Strange Couple of Months

[britishbandit]

It's been a strange couple of months here. PJ has been with me now for a year and a half. He turned 2 in May, and Tysa turned 3 in May. From day one, Tysa put PJ in his place, assuming her postion of alpha dog in the house. Dopey PJ never much cared, and always backed down from her, not a hint of trying to take over that position.
Tysa has always been a dominant female. Not aggressive, but dominant. She even cocks her leg up on trees/posts when we go for walks. And constantly mounted PJ for the first month or so he was here, showing him who was boss. She has this "I'm the Queen" attitude around other dogs we meet on walks too.
Well whether it's due to her spay which she had done in December, or PJ's sheer size that is the cause (he's grown, and has at least 35lbs on her now), maybe a mix of both, but PJ started to challenge her for that alpha spot a couple of months ago. And Tysa has since given it up. OMG!! I NEVER thought that would happen. I havn't noticed any temperment or personality changes in her at all, besides backing down from PJ. He also went through a period where he was always mounting her and still does on occasion even now (again, she has been spayed). I've made no changes either, Tysa's dish has always been placed down first, order of walks (since I take them one at a time if it's just me here), is always Tysa first........etc.
It really isn't a big deal, they're both still happy, play and get along great, I just find it kind of strange...LOL. The even weirder part is, that PJ has become MORE obedient and better behaved in general. Even Tysa's has been more attentive.

The only thing I've noticed with Tysa is before when PJ would go to investigate a toy she was playing with, she'd growl at him and he'd run away like a big wussy! LOL Now, she'll woof once, get up and walk away so he can take it. One other thing, after she finishes eating, she picks up her dish and puts it in her crate. That is the ONLY thing now that she seems to be able to keep PJ from getting at. It's like she's saying "you may be able to take my toys, but don't you dare go near my food dish". I recently started removing the food dishes after meals (when I remember to), simply because I started getting tired of having to bend down and crawl to the back of the crate for each feeding...LOL. Tysa's food dish was the only thing that PJ wouldn't attempt to go near, and if he did so by accident getting a toy, he'd run for the hills when he realized.

I've always heard though that the "resident dog", or first dog of the home, usually establishes their position early if a new dog is brought in, and that position usually sticks, especially with females, despite drastic size differences. So what gives? Is it possible her spay has something to do with it? Even though I've noticed no other changes. Remembering her spay was in December, and the challenges for rank didn't occur until around March.

[IceyBlueSibes]

That is pretty strange! I have no clue if it has to do with her spay, but it may just be because PJ is maturing.

Lilly will be 3 this July, and she has since been asserting her dominance onto the little dog that was living with her. So she's (the little one, Tibby) here now, but we talked to her breeder and she said it is more than likely because she is maturing.

That is too funny about the food bowl thing. LOL "This is MY bowl -- if it's the last thing I have to defend!" Hahaha Sheiba is that way though. She doesn't care too much about toys or other things, but NO ONE goes near her food bowl (humans of course). Cheech found that out the hard way the other day.

[calgal]

Could it be that it's like animals in the wild........there is always a challenger to try and gain the alpha roll and the strongest usually wins. Maybe to avoid a fight, she just decided he is larger now and would probably be able to handle the roll of alpha.

[flyndog]

Social hierarchy in dogs is fluid and flexible. Dominance is circumstantial and based on who has what when in what situation.