The dominant puppy

As mentioned in my previous blog, many litters will have a dominant puppy -- one who is more aggressive and potentially more active than the others. This is the natural order in wild dog packs and is critical to ensure the order and ultimately the health of the entire family. There is no time for debate. A leader has to emerge and proactively take charge. And successive generations have to keep producing 'heirs' to the leadership so there is a leadership succession, and when leader ages and is no longer the best to lead, a new leader that the rest of the pack respects needs to be available to take over.

What does the dominant puppy look like? The answer to that is not based on size or gender. It is not necessarily the first born. In fact, in my Aussie's litter, the dominant puppy was the smallest female pup, number 5 in the birth order. The only way you can determine which puppy is the dominant one in a litter is by observing their behavior. You will start to see, even when their eyes and ears are closed, certain puppies will push their way nurse first. Once they are mobile and active, you'll see them start to take control...pushing their will onto the other puppies. They will likely be quicker to react to perceived aggression, and move to the front when the food bowl is put down.

So, is it a good or bad thing to choose a dominant puppy? It all depends on what you are looking for. On the plus side, a dominant puppy will be more apt to be curious, to try things and by doing so, speed up training. They are also by definition, less timid, which can help with socialization with people.

Potential issues to be aware of include the tendency for dominant dogs to be overly aggressive with other dogs and potentially with people, especially small children. They may be very possessive of toys, sleep areas, food and of 'you'...their parent (which can cause problems with new human relationships you might start).

My feeling is that there is no good or bad about dominance. It's just helpful that you note if your puppy exhibits dominant behavior and keep mindful of that throughout your puppy's training. One very important thing (and this goes for all puppies, not just the dominant ones) is that you make sure your puppy knows that he/she is NOT the alpha, or ultimate leader of the pack. You have to be consistently and blatantly clear that the puppy, while loved and cuddled by everyone in the family, will never be allowed to exhibit dominance behavior on the humans in your family's 'pack.' If you fail to do this, your relationship with your dog will never be optimal, and can develop into serious problems.

Be aware that having ONLY you, the puppy parent higher on the dominance heirarchy can be an equally serious problem. I have seen situations where people think it is cute that the dog listens only to the mom or dad in the family, and doesn't respect the spouse or children. If the dog does have any aggressive, or even fearful tendencies, situations where the dog perceives danger or is stressed can result in the dog attacking the other family members...even if the dog had never attacked or shown aggression towards any family member.

Another very important issue to control for dominant pups is to make sure you pay attention to socialization with other dogs. It's a good idea to have your puppy 'on leash' when introducing him/her to another dog, especially for the first time, and maybe for the first few minutes even after the first meeting. Watch how your puppy reacts to the new dog. For his/her first dog acquaintance, it may help to choose a docile, low-energy dog. The size of the visiting dog may not be as critical, only that the dog doesn't show aggression towards the puppy or move in a manner that may startle the puppy.

My female Aussie was kept for awhile in a dogrun with a Rottweiler and a German Shepherd when she was young, before we got her. She was the dominant puppy of her litter, and that behavior was exacerbated during that time as she had to demonstrate to the other larger dogs that they could not steal her food. She was successful, and was respected by other dogs, but for the rest of her life, I had to take special care socializing her with other dogs, and I could never let down my guard when she came near dogs she never knew.

But even if you have a small dog who doesn't live with any other dogs, be mindful if your puppy exhibits dominant or aggressive or dominance behavior. If you notice aggressive behavior such as growling, barking and posturing, stop the behavior immediately. Also be extra careful when you take a dog with this type of personality on a walk or to a dog park. An overly dominant puppy or dog who has never been challenged by other dogs, especially one who has been taken from its mother early, may not know how to behave in the presence of other dogs. What he/she and you think is normal verbalization and high energy could be perceived by the other dogs as an outright challenge which could precipitate an altercation.

Dominance or submissiveness in a puppy does not determine how happy you will be with your puppy, or how happy your puppy will be. The responsibility for this lies with you, the puppy parents to provide the right socialization and training, and take care not to place your puppy in a situation that will instigate unwanted aggressive behavior.