How do you refer to your group of dogs, you included - your pack?

Question

I thought I'd ask, since all these terms are floating around - alpha, pack leader, dominant, submissive, et cetera.

How do you see it?

For example, this gal I know is definitely in charge as she's the one on two legs, and below her there's the boss dog - a feisty 7-year-old - and below her (and everything else) is the cannon fodder, the happy-go-lucky 2-year-old.

Just for fun - please no judgmental thumbs here. We can all learn something from each other.

Wendy, a herd of collies does seem quite appropriate!

I like all the answers so far - whatever works for your group. Thanks everyone!

Answer 1

We call ours "The Hounds". They are not hounds, of course.

As sub-divisions, we have "The Boy", and then there are "The Bit ches". .....often used in a sentence like "the BIT CHES shredded ANOTHER toy"....or "the BI TCHES took off after a deer AGAIN".
"The Boy" is often used in sentences like "the boy is off his feed today...one of THE BIT CHES must be coming into heat!!"....or "the boy is up Shady's crotch...has it been 4 motnhs already?"

I guess we are part of "The Hounds", but we do not need to refer to ourselves as anything....we KNOW who is in charge!!!

Answer 2

I'm the Alpha. Then we have the old girl (15 1/2 years old) that is the alpha canine. Second rung is an 11 1/2 year old female that is going to lose her position soon because she is a bit too submissive to maintain it. I have a 3 yr. old that is vieing for second in command position. The others follow suit basically in birth order. The intact male is "the man" and the girls all love him, but he isn't the boss by any stretch of the imagination. I refer to my group of dogs as the 'pack'.

I also do rescue but they are always referred to as 'the rescues'. No pack order or if one is developed among them, it is always temporary because they don't remain here forever. When all the rescues lived in the house with us, they were always at the very bottom of the pack order. Now the rescues stay in our kennels and the play yards attached to the kennels.

Answer 3

Family
I'm Mom, but I'm also Queen.
Then there's Belle, she's the dog queen.
Buddy, a 10 year old partly crippled mutt dog who thinks he's boss, but I can boss him, sometimes the dog queen can boss him too, no one else can, my hubby could if he had to, but he's a softy and won't.
Blaze, who's the pack leader because Buddy stays home all the time, and watches the house-mostly the sofa!
Boo-Boo who can only boss the youngest usually and is protector of all.
Gotcha-she's the youngest and plays with everyone and is always IT in every game (unless there's a cat)
Cats-the old witch with a B who wants everyone to leave her alone, she's about 16 years old and very cranky. She warns off dogs by slapping three times with no claws, then, if they continue to bother her, the claws come out and the crying starts-yipe!
Pete, the barn cat-who's just too lazy to care, sometimes gets to be IT in a chase or hide-and-seek, or if he doesn't want to, he just sits there and frustrates the dogs.
The two youngest kitties who are just figuring out what's going on.
That's about it.
Live well and do good. I liked the question!

Answer 4

Yes, we refer to our family as the "pack". My husband thinks he is the pack leader, but (shhhh) he is wrong. I am the pack leader. Then comes Shelby, my "butch" minpin (she weighs 18 pounds and is build like a brick s***house). Then comes my husband. (Shelby is his dog.) Then comes my aussie mix, Sophie. She is the matriarch of the pack. Then comes my ACD, Pepper, then my minpin Cocoa, then my sheltie Violet, then my foster pin Oscar.
I find it highly entertaining when one of us does something wrong in dog pack language, and one of our dogs tries to step up to be pack leader, or move up a spot in the line. It keeps us on our toes and reminds us that we have to always be in control, or we will lose control.
Our pack is constantly changing as one foster dog gets adopted and another one arrives. It has taught us so much about dog behavior. Wouldn't it be fun if we could all get grants to study pack behavior in domestic dogs and record it all? I have seen some pretty hilarious things.

My weirdest thing is my matriarch, Sophie. She has been the "mother" figure for almost 7 years now, and she cares for everyone in the house, including us. She is old and I know I won't have her too much longer, and in the past I have worried about what I would do without her. In the last two months, I have witnessed her teaching my two year old minpin how to be a matriarch and care for the other dogs and us. She is learning very quickly and I am confident that she will take this position if my Sophie goes away. It is truly a wonder to behold.

There is nothing I find more fascinating than observing the pack!

Answer 5

My partner is definitely the Alpha male. I am the Alpha female
Our pit-bull is the spoiled puppy (he's 3).
Our border collie is the senior beta female (she's 15).
All humans are Alpha over the canines. We have a large family.
All human children - are Alpha puppies.
All other dogs are intruders unless otherwise informed.

Answer 6

I call mine my "herd!" LOL
Since they all flock around me & follow me wherever I go.
In honesty - I never use the words "alpha" & stuff like that. Yes - there is definitely an order amongst my dogs. Some are more dominant than others. But I don't let it go to far - any one of them who tries to push the others around gets yelled at by me.
They know I'm the boss & they don't mess around too much about it.

Answer 7

I am the alpha female and the pack includes 2 human boys and two dogs.
I never thought of the family this way until Cesar Millan explained canine mentality.

Answer 8

To my dogs..our family is our pack. I am the leader of the pack...then my oldest son comes second....my oldest dog thinks she is equal to the youngest kid....then my youngest dog thinks she is at the bottom. She has tried to challenge the older dog gently by testing her...but learns that this is not a place where she should go...she has accepted to be the youngest child and at the bottom of the pack.

We are a unified pack...and we all get along very well because we all know our pecking order! :)

Answer 9

Yes, we're a pack. If you don't view your relationship with your dog(s) in those terms, especially if you have a very dominant, pack-oriented breed, you may be setting yourself up for trouble. I happen to have that kind of dogs, so I consider it an important part of living sucessfully with them.

Answer 10

My dogs are my family but I do refer to myself as 'The Alpha B*tch' and the one bossy pants gal I have I refer to as 'The Beta B*tch'.
I'm not a weirdo who thinks dogs are little people in fur coats but I do refer to myself and Mama and my husband as Daddy. Because of this, a past puppy buyer announced with excitement "hey, then that makes you Grandma to my puppy!" and started sending me updates on her pups (they've since bought two) addressed to Grandma Ford and signed by the pups (now adults) so for that reason, I know refer to myself as Grandma to the puppies born here and nearly all puppy buyers follow suit. I love it.
And as my Mom raises dogs and I help her so much with her's, I'm referred to as "Aunt Janet" and she's Grandma here. Same with my sister's dogs. We all are very active in shows, going to seminars, etc with eachother so we have a closeness with eachother's dogs. :)