Although she will stop if corrected, she resumes the behavior within seconds. Pepper tolerates the chewing for an unbelievably long time and only rarely snaps at her. Sometimes, our dogs become so much a part of our families we forget the dynamics of both a canine and a human-canine pack shape their relationships with us and with each other. However, our dogs don't forget this because they need a stable pack structure in order to feel secure. Put another way, dogs establish packs with both leaders and followers to prevent fighting, not to promote it.
Dogs form dynamic pack structures, and some dogs want to be leaders more than others do.
Those who want to lead will mouth, or try to mouth, the muzzle and neck of the leader dog, place their front paws on that dog's shoulders, or even steal his food or toys to communicate this message. Although we commonly label these behaviors as dominant, they don't necessarily designate a leader animal nearly so much as label one who aspires to that position. The family store Some packs appear to function like old family businesses, with one dog maintaining the leadership position throughout his entire life and the second dog assuming that slot only when the first one dies. However, in these cases, the younger or more inexperienced animal most likely did challenge the leader in some way, was rebuffed in a manner the owner either missed or didn't notice, and then gave up. In other cases, such as Diele's, the second dog doesn't give up.