Alpha Bitch - Page 1

My 19 month old female has always been a force to be reckoned with. There were just two in her litter,  and her breeder told me she would 'give as good as she got'  when playing with her brother, although he was bigger and heavier.

When I brought her home, she would bug the heck out of my adult male shepherd by standing underneath his belly, and nipping his legs.

Now that she's mature, I've noticed a shift in the balance of power. If I throw a ball or toy for them to chase, she always gets to it first. If it's a tug toy, and he tries to take it from her, she'll move her head just enough to keep it away from him, then if he doesn't leave her alone, she'll drop the toy, and lunge at him with bared teeth.

Today, when I was letting them in from the backyard, I saw a new wrinkle to her dominant behaviour:  Normally, they come in the door side by side. Today, she deliberately turned her body sideways so as to block him from the door. He had to wait for Her Highness to enter, then follow in behind.

She's about 24" and weighs 60-65 lbs. He's 25 1/2 and weighs 75-80 lbs.

How many of you have similar situations, where the female dominates the male(s)?

Isn't that the norm?      In my house it is anyway.  Though now that Abe is 4 1/2 years old he is taking charge over the girls more and starting to make them wait and move.

LOL   oh yeah... Alpha Bitch for sure.....

The last of my own line that I kept was Fawn, also from a litter of 2 btw.. and from the day she opened her eyes she was the 1st to do everything.  I kept her partly because of that spark. I was afraid that most pet owners would either allow her to become out of control, or squash it completely.  She was one of the dearest Domme dogs I ever owned.  I had to be certain to remove her when correcting the other dogs as she'd pitch into them as well.  Generally she and the pack got along wonderful, and she and my also Alpha Australian Shepherd suprisingly were best friends and never had an issue.  She always respected my choices though... if I told her "NO in correcting or dominating another dog she'd back off.  Later she'd go up to the other dog with her head over their back and reassert her place, but didn't overdo it...  Barred teeth were not permitted though she'd try it behind my back occasionally.

   Fawn was also one of the most gentle dogs, always laying down to play with puppies, and once removed a newborn kitten from the litter box without disturbing the mother cat, and had it between her forepaws mothering it when I came into the room. Sadly I lost her @ 9 years to Bloat.  Great dog... 

Our current "alpha" female is almost two and has been ruling the roost from the day she walked in the door!  With each puppy that we've brought home, she has "schooled" the kid so they know very early on what they can and can't do.  She's actually extremely tolerant of the two younger males in the pack, but the oldest male (who pinched her foot and made her cry the day we brought her home) she doesn't allow to get nearly as cozy as the other two, though she plays really well with him as well.  With our other two females she's much more testy as time as passed and everyone is getting older.  We always know that if we have control of her, we have control over everyone as she's the head honcho and tells people to knock it off if they're getting too wild in their play.

I have never had a male rule when there is a bitch in the house.  The Alpha bitch I currently have seems to enjoy demoting the male!

I kinda like getting alpha rolled by a dominant bitch every once in awhile

Can I consider that an invitation, GARD? 

Should I worry than? My female is from a litter of two and I heared that she was picking or her brother as well. Lol :)

My first question :   How do you handle the baring of the teeth....at   7 weeks old...Bossie has already done that to my pup here, when she got here...she dug into her immed.when the other pup only wanted to play and my pup here is only 11 days older...born on July 10 against Bossie on July 21....

what steps do i take about the baring of the teeth towards others at such a young age...????

I know not to let her do it...and I took Mahons expertise at the moment,,,seperated her...but as soon as we got home , in my lap...pit bull face towards the other pup and any other dog approaching me...

THE BOSS......... MAYBE SHE WILL NOW BE IN HER OWN LITTLE WORLD AND EXCLUDE OTHERS...BUT I HAVE TO SOCIALIZE HER....PEOPLE ARE NOT THE ISSUE....

OTHER DOGS NOW ARE THE ISSUE....HAVE TO NOT LET HAPPEN AND WANT TO KNOW HOW TO START....

altho we don't have any fights or bared teeth or growls, claire (55 lbs) is totally dominant over angus (93 lbs). maybe it's anecdotal, but i did hear that most male shepherds will defer to most female shepherds. works in my house, so it works for me. as long as claire acknowledges that I'm the alpha bitch in her world.