Using Dominance to Bully

Lately I have realised that Max's life - having to live with Jon - is oppressed and restricted. Jon is indeed the Alpha, though I don't think he deserves that title. One of many reasons for this is that he is afraid of thunder and fireworks.

Anyway, since I am not at home in the daytime to observe the dogs, I occasionally view footage from the CCTV. Just by viewing a day's events, Max was rarely seen in the footage. That means he is subjected to a smaller area to rest and roam- the area which the CCTV does not cover. On the other hand, Jon is always in restless mode - looking out for passers-by and cats.

It is the same situation during weekends and weekday evenings. When I am at home, I see that Max seldom walks about the house. Whenever he is alerted to passersby - before Jon gets to - and goes to the gate to bark, Jon will join in. Max will then immediately back off and walk away.

Take a look at the picture and video below. It shows me stroking Jon. But before this, I was doing the same for Max, and Jon simply barged in to seek for the same treatment. Max politely moved away. He appears to be looking at something in front but actually is avoiding eye contact with Jon. Max practically relinquished his playtime rights to Jon.

Another similar incident happened this morning. Upon waking up, I saw Max already having woken up. I decided to invite Max for a stroke. He came over enthusiastically and put his head to my belly and snuggled there. I barely belly rubbed him for 20 seconds before Jon appeared and came over and also put his head to my belly. This act by Jon was unprecedented. Max promptly moved away. It was the fluency of the way Jon shoved his head and Max moveing away that amazed me. There were no "go away" warning signals by Jon. Both dogs used their instincts and a bit of body language. I immediately got up and said "No!" to Jon and left. If he wanted me to stroke him, he should walk over slowly - like he always does - and I will stroke both of them simultaneously.

If I was Max, I would surely feel very depressed. He can't play with Jon and share living spaces with him; can't roam freely around the compound of the house; gets "pushed" away during play time with me. I do see his cautiousness and fear in him when Jon is near him. I guess he just have to put up with Jon, because Jon will never change.