Dog Pack Mentality: Successfully Owning More Than One Dog

Owning more than one dog creates a challenge all of its own, even if the dogs are relatively close to the same age and size. Dogs are naturally pack animals as are most species within this family. Dogs are related to wolves, coyotes, and other pack animals and will continue to exhibit the same pack mentality and behaviors as their wild relatives. By clearly understanding the pack issues and hierarchy that dog’s naturally use you can more clearly understand the behaviors your dogs use towards each other.

Puppies learn pack behavior from their mothers and littermates and even interactions with the father or other male dogs in the pack. Males are dominant in pack societies, and the most dominant dog is considered to the alpha dog, however females can also be the pack leaders. Other dogs, both male and female, will have their own position in the pack and will constantly test each other to move up and down in standing in the pack. In wild packs the most dominant dogs eat first, use the natural resources available first, and have the greatest likelihood of surviving to reproduce.

Pack Mentality

In domesticated dogs the basic instincts for pack behavior still exist. Males will compete with other intact males for the right to reproduce, even when females are not present. Intact females will also compete for their place, as the dominant female that would, in the wild, be the first to breed with the dominant male. Neutering and spaying domestic dogs reduces this need to prove dominance for breeding purposes and can eliminate most of the competition and fighting for this issue.

Both male and female dogs, even in domestic situations, will also naturally compete for resources such as food, dog bedding, and even who gets to stay in the doghouse or play with the favorite toy. This mentality is inherent and there is little that can be done to curb some of the minor squabbling and fighting that will occur for these resources. In most households with more than one dog the intact dog, either male or female, will be the dominant. With two intact dogs the male is usually dominant, unless the female is an aggressive breed and the male is of a more docile breed. A neutered or spayed dog is almost always subordinate to an intact male or female, and the younger the dog the more subordinate they will be to the older dogs. Senior dogs will be treated as less dominant than younger dogs in their prime years, whether they are neutered or not.

Most domestic dogs, unless they are from an aggressive breed, will use growling, strutting, and shows of teeth to establish their position in the pack. Minor disagreements or testing may be seen with barking, some fighting type behavior and mild to moderate level aggression. To minimize this consider the following:

• Always feed the dominant dog away from the subordinate animals.


• Never call the subordinate dog forward for a treat or special attention when the dominant dog is present. The subordinate dog is likely to be non-compliant as they are aware that following your instructions is breaking the pack hierarchy. This will work when all the dogs see you as the pack leader, but will not if they do not recognize you as the leader.


• Introduce new dogs to the group slowly and monitor their interactions. If you are concerned about aggression then minimize contact.


• Neuter and spay dogs as soon as possible to eliminate a lot of the aggressive and dominant behavior.


• Never house two or more intact males or two or more intact females together when breeding.


• Understand the level of aggression of the breeds and try to pair a neutered male or spayed female with a less aggressive neutered or spayed dog.


• Avoid pairing a very large and a very small breed together, especially if the small dog is aggressive or possessive.

Always monitor multiple dog groups to ensure that the dogs are calm and interacting together appropriately.