Wait... what? Puppy?

Well she has started to try and push Meadow out of her food bowl and grab toys from her. Her breeder told me (later) she could have easily been the alpha of the litter but that they were all too busy having fun to be competitive. So, I think her true nature is coming out. I just need to make sure Meadow is not pushed around physically, or is unhappy, especially since Juno will be bigger and heavier.
 
sounds like you need to start letting her know that YOU are the alpha in the household.
and I don't mean in a ceasar milan kinda way. shelties are way too sensitive for that! Just that she needs to make you happy, and that means NOT bullying Eli and Meadow.

I have seen some messed up multi dog households when the owners just let the dogs 'work it out' when there is some serious dominance issues, and the dogs always suffer.
 
So Pico's beach buddy is Clyde. Clyde started off being a bit rambunctious with Pico as a puppy, growl playing and play biting his neck while running/chasing. Now Pico play bites back and Clyde is a tad smaller so he gets overwhelmed, especially since Pico is faster and Clyde doesn't have the stamina to play for long periods of time. Clyde will run into the ice plant on the beach and Pico will mostly just stand there patiently waiting.

We have been working on ways to help Clyde out, since he loves the running and chasing, but not being caught. I will even leash Pico for a few minutes to give Clyde a rest. Clyde's owner isn't worried because he started it, and there is never rolling over/flipping involved. But I want to keep it fun for Pico but still let him know that he only gets to play off leash when he is behaving reasonably (when I let him). He doesn't run and chase other dogs (he ignores them to play with Clyde, and he does the same).
 
BTW, Clyde is brat when greeting other dogs about half the time, growling and snapping a bit. His owner always says it's how he plays to people and tries to downplay it, but I am in the 'that's unacceptable' camp on that one so we keep them on leash when other dogs are around that we don't know are really mellow. And Pico gets to great all the dogs on leash while Clyde is diverted a bit.

So Pico is his safe playmate even though it's a tad lopsided. Doggie Dynamics are complicated!
 
Sharon7 said:
Well she has started to try and push Meadow out of her food bowl and grab toys from her. Her breeder told me (later) she could have easily been the alpha of the litter but that they were all too busy having fun to be competitive. So, I think her true nature is coming out. I just need to make sure Meadow is not pushed around physically, or is unhappy, especially since Juno will be bigger and heavier.
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If it were me I would be feeding Meadow first and Juno second, I would pet Meadow first when you come home or they come in etc. I would make sure Meadow was beta after me being alpha. I think most pups will push the boundaries until the boundaries push back. If meadow growls and snap then let her.. I hope this does not get out of hand..probably just puppy finding what the limits are.. My two are not food aggressive and none of my Shelies have been and I always feed one first but otherwise they both get pretty much equal treatment.. my males comes up and says good nite to me while the female rarely does but luckily I don't seen any dominance issues....knock on wood.
 
The feeding separately sounds good. I know people with multiples who do that. Some far apart, some different rooms, some crated.
Mine have always been singleton's .....
Weird but some people free feed their dogs and leave the food out ALL the time!
Gavin (and Pico) have no concept of that (fed twice a day) so any food left out is/was obviously for them. If I know that is the case (food left out), I move it out of reach. My Darn shelties are definitely food motivated.

I'd like to think dogs raised in a house with multiples usually figure it out, but what do I know?
 
Juno eats in her pen and doesn't get out now until the other two are done. Meadow does kind of put her in her place but she's not a tough dog by nature. It usually ends up with them chasing around. The girls actually have a pretty good relationship but I won't let anyone jump into someone else's bowl. Most of my sets of 3 were fine eating within a small distance of each other in the dining room
 
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