What It Means to Lead the Pack

The other day I was talking to Jeff about what it takes to manage our pack of dogs here at home – I do a lot of my work from my home office so I am here with them a lot of the time. Those of you who’ve followed our story know that we adopted Stryker back in the beginning of Covid. He’s a big boy at 140 pounds and he came to us nervous and without much confidence (which could be a dangerous combination in any dog, let alone a giant breed). Our other two dogs have been with us since puppies – they are now 8 and 12.

Lexi, our 8 year old shepherd/newfie mix, is confident as all get out, and will jump right into a conflict if one were to arise. It doesn’t happen often, but she’s willing to fight if it’s there. Ellie is our 12 year old bullmastiff and she is losing some of her hearing and possibly seeing, therefore she can sometimes not have the best social skills. So – to combine that with a giant dog who gets possessive over his toys, sticks, the water bowl, etc, and then another dog that will jump into a fight just because – it is constant management on my part to keep my pack balanced and happy! And I want to add – they really are a happy pack of dogs. They get along just fine because of the stage we have set for them. But it's important to remember that they are still animals with instincts and safety is always on my radar.

So back to Jeff – I was telling him how sometimes it just feels like all I’m doing is monitoring our dogs at times. I want to make sure they are all happy and have time to play. I want them all to feel safe. I want them to all get along and I want to minimize stressful moments for them. This means I am constantly monitoring the room – are there toys that accidentally got out of Stryker’s crate? Is there food that the kids spilled on the ground that could cause a fight? Is Ellie unknowingly in Stryker’s space but not realizing it because she can’t hear his warning signals? Was I supposed to get a delivery today? What time does Fed Ex usually come… It goes on and on. And then Jeff said something to me that made it all so clear. He said, “That stress that you’re feeling is exactly what our dogs would feel if you didn’t take on this role for them.”

Whoa.

My mind was blown. I mean, of course that makes complete sense. But it had never been said quite like that to me. My role day in and day out as the leader of the pack has minimized the stress my dogs would otherwise feel. That’s a dang good feeling. So yes, sometimes it is a lot! Sometimes it gets overwhelming. But my dogs are happy and healthy – always getting a clean bill of health at the vets – their personalities are always coming out in goofy ways – and they sleep soundly at night. There is nothing better than that and it’s absolutely worth the hypervigilance and extra monitoring that goes into ensuring a good life for my 3 pack of pups! 

Leading the way for our dogs really is the best gift we can give them!