Hello all:

I have tried to find a similiar situation by searching Google before
posting, but have not, so please forgive me if this has been asked and
answered before.

My wife and I have adopted a pair of pound-puppies, which were found in
a dumpster by the local animal rescue society. We got them at about 10
weeks of age, we estimate. The dogs are mixed-breed, brother and
sister. The vet says they'll probably reach about 70 lbs.

We keep them indoors and are doing crate training, using the book "Good
Owners, Great Dogs" as our reference. The dogs are happy and healthy
and shooting up like weeds, about 4 1/2 months old now. They're
curious and intelligent and very loving - we are obviously enamored of
them!

However, the girl pup, Molly, has an interesting behavior that we're
not sure what to do about. At feeding time, she will glare at Milo from
across the room if he dares to eat at the same time she does. If he
notices her glaring, he will move away from the food bowl until she is
done eating (we have two food bowls, and they are across the room from
each other). If he fails to notice her glaring at him, she will trot
over and give him a cuff or bite him or growl at him. Sometimes he
will take a mouthful of food and retreat from the room with it, and
then sneak back in when he's done eating that mouthful for another.

It does not matter that there are two bowls - Mollie wants to control
both of them. Neither dog has any problem with my wife and I - we can
mess with their food bowls while they are eating, take the bowls away,
pet them while they are eating, etc - no signs of aggression or
growling or resentment.

The only other time we see this type of behavior is when we give them
'chewbles' type treats. They both like to go to their shared crate to
eat them - but sometimes she will take his chewble away and sit on it,
then eat hers.

He is a bit larger and much stronger than she is, but it is obvious
that she dominates him. When they play-fight and wrassle in the back
yard, he gets the better of her pretty often - but when she tops, he
submits and when he tops, she keeps fighting.

Well, that's about it - as I said, they're pretty good dogs. I'm not
sure what to do about this behavior - maybe it is just natural and
should be tolerated? If not, I am unsure how to 'break' Mollie of this
behavior.

I appreciate any advice you can give us!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks