If you have more than one dog, who is the alpha in your house? One of your corgis, or another breed?

Ein is clearly an alpha male. At one of my many vet appointments with Colleen (a rescue with a history of demodectic mange), my favorite vet at the office asked me how the dogs all got along and who the alpha was. I immediately answered Ein, and he said he wasn't at all surprised to hear that. Typical corgi.

The funny thing is, that Ein isn't ALWAYS the alpha dog. He very clearly dominates Tucker. All we have to do is say "Does Tucker want a butt to chew on?" and Ein goes berserk and will chase Tucker around barking at him. Yet, Colleen can chew on his butt all day long and he very rarely tells her off.

The more I think about it, the more I come to realize that Colleen (a rough collie) is the alpha. She just doesn't know that she is, so she doesn't act like it. If one of the boys has a toy or a bone that she wants, all she has to do is bark at them long enough and they'll drop it. She'll pick it up and run off with it. Ein has even started dropping the tug of war rope (his favorite toy) anytime she grabs on to it so that she can have it.

I never in a million years thought that I would ever see Ein be submissive to anyone. He very clearly has an alpha personality. So I find it so odd that he lets Colleen get away with murder. She's the only female, the newest addition to the family, and the youngest of all the dogs. The funniest thing is that she doesn't seem to know she's the alpha. Sure, she knows that if she barks long enough, they'll give her anything she wants. But when they try to show dominance by attempting to mount her or something like that, she thinks they are playing and she'll start jumping up and down, doing the play bow, grabbing toys, etc. She doesn't act at all like an alpha. She's basically like the whiny 4 year old who gets whatever she wants because her teenage brothers get tired of hearing her fuss.

Who is the alpha dog in your house?