[Dailydrool] shift in pack hierarchy

[kaq1230 at comcast.net]

Hi all,

Me and the boys are in need of some advice.  I am owned by 3 boys, Rosco (2.5 yrs), Lemmy (6yrs?), Stewie (2yrs).  Rosco was the first, and he has been top dog of the dogs since adding Lemmy and Stewie into the mix.  4 1/2 months ago my son was born, and the boys adjusted very well to the two-legger (sigh of relief).  Other than some very mild separation anxiety such as crying if I was not in sight, and having 3 basset shadows following me constantly everything was going along wonderfully.  The boys love Jack (2 legger) and Jack loves the basset 500 show that is put on daily for his entertainment. 

Within the last two weeks, both Lemmy and Stewie have been challenging Rosco's position, understandable since there is another member of our "pack".  The challenges are only staring contests at the moment, for example if Rosco is on the couch with me and Stewie tries to enter the room, Stewie approaches seemingly very submissive almost slinking head and tail down, but staring at Rosco the whole time.  Rosco responds with staring and then a growl, then growl and jumps off the couch towards Stewie and then they play, bows, exaggerated movements etc basset 250 ensues.  If both Lemmy and Rosco are on the couch (opposite ends) they have a staring contest, it has yet to come to anything since Lemmy usually backs down by looking away.

Rosco has the most impressive canine social skills I have ever seen, unfortunately Lemmy and Stewie are both lacking in that department.

My questions: Should I just let them work it out on their own?  My concern is that this behavior will utimately result in a fight and I won't be able to intervene because 9 out of 10 times I have the 2 legger with me.  Is there any way to train a dog to respond to another dogs calming/stressor signals?  

I have thus far been using distraction techniques (cookies) to stop the behavior, I can usually "feel the energy" change or notice Rosco go still, and offer cookies to everyone before any staring contests truly begin.  This has been working, but to what end?  Also, I don't want to correct any of them, since it all seems to be normal dog behavior and I definitely don't want to correct for the growl since I feel that it is a necessary communication tool.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Karen
Rosco, Lemmy & Stewie (why she keeps bringing that baby here is beyond us)
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