Is this aggression or just awkward play? Need advice

Hey everyone, I’m hoping to get some honest opinions and advice about my dog’s behavior at the dog park. I’m having a hard time figuring out if what I’m seeing is normal/awkward play or if it’s actually aggression. To preface, he is a 1 y/o, male shiba inu (not neutered YET)

Going to the dog park is a completely different experience every time we go. Sometimes there are already a bunch of dogs there and other times we’re the first ones. I’ve noticed that the group of dogs there really sets the tone for how the visit goes.

If there are older or more laid-back dogs that don’t really want to play, my dog seems to pick up on that and will mostly leave them alone. He’ll just wander around, sniff, and kind of do his own thing.

Other times there are dogs that do want to play, but not quite at his level. My dog plays kind of awkwardly, he’ll try to hump other dogs (regardless of gender) as a way to get them to run. He basically likes to annoy them into playing. Once they start running, he’ll chase them.

The issue comes when the other dog gets overwhelmed. If they stop, get timid, or start barking, my dog will bark back. When he does this, he looks aggressive. He shows his teeth and gets really vocal, but he’s never actually tried to fight any of the dogs. It just looks aggressive based on his body language and how intense he gets. I’ve also seen him get into little fights when some dogs (only happened twice to be exact) invade his space and I can 100% tell the difference between those “fights” and dog park behavior.

If the other dog just keeps running and engaging, everything is totally fine. So now I’m trying to figure out: is this considered aggression? And if it is, how can I work on it?

For some background, my dog wasn’t as socialized as I would have liked when he was younger. About a month after I got him, my physical health suddenly declined. He was only about a 2.5 months old at the time, and I ended up bedridden for 4–5 months. Because of that, he didn’t really get introduced to other dogs until he was around 7 or 8 months old, and even then, interactions were pretty limited.

Even after I was off bedrest, I still couldn’t drive or leave the house on my own for a while, which made it hard to socialize him more.

I really want to make sure I’m doing right by him and not putting other dogs in a bad situation. If this is something I should be correcting, I’d appreciate any advice on how to work on it or what to focus on. Thanks in advance!