[Dailydrool] Packs, packs "leaders"

[Beverly Szaton]

After having multiple hounds (and another breed) over the years I am not
much smarter about pack ranking than I was to begin with, have noticed that
actually in our household it seems to be a bit fluid. When I have males and
bitches the bitches rule at least in appearance. When the Belgian, Mr
Cooper sir was alive he was the undisputed Captain of the ship altho Zelda
was much more of a despot than he. He let her get away with an awful lot,
but once in a great while he would grab her and remind her who was REALLY
in charge. None of the other Bassets challenged him.
Conley inherited the Pack Leader role and embraced it rather too
enthusiastically. He spent much of his last couple of years trying to
ambush and kill Doc but it was less a pack thing than a revenge thing for
yanking on Conley's ears as a young adult, something Conley never forgot or
forgave.
I think it is not as fixed a thing as we have been led to believe.  And I
suspect different dogs kind of take over in different situations. My
experience is that the real leader is not the dog who is the noisiest but
the one who is frequently a bit in the background. Look for the one who
doesn't HAVE to prove himself every time. Look for the dog who is the most
confident and that is your Head Honcho.

MomPerson to Doc & MertaLou who haven't worked it out completely.
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