I grew up with Chihuahuas. They were all slightly neurotic,
absolutely adorable, and categorically alpha females. Chihuahuas come with
their own set of personality issues, and it seems like unless they’re raised
with other dogs they don’t always play well with others. This is a
generalization I realize, but that’s been my experience. A couple of the Chihuahuas in particular went
absolutely bat-scat crazy if they ever heard or glimpsed another dog.
Later, I adopted Tessa, a wonderful female mutt (supposedly
a Chihuahua-Dachshund-Beagle mix) who was the love of my life. Tessa was
definitely an alpha female, although she did okay with some dogs (mostly
males). She was quick to go after other females that invaded her space or just
looked at her wrong. Tessa and my dad’s Pug, Daphne, got into a horrible fight
one time that left one dog with a bleeding ear and the other with a bloody paw.
Later, they learned to ignore each other, carefully avoiding eye contact as
they gave each other wide berth while passing in the hallway.
Then we adopted Chase, our retired racing male. He is most definitely
an alpha male, but it’s interesting to see the way he displays that trait. He
can be aggressive with barking and posturing if he’s on the other side of a
fence from another dog, but when he’s actually in the presence of another male,
other than a growl or two, he never shows any desire to bite or enter into a
fight. The clearest sign of Chase exerting his alpha male stance was once when
we took him to some friends’ house where there were seven other greyhounds—one of
which was clearly the alpha male of the pack. Chase immediately lifted his leg and peed on
their couch. Ugh.
(Chase)
Now we have Trinity, our little Italian greyhound, and
although she has some food aggression, she is very passive when it comes to
other dogs. I’ve never had a submissive female, so it’s interesting to watch
her immediately back down and shy away whenever Chase grumbles a warning for
her to move away from his bed or bone.
(Trinity--our crazy, funny, submissive girl)
Just like humans, our canine companions all come with
different personalities and different ways of showing their idiosyncrasies.
For other dog owners out there, is your dog an alpha or a
submissive?
