I agree.
Carm, I have wondered a lot about this recently. I wonder how important exposure/socialization is if the dog is solid. Sure, it may "react" to something because it wasn't ever exposed to it. However, I believe a dog with strong nerve/genetics will have a strong recovery time, and move on once it determines the unknown is not bad. I also expect a "Reaction" in a strong dog to be one of curiosity and alertness, not barking/hackling, etc. Would I not expose a dog to things because it's supposedly got strong nerves? No, because I don't want it "reacting" to everything until it believes they are "ok." Carm, great question/discussion! What is your definition of "socialization?"
However, I'm not sure how important this "socialize with anyone and everything" mentality is, if the dog is solid. Although, I guess a lot may not be able to tell if a dog is solid, so the error on the side of caution would be exposing/socializing. I do believe a lot of owners (unknowingly) go overboard with the socialization, and create problems that wouldn't necessarily have come out. Not sure which is better? Probably guidance from someone who knows what they're doing lol.
Anecdotally, my little guy has impressed me with his nerve threshold. Not a whole lot phases him, inside or outside of the house. Pans dropped on the floor, plastic bags, super loud (unexpected bangs), things falling off shelves, loud trucks, man holes, sliding doors, lumber carts, etc...he doesn't care a lick about them. I've seen him "react" to two things.
Once walking in the dark and a small ankle biter charged the fence out of no where. Made me jump and he jumped. Other time was at the horse arena, a member knocked over a large horse barrel. Both times he stood at alert, totally focused on the object/animal, and looked "scared" to me.
Dog: we kept walking and I ignored the behavior. Barrel: We kept working (we were training), I grabbed his leash and we walked around the barrel, me ignoring any reactions. Both times he "recovered" almost immediately. We now walk by barking dogs charging fences and he doesn't even look at them, and the barrel was a non-issue afterwords.
I'll keep exposing him to things, but because I don't see any reactions of cowering, hackles, whining, etc...and a good recovery time with the things he needed to "check out." I'm not too worried about exposing him to EVERYTHING. I still take him everywhere, and he does get to see a lot of stuff outside of club training and the house. However, I'm just not worried about "socializing" him. So, only time will tell if I messed it all up lol. We'll see! ;-)