Well, it's taken about seven to eight months but I can honestly say that our one-year old Collie named Douglas (a.k.a. "Dougie") has finally learned to respect the wishes of our alpha Sheltie, Declan.

Dougie used to be in desparate need of doggie manners when he first arrived at our home. Sure there was an ocassional brief glimmer of hope that he was learning but nothing of substance. Our other three dogs, all Shelties, respected each other in that if teeth were shown, a growl was made or some other form of adverse body language was elicited, the offending dog was quick to alter its behavior to keep peace in the household. Then, along came Dougie...

Dougie's about three times bigger than our Shelties in almost all measurements of any real consequence. He's taller, quicker, eats more, needs more attention; I can go on and on. The one thing he was lacking in was self-discipline around the other dogs. He always seemed to maintain his puppy mannerisms-when we went out, he wanted to play ball or some other game with the other dogs even if they weren't interested; when we were in the house, he'd "club" the other, smaller dogs with his huge tree-trunk like legs to entice them to play with him. Usually Lyric, the Sheltie I nick-named the Chief of Police for her on-going efforts to instill order and calm in our house, would try to correct Dougie by showing teeth or snapping at him. But the big oaf of a Collie would jump back from Lyric, thinking her corrective measures were yet another form of playing around. Life was one big game to Dougie.

Then Declan got involved.

Declan is actually the smallest of our Shelties but as the saying goes, it's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. From day one he's been the boss, even though it meant taking over as alpha from Lyric, who incidentally is his mother. We received Lyric from our breeder who wanted to give her a good home; she'd just had puppies (Declan was one of 'em-he'd been sent to a temporary home to see if he was stud material) and in no time at all fit into the rhythm of our house. About a month after Lyric arrived the breeder called us & asked if we wanted the puppy (Declan) who apparently didn't live up to expectations during his brief assignment away from home. Declan arrived at our house, asserted his authority over his mother who'd been alpha for the month in question and has been The Little King ever since. He rules with an Iron Paw.

Recently, I've noticed a marked change in the way in which Dougie acts around Declan. For instance, in the evenings when I get home from work I'll