Queen Bee - Alpha dog

So, Queen Bee our little Jack Russell kicks into gear when things start to run a muck. We have three dogs Jessie who just turned 11 and is our resident alpha Jack Russell, Tilley who is a 10 year old standard poodle and Luke the one with the blanket hanging off of him will be 7 in August. After bath time poodles run a muck and Jessie lets them quickly know that there will be no nonsense from them.

Jessie is the Alpha dog in our house she always has been. Since the day she walked into our house she has owned it. At the time we had another male standard poodle, Clyde. Clyde was the most gentle, kind hearted soul and the love of my life. Clyde was a lover not a fighter. Being a softy Clyde never stood a chance with this new little dynamite stick. Jessie came in a quickly let him know that things were going to be different from now on. It was actually comical to see this tiny JRT puppy go and take anything she wanted away from him.

Many people feel that an Alpha dog is an aggressive dog with "issues." Not so, an alpha is a term to describe a dog with leadership desires. Some alpha dogs can become a problem which may be caused by a lack of leadership from the humans in the pack. And of course there are those alpha dogs that do let it go to their head and need to be reined in often.

A good scenario is when you have one alpha in a pack. If you have two alphas of the same sex, things can get a little hairy. When you have two alphas in the same household it is never more important to let all the dogs know that you are actually the supreme Alpha. You must be able to establish leadership with your dogs so that they look to you for guidance. If you allow a pack to run without a human leader, things can get hairy.

How much is too much? I allow my little Alpha to do mild disciplining. Once she has said her peace, thats it. No grudges, no follow ups or continual nagging. I run a tight ship and the dogs, even Jessie follow my lead. There is no stealing of items in this house, no food stealing no pushing anyone out of their bed and nothing more than a growl as far as communication. Once dogs have experienced a fight, they are much quicker to resort to a fight for control so we don't go there.

Many people say that they do not allow growling at anytime. This is not a recommended way to control a pack of dogs in my eyes. By removing growling you remove your dogs ability to communicate. This can then cause undo stress leading to aggressive outburtst.

So when things get out of Jessie's desired way of life she lets her canine subordinates know. A quick growl and that notorious lazer stare let them know, they best behave.