Alpha Dogsby Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger 17 Jan 2006 10:42 AM My brother's dog Kuma is an alpha dog. She likes to demonstrate her dominance over her people by putting her chin higher than your chin. It's kind of funny to get into a chinning match with Kuma! If your dog usually wins at tug-of-war with the other dogs, or steals and hoards toys and treats, she may be an alpha dog. Kuma is the most devious treat and stuffed toy stealer I've ever met. The other dogs let her take the things away because she is Boss Dog. Once she acquires her treasure, she'll usually lay on them to keep them safe. An alpha dog wins staring contests with the other dogs in the family. And believe me, Kuma is the queen when it comes to staring. She gets this look in her eyes, and she sort of sticks out her neck a little... we call it the vulture pose. She looks like a vulture perched on a tree, ready to swoop in. When Kuma starts the vulture pose, the other dogs know doom is coming. When heading outside, the alpha dog may push to be the first one out. My Moose has a strong case of the "me firsts"! He just shoves Lally out of the way. Humping isn't always a case of amorousness... sometimes it's a demonstration of dominance. When Moose first joined the family more than two years ago, he mounted Lally once, just to show who was the boss. (Sometimes I think the stuffed animals are more dominant than Lally is, she's very very VERY submissive!) There's nothing wrong with treating your alpha dog like an alpha dog - putting her bowl down first, giving her attention first when you wake up or first get home. If you give too much preference to the lower dogs, the alpha may become aggressive to re-establish their place as pack leader. Just keep in mind... the true leader of the pack is YOU, the alpha human! Learn more about Aimee Amodio  Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover... Relevantpets tags User Comments CynthiaReilly (5) 27 Jul 2009 03:19 PMQuote:"There's nothing wrong with treating your alpha dog like an alpha dog" WHAT!!!!!??????? Are you for real???? You never treat you dog like they are an Alpha Dog!! To do so can put you and your family in incredible danger. Dogs have a pack mentality, and as pets they see the Human members of the household as part of the pack! You need to be the Alpha Dog! There is no such thing as the "Alpha Human". You seem to believe that even though you allow, and condone the dog's dominant status with the other dogs, that if the dog were to ever become out of control, you could still control her. That is simply not true, and dangerously naive. If the dog is being treated by you as an alpha, the second the dog becomes out of control you will have no authority over her, and if you attempt to assert control over the dog, even a normally loving animal can and will attack you! It happens every day. A pet dog needs to be broken of it's Alpha tendencies as soon as possible. You said that if you gave the lower dogs preference the Alpha Dog may become "aggressive". Your kowtowing to the animal almost guarantees that at some point the animal WILL become agressive, and possibly attack you or another person, possibly a child with tragic consequences. You need to take the dogs to obedience school as soon as possible! Your leisurely attitude towards the dog/dogs is an accident waiting to happen. If that dog turns on you, the other dogs will join in, whether you believe that or not! I am amazed that you don't know this! Community Tags alpha dogs, dog behavior, omega dogs, pack behavior, pack order Discuss this article
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