Hi
I have a doberman, she is spayed, 4.5 years old, and has been an only child all her life. I have taken her everywhere with me since she was 8 weeks old, spent time in dog parks, dog clubs, time with neighbor's dogs. Most of the time she ignores other dogs but when she does interact she seems to be clueless when it comes to dog play. If a dog chases her to play, she gets scared. If a dog starts to run in another direction, it seems her prey drive triggers and she goes after it full speed. Not to be agressive, but she'll nip at the back legs until the dog turns towards her. Then she'll bark at it the same way she barks at a toy to get me to play with her. Of course, the other dog just looks at her like she's rude.

One more thing, even though she is nutural to dogs, every once in a while if a dog gives her a 'look' like they may be looking for trouble, she really takes it personally and starts barking - not play bark but 'you want a piece of me?' bark. She never starts that on her own, just when another dog gives her the stare.

Is there anything I can do to help her get more comfortable? It seems unnatural not to play with other dogs. All my dogs were very social so this stumps me. We'd love to go to dog beach and let her run with us, but there is too much room for error here.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks

It may seem unnatural to you that she doesn't wish to play with other dogs, but its actually very natural to her.

She already has her pack, her family group. You, and your family. Dogs don't need or have any real desire to socialize outside of their established pack.

Why keep placing her in a situation that she doesn't enjoy?

I'd also suggest reading Ed's article on Dog Parks:
http://leerburg.com/dogparks.htm

Aaron, you have a great point. I definately don't want to force her into anything. i watch her and make sure she doesn't seem stressed or unhappy. I just wanted to check to see if there was anything I could do different, better, or just let her be her.
Thanks

IME it's very normal for Dobes to not be terribly social with dogs OR people outside their immediate family. She sounds really uncomfortable in the social situations you describe.

If you can give her permission/teach her to ignore other dogs and teach her how you expect her to act when other dogs are around (like calm, attentive to you, etc.) it will increase her confidence and stretch her tolerance a bit.

She's probably never going to be into dog-play, but you may get to a point where you and she can play where there are other dogs around (though I would still avoid dog parks) and she's able to ignore them and and relax in their presence.