My chow has always been very dominant and aggressive at times. He met our new dog, Strummer (Min Amer Eskimo)a year ago when we moved to Michigan. At first they played a lot but over time not so much.

Strummer alerts very quickly to just about anything and Bruno is more reserved but if Strummer responds to something or goes to greet us when we enter the yard, most times Bruno will get after him and chase him off. My understanding of pack structure is the Alpha will protect the yard and be the first to greet so I ask....is this appropriate behavior between the dogs and should I allow it - or - should I not allow Bruno to show dominance over Strummer. In the event I should correct Bruno for his behavior what does this do to his feeling of worth in the pack if he is not allowed to tell the lower ranking dog what's up? Is he possibly taking my role as Alpha by correcting the weaker dog? Just want to be as fair to BOTH dogs as possible.

If this dog was mine, I would not let it correct other dogs. I am comfortable be the one to correct everyone's behavior. I prefer to be the one to control my crew.

If Bruno chases Strummer away, I would correct Bruno's behavior. I do not let any dominant dogs decide who I can greet first. If Bruno respects you a lot, he would not chase Stammer away. Dogs respect alpha so make yourself an alpha not Bruno. If I want to pet a dog who is at the bottom of the pack, no one is allowed to race or cut for the attention. I find it not acceptable.

I have a dog that does the same thing to my male. She gets excited and will (in her case) seriously get after my male. I remember seeing Caesar Milan address this very issue. According to him, it is misplaced aggression. When the dog is in a heightened state (excitable)anything around him becomes fair game. It has nothing to do with an alpha position. I immediately correct my female when she behaves this way. Caesar's advice was to exercise the snot out of the offending dog to release some of the pent up energy and anxieties that all dogs build from living a sedentary lifestyle. As far as hurting the chows feelings? I wouldn't worry about it. In pack order, does the alpha wonder who's feelings he's going to offend? No. You are alpha, you handle the situation as you see fit. In a pack, an alpha wouldn't allow other pack members to fight for no reason. The alpha controls all aspects of life, including who gets to fight and when. Another thing to remember is chows have dominant personalities in the first place, if you don't get it in check with him now, you might find that you are the next one he is looking at to alphabetize, LOL! (little play on words there)

JMHO