"alpha" stuff!!

[Nisehart]

I am in need of some education...again http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif
Please explain the alpha stuff to me!!
When Pumpkin was my only dog, I didn't know about this. When I was in the process of adopting Alfie, his foster father explained it to me breifly.

He said Pumpkin may relinquish her alpha role to Alfie, since he is a male. I believe she has kept it. He said the second dog usually tries to "please" the alpha dog. Now that Sam (my foster boy) has come into the house, Alfie has changed somewhat. He still wants to please Pumpkin, but he is more alert to her and myself. Not agressive, just more "motherly" I guess. It's hard to explain. It is fascinating though! All three are fixed by the way.

As always, I would love to hear your feedback! Thanks, Denise

[Krista]

lots of different theories are out there on dog pack dynamics. This is little of my personal opinion gained through experience and reading.

In many breeds -dachsies included- females tend to be more alpha than males.

Dogs show alpha tendencies in many ways -mounting, marking, growling sleeping closer to the top of the bed than other dogs or even you, rushing to enter doors first, fighting to eat or be greeted first, etc. And yes, even girls have been known to mount and mark -"so-called male behavior."

In my opinion, the dog that first joined the family has been established as alpha dog (but you should be alpha over them and they should know it). I think one should strive to keep that dog alpha as they add others. Feed them first, greet them first, take them out of doors first, pet them first, etc.

For these reasons, I probably would not permanently add a female to my home, since I have established my mellow male Rudy as alpha dog. Now if the female was an adult and already proven to be omega (submissive) then I might consider it.

Of course with pack dynamics, there are always exceptions. Many behaviorists do not reccomend having littermates, especially two female littermates, but many people have done just that successfully. No Rule is true in every case.

Does that help at all???

[Mark]

I think Krista did a very good job in describing the pack echelon.

If I can add a bit . . . the way I keep it straight in my head is - Char & I are the alpha's (although they look to me as the head alpha), Duck Butter is "top dog" and then there is the pack. Krista is also right about the oldest and first female (Duck Butter) kind of automatically assumes top dog position. In our pack, however we have a male (Top Spin) of a very dominant breed . . . who I've been saying for weeks now is going to challenge for the top dog position . . . and last night it started (it's not over yet). This is something we MUST let happen and once it's over there may be a new top dog who gets fed first, etc. It is their pack mentality and we have to respect it or I think we would create some very aggressive situations . . . by treating the old "TD" better than the current - they would become confused and maybe even misbehave or fight.

Once they have their challenge and "fight" for the top dog position . . . regardless of who wins they will both be happier and will respect the decision by battle. The only time we would think of interfering with this process is if there was some serious harm being done to one of them . . . they make a lot of noise and growl and even bite, but little if any, real damage is ever done.

Duck Butter and Top Spin had this battle once and Duck Butter won (about 8 months ago) . . . but Top Spin is 15 months old now and recently challenged me, but when we were through he had no doubt who the alpha was. I'll announce soon (I'm sure) whether or not Duck Butter has retained her throne or we have a new top dog. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif

I hope this helped,

Mark

[WOTANSMUTTI]

I call this "bone politics" and it's fascinating to watch. We have Diva, the independant lab, Sadie Mae, the dorky rott/dob and Wotan who is our house dog.

Diva and Sadie are about 4 yrs apart in age. When Sadie grew up at about 2 years, she started testing Diva.

Diva, being a lab, made noises but didn't really fight until she was backed into the alpha corner. She then defended her rank.

We had torn throats a few time, once Sadie really got the worst and looked the domestic violence victim! Diva got the worst physically, but she never gave in and now Sadie is the grovler.

Wotan is the strange one out. He seems to be able to weave in and out of their dog-thing and not be affected. He marks,he eats their food out of their bowls, her jumps on Diva's back leg to do the "dirty dancing" ( she has no clue what's going on!) and then has total dominance over Sadie Mae. He bit her in the lip, twisting it and made her yelp "Oncle" more than once!

He's a good dog and has never challenged me for pack leader.He seems apolitical.

Sadie Mae did as a pup and she had to be corrected. I used to flip her over and hold her on her back for a sec or two and then release her. After a couple of tries to get her way in an aggressive manner, she gave in to me! She is really sweet- but still has that watchdog edge.

[isobelsmom]

If I may add a bit more . . . .I have seven dogs here, Isobel being the only dachsie; two pits and 4 mixes. I "alphaed" the oldest female--Indi and as the others came in they went beneath her. Everything was fine until Duncan moved in. He's a rott/lab/ something mix and is very dominant--but only with the dogs. He went through the house and beat everyone up and established himself as Top Dog. Then he tried for me. He wasn't overtly dominant--but it's the subtleties you must watch out for. He would "mouth" my hands, cut in front of me, refuse to sit or down. . . but he's a happy guy and if I hadn't known what he was doing, he would've assumed he was alpha over me. After a few "run ins", he and I came to an understanding: Do Not Try To Dominate The Mom.

Sophie, my pit baby, is starting to challenge me a bit. Doing the cut in front of me thing and pinching my hands. She snapped at me a copule times when I was trying to cut her nails--she was on her back in a heartbeat-- and never did it again.

Basically, dogs can be overt in their dominance (i.e. marking, growling, direct eye contact and the other behaviors Krista mentioned) or they can be covert (i.e. moving in front of you, mouthing, trying to sit above you (on the furniture or in bed and demanding attention).

Does this help?

mary