If he's socialised properly & has no bad experiences there's no reason to think he'll change. However, staffs can be a bit strange & some do become more dog aggressive as they marure.

My staff is now just over a year old, and i won't be neutering him as i don't believe in it, and he has always been and still is great with other dogs.

Marley is 14 months now,not castrated and is fine with other dogs that don't snap in his face, he is a bit over friendly with females, but then he's still got a lot of growing up to do

I would think that if he is properly socialized he will continue to be fine. They do sometimes have a bit of change in personality when they are around 2.

Our last staff we had castrated at about 7 months under the vets advice. I had always taken him to training classes and socialised him well. After he started getting a bit dog aggressive, but not with all dogs. I read up after and if some dogs are done too early apparently it can make them more nervous and then make them aggressive. So this time with Buster we have decided that he wont be done untill he is two, if at all. If he starts to become aggressive before then we may get it done earlier, but so far that doesn't look like it will happen.

Thank you for all your replies, it gives me hope. We've worked so hard on a thorough socialisation plan with Hiccup and I hate to think that it will go to waste when he's older. Right now he's the biggest, love-able baby and just loves meeting other dogs and playing with them.

I think a well socialised & well brought up dog has every chance of staying the same throughout his/her life. Of course there are no guarantees in life - they are all individuals & some may become dog aggressive when they approach maturity. But often you can counter that with good training.

I wouldn't worry about it unless he actually does start to get 'iffy' with other dogs.

Caryll wrote:I think a well socialised & well brought up dog has every chance of staying the same throughout his/her life. Of course there are no guarantees in life - they are all individuals & some may become dog aggressive when they approach maturity. But often you can counter that with good training.

I wouldn't worry about it unless he actually does start to get 'iffy' with other dogs.

I agree with Caryll. I also think that training and socilaisation is an on going thing.