Alpha puppy?

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

this is long-winded, but if you read to the bottom, thank you in advance...

I finally got my mini goldendoodle, Noah, on Saturday. However, the airline admitted to making a mistake and sent my puppy to California and his littermate to me. I have spent the past 4 days trying to resolve this issue. Long story short, the people who have my puppy in California are refusing to send him back, and the airline will most likely press charges and have the police seize the puppy. However, it looks like I will probably just end up keeping the littermate. The puppy I was expecting was the calmest, quietest and smallest of the litter. Noah is the exact opposite. He was the dominant playful one in the litter. I'm sure he trampled over his littermates to get to his mom. I love him already and he's very sweet, but he's also very demanding and pushy. If my other dog Sherlock (7 month old maltipoo, bigger and stronger than Noah, but definitely not an alpha dog) has something that Noah wants, Noah will growl and charge at Sherlock. Sherlock doesn't care if Noah gets his stuff, because there's never a shortage of treats/toys available. The dogs get along really well and have bonded already. (Earlier this morning, Sherlock started his low barks (usually this is the start to his alarm barking) and I woke up and saw Noah was sitting up. I put him on his wee wee pad and then he threw up. Sherlock must have sensed something was wrong and was letting me know.)

Anyway, my question is, did anyone else bring in a new dog and have that dog immediately become the alpha? It's hard to see Sherlock letting an 8 week old puppy steal his stuff, but at the same time, if Sherlock does nothing to get it back, I can't do anything about it. This morning Sherlock was eating from Noah's dish, and Noah was about a foot behind Sherlock going crazy - barking/growling in a playful manner - Sherlock just kept eating and didn't seem to care. Sometimes if Noah sees Sherlock with something, he'll let out a low growl and charge towards Sherlock - but if Sherlock wants to keep something, Noah can't get it away from him.

Is Noah exhibiting alpha tendencies? It's hard for me to tell because he's very playful and very high-energy. He's so young also that I think most of this behavior is puppy play. He's very bold and assertive, but that doesn't mean he's alpha. He's still small enough that Sherlock can correct him if he goes too far, but Noah may double Sherlock's size eventually and I don't want Sherlock to be bullied. I chose the other puppy for this exact reason. But now I like Noah and don't think I want to make the switch. Any suggestions?

[Maya]

Wow, what a story! Now, if the other family wouldn't give the other puppy back, because they bonded with him (after a few hours!), AND you changed your mind and wanted to keep the puppy you got - isn't that an ideal outcome of the whole mess? Why not stop threatening legal action, change the contracts so each owner has the papers for the dog they got, and live happily every after?

On a lighter note: isn't it funny how they sometimes find us, rather than us finding them? You were looking for a calm, quiet dog, with particular coat, and got one full of energy, and with a different coat! Just like us... we were looking for a mini, and I imagined a cream or apricot colored, shaggy looking one... we met a horsey (compared to what we had imagined), with a wavy, almost curly black coat... and here she is, a little over a month later, adored by everybody in the house (well, not exactly - the cat thinks she's annoying).

Happy Holidays!

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

OMG what a crazy story!! I'm sorry you had all that happen, but it seems like you are totally in love with little Noah so maybe it all worked out ok in the end.

When we got Kirby (at 1 yr), our 2 really had it out for a good 2-3 weeks. I was almost in tears a few times because it got ugly. Finally we stopped interfering and they worked out and pretty much never have any issues. Kirby took the dominant role, between them, but he respects us as alpha (sometimes I think Dex respects Kirby as more of an alpha than us, but that's another issue :) )

I know our situation was different because we had 2 older dogs, but my point was that unless your puppy is getting hurt by your older dog (which doesn't seem to be the case) I would let them try to work it out. Once we stopped meddling our doodles settled things quickly. Every now and then we will correct Kirby for being a little too dominant with Dex, but it's never anything major.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Roo, my 14 month old and Tsar, my son's 10 year old 80 pound husky are both submissive to my 7 month old Tigger who is only about 25 pounds. Tigger is what I would call a passive agressive. He licks and licks the other dogs months and chews on them like they are a cob of corn. He can steal their toys and if a treat or food falls to the floor it is his, of course he is closer to the ground. When he has driven one or the other of them beyond their tolerance and they growl at him he just rolls over and shows his belly and I swear I can see him laugh and smile and he hops up and starts all over again. I think it is partly that he is still a puppy and they both know this, so are very tolerant, But I also expect that he will always call the shots. He is 7 months going on 8 months entering those doggy teen years and beginning to not obey so I try to be very vigilent and never ask him to do something unless I can ensure that he does it. Mostly he just cocks his head and looks cute if he does not want to do something - sit or whatever, but I have even had him pull the belly up trick and then zip away from me with the sock he's stolen still flopping from his mouth. Sounds like you might end up with both of the littermates - as clearly you're not prepared to give up Noah! Enjoy!