Neither one is the Alpha?

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Hi Guys!

So I was wondering if you guys feel like your doodles are either switching off who is the Alpha or if neither of them are. Not that this really matters as they get along fine regardless  but I feel like they switch off on a daily basis who is in charge. It's entertaining to wake up and guess who's the boss today! Just curious if anyone else has experienced this!

Thanks all!

Jess, Loki, and Moose

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I find myself wondering this a lot with our two. Maybe it's like a good marriage, it's shared and depends on the situation.
Maci seems to be the boss because Yogi always defers to her... Yet she always watches him to see what he is going to do in most given situations.
But then maybe Maci isn't the alpha, Yogi, just rules with an easy going manner and let's her do her thing. It's funny because it's like she's the bratty little sister sometimes.
I love the differences in them!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Whenever we have had more than one dog, we had one who was 'in charge' of the others; was the boss who was respected and deferred to by the others

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Roo was nearly grown when we got Tigger.  Tiggeer always took second chair to Roo willingly.  Tigger has been trying to take over first chair for the last year.  Roo just ignores him.  If Tigger gets really annoying, Roo just grumbles low under his breath and Tigger stops.  This does not stop Tigger from  fake barking to lure Roo outside.  Roo no longer falls for this.  Even I can tell when Tigger is fake barking.

Interestingly they clearly have worked out an intruder alert plan between them.  Roo barks for people invading anywhere he can see.  Tigger barks for deer, bear and small animals.  Both bark when the little pug across the street is outside, but it is more of a "here we are... over here!!  tyoe of bark.

My sons two huskies visit nearly every Thursday all day.  Blue, the bigger of the huskies is clearly in charge and none of the other three question his position at all.  Roo tries to ignore him, but if he has to Roo will defer to Blue.

This is all so fun to watch.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I love the good marriage reference!

[Marie and Hoka]

Between our current tow, Hoka seems dominant. But our little Moxie  (not a doodle) is fine with it. They get along great and wrestle and play. Moxie can give him the business and occasionally stands up for herself, but mostly he seems in charge.

In our previous set (one M doodle, one F Husky mix) , we could never figure out who was alpha. We suspected it was Tinker (the doodle) but that he was just a benevolent dictator.