Alpha Dog Gets Bumped to Beta Dog

We have a CRAZY dog who is rather neurotic most of the time. She is sweet as can be and she has loved Caleb since the day the met. They are the best of friends and I couldn't ask for more. I love Eowyn as one of my own...almost. She is a dog after all.

One of her quirks is how she is 13 pounds going on 100 pounds. She things she is top dog of the neighborhood and she makes sure everyone on the street knows that. She barks at anyone who comes by and I've even seen our UPS man (who calls her "The Monster" lovingly, of course) running to his truck because she was chasing him. She chases all creatures out of her yard and often stands guard when she is outside. Gotta keep the family safe.

Unfortunately, Eowyn is a bully too. She bullies the smaller dogs in our family when we all get together. It is frustrating for us and for everyone else too. We often wonder if we should just leave her with a babysitter when we leave town.

Well, there was a shift this past week. Our Alpha dog became a Beta dog.

I was in the front yard with Eowyn and Caleb at my sister's house, playing. We brought Eowyn's wireless fence with us so she wouldn't leave the yard. I didn't see how it started, but at one point I heard some awful dog-fighting sounds. I quickly turned and saw Eowyn in a terrible fight with the next door Golden Retriever. This Retriever is a good 3 to 4 times bigger than Eowyn and she had Eowyn down on the ground. Eowyn was being DOMINATED!! I felt safe enough to break up the fight and Eowyn was yelping like I've never heard her yelp. I thought she was either bleeding, something was broken, or scared out of her mind. It turned it was the latter.

I put Eowyn in her kennel to calm down for the rest of the afternoon and she just shook and shook. For an entire day I had to carry Eowyn outside to go potty because she wouldn't go out there on her own. She continued to have shaking spells.

I think the shaking spells are over now. She is so happy to be home and some of the barking has returned. One good thing about this incident is that she is definitely more cuddly now.

Chris and I hope this domination will teach Eowyn that she is not queen of the world and she will be more respectful of other dogs and people. Hmmmm. We'll see.