Hi there. I have two dogs - both rescue - Lucky a 5yr old labrador and Lucy a 3 year old red cocker. We had Lucky about 2 years before Lucy. The two dogs basically get on well - but every now and then there is a big scrap in the garden. Lucky is the bigger dog and always wins - but it seems to get quite nasty at times, and the spectacle never fails to alarm both myself and my children. Lucky is normally quite a placid dog, but does bark quite aggressively at other dogs and at passers by when he is outside in the garden. Lucy is very jealous, and choses to guard items at random, growling at Lucky to stop him approaching. She does not growl at us. It is always Lucy who rushes forwards to choose sleeping mats, go through doorways before Lucky etc (I call her back if she tries to go through before me: Lucky always waits for me). I always get them to sit before feeding them - but let Lucky start before Lucy because he is the bigger dog and therefore has more food and takes longer to eat it. If I let Lucy start first, she has in the past rushed in and stolen mouthfuls of Lucky's food - with the inevitable fight that ensues. My husband and I naturally have treated Lucky as the alpha dog (between the two of them) because he is bigger, older and wins any fights that they have. Is this correct? He does seem to let Lucy get away with quite a lot - only fighting when he really has had enough. Perhaps he would be happier with Lucy as the alpha?
Hi there, this is really hard to tell without seeing their body language and how they interact with each other. I guess you feel that Lucky is the leader because he wins the fights (play fights or serious?) Lucy might challenge the status already and as Lucky gets older will eventually take over if she hasn't already.
Can you give us more clues on their body language when they interact> Thanks
