Alpha dog or equal dogs?

Posted by Marina
Aug 23, 2008
In another post, Todd made the following comment,

"We need to get the two dogs getting along.....not thinking that one is the alpha and the other is below as this will create far too many issues. So work on the alpha and obedience side of things."

I think this is an issue that I need to work on with my dogs (see my previous post on Killer Dogs).

My dogs know that I am the alpha when I am dealing with them and I'm working at constantly reinforcing this, but I'm confused about what I'm aiming for when the two dogs are together.

One dog is clearly more dominant. Should I try to counter this by encouraging the other to be more assertive or is it natural that one will automatically take the lead?

The dogs generally get on well together and can be fed together. However when they know it is time for something nice like food or a walk, the dominant dog starts to reinforce her position by bossing the other around a bit and clearly letting him know she's the boss. Presumably this needs to be discouraged?

I would be grateful if someone could clarify what I should be aiming for please.
Posted by Marina
Aug 25, 2008
I'm bumping this as I'm still hoping someone, perhaps Todd, will reply.