Dynamics of a pack!

we have a new puppy to join our 2 boys Max 2 and Beau 1, the dogs were always very equal knew not to take one another's food and had there place in the back of the van shared toys etc, Max just had the edge as he is the bossy and older one! but strangely enough the more playful one of the two, since the addition of our puppy Star, Max has taken on the pack leader role so much so we have named him 'big daddy'! He sits with his nose in the air watching the youngsters play and will put them in their place when it all gets a bit silly! the pup has attached herself to the youngest dog but is very weary of Max, she is allowed to play with Max on his sayso!

Not worked out at all how we expected although not a problem, Max is a dog dog, and Beau is a people dog so quite strange to watch, would appreciate any comments from dogsey people who have more than one dog to see how their little pack works, many thanks :0)

ive always had three dogs

tbh, we never even thought they were a pack.

I'm not so sure that hierarchical "packs" exist in domestic dogland. Studies of feral dog packs have shown that the social groupings are no where near like wolf packs; there is no "alpha" breeding pair, there may be no blood relationship between members of a group of dogs & different dogs will have priority over different resources, depending on how hard they are prepared to fight for important resources.

When we have several dogs living with us in our homes, the relationships between the dogs can be very different & depend on lots of different factors, e.g. hereditary/genetic influences, breed predisposition, early learning experiences, or other life experiences in older dogs, different perceptions & temperaments etc.

It's difficult to say exactly what's going on with your 3 dogs without seeing it, but I'm not surprised that Max, the eldest & by the sound of it, the more confident dog, is also the more playful one. With confidence, comes the ability to be able to relax & be less concerned about things, & therefore able to engage in play more often. Plus rough & tumble play can also be a test of each dog's physical prowess, plus it's great fun

I only have 2 dogs but I've been on holiday to cottages with dogs & friends where we've had 8 dogs living together for a week. All the dogs know each other very well & get on fine together out & about on walks & when we visit each other's houses. But on holiday we watched new relationships develop between the dogs when they were actually sharing a house together. My female black labX & my friend's female black labX decided to be playmates & would chase each other, rough & tumble & play tug-a-toy for ages together (they never do this out on walks together). My other male lab would sometimes join in but as soon as he did, the girls would turn on him (in a playful way) & he'd end up on his back with the 2 girls pulling at him & jumping all over him

My friend's ridgebackX decided to be "referee" for the week & if the play got a bit rough, she would step in to calm things down.

The little elderly dogs (JRTXs) just pottered about together, chatting over the new sniffing places but we did notice that even the grumpy one became much more tolerant on holiday & even let other dogs share her bed ~ which she would never do in her own home.

We did find we had to be a bit more careful at feeding time & fed our own dogs separately as they all had different diets, & inevitably wanted to investigate what the other dogs were having. But we also saw that all the different dogs were happy to share beds, sofas etc with each other's dogs.

I find it fascinating watching the group dynamics & relationships between dogs ~ so I'm glad to hear it all seems to working out nicely in your house

My 3 are people and dog dogs I'm the boss to the extent that they will generally ignore you until they see it backed up by me

But we have no pack going on they're all equal ....well thats a lie the cat is 'TopDog'

I have three dogs also, Jamie is almost 4 years, Deacon is almost 3 years and Codee has just turned 1 year... Jamie watches in disdain as Deacon and Codee have their mad play and occassionally he may deign to join in!! I think he is just being an adult now and leaving the puppy behaviour to the minions!!
Be interesting to see what happens when number 4 comes along!!

that sound's a bit like my 4 but no pack leader there all treeted the same my 9 month old puppy think's he is gonna be boss though but i dought the other's will let him i must admit since ive getting cody he has brought 1 of my dog's out of her shell as she is very timmid and frightend of just about anything and she will play with him but it's greet fun watching all there antict's ah happy day's lol

I have a pack---that is a group with a heirachy.

Often if play gets too rough a dog will 'split' the two playing. Often at the same time as we are about to step in. One of Tassle's used to make sure no one stole food from the side and sometimes a dog will tell off another for creating a noise/fuss when travelling.

I expect the wheel of 'research' to come a circle some time and realise that dogs in captive situations have a heirachy or pack structure in the same way that all animals (including humans) do when made to cope with each other in limited space.

We have a top dog, he doesn't fight for anything, he just has it if he wants it! OTOH the springer wants everything (G)!

rune

Until I lost my old girl in February my dogs had a definate hirarchey - that is to say, they all did what she wanted - though she was one of those dogs that never curled her lip or growled let alone put another dog in it's place. Since then things have been a bit more fluid as the other three are quite chilled about life and no one wants to take any particular sort of lead.

This may change tomorrow....I have been looking after a litter of 12 week old puppies for the last week - who are in and mixing with my adult dogs, and an extra cocker spaniel puppy of 13 weeks who was visiting with her owner (+ 2 kids). I have visiting dogs quite frquently (or mine go visiting friends) so they don't really bat an eyelid when i bring something else through the door.

The pup i am keeping is, quite frankly, a cow bag - yes at 12 weeks she is up on the kitchen chairs, table, on top of the crate, stealing things, barking at me to be picked up - it will be interesting to see whether she keeps up the extrovert personality when she hasn't got the security of her litter mates and whether the other three will put her in her place - i am doubtful they will, or at least that two of them will, one might. who knows, we shall just play it by ear.

I have a pack---that is a group with a heirachy too

sounds to me your 'top dog' max may actually be the 'nanny dog' of your pack... my 'top' dog is both

.... thing is u cant force the relationship they have...just watch and guide,problems come when we get involved.

This. The idea that dogs form some sort of pack with a hierarchy of dominance is completely erroneous.