My brother’s dog Kuma is an alpha dog. She likes to demonstrate her dominance over her people by putting her chin higher than your chin. It’s kind of funny to get into a chinning match with Kuma!
If your dog usually wins at tug-of-war with the other dogs, or steals and hoards toys and treats, she may be an alpha dog. Kuma is the most devious treat and stuffed toy stealer I’ve ever met. The other dogs let her take the things away because she is Boss Dog. Once she acquires her treasure, she’ll usually lay on them to keep them safe.
An alpha dog wins staring contests with the other dogs in the family. And believe me, Kuma is the queen when it comes to staring. She gets this look in her eyes, and she sort of sticks out her neck a little… we call it the vulture pose. She looks like a vulture perched on a tree, ready to swoop in. When Kuma starts the vulture pose, the other dogs know doom is coming.
When heading outside, the alpha dog may push to be the first one out. My Moose has a strong case of the “me firsts”! He just shoves Lally out of the way.
Humping isn’t always a case of amorousness… sometimes it’s a demonstration of dominance. When Moose first joined the family more than two years ago, he mounted Lally once, just to show who was the boss. (Sometimes I think the stuffed animals are more dominant than Lally is, she’s very very VERY submissive!)
There’s nothing wrong with treating your alpha dog like an alpha dog – putting her bowl down first, giving her attention first when you wake up or first get home. If you give too much preference to the lower dogs, the alpha may become aggressive to re-establish their place as pack leader.
Just keep in mind… the true leader of the pack is YOU, the alpha human!