Mothering? Or Dominance?

[gizmoluvsme]

Maggie is our 11 month old female white boxer and Jakey is our 10 month old male fawn boxer. Im not really sure who is the dominant one as they tend to share that role. But Maggie does a really curious thing and Im not sure why.......whenever Jakey is lying down or if he is sitting on the floor, Maggie comes and has to sit right ON him! She doesnt try to distract him to play with her or try to take his toy away....she just feels the need to SIT on him! Anyone know why she may be doing this??? They are the best of friends and are LOST without each other. Im not sure if maybe that is her way of mothering Jakey or if she is showing dominance? One thing is for sure, they sure are a ball of laughs!!

 

[MYALI]

Maybe bonding? Does she sit on him like a couch or just trying to be close to him?

 

[samsons]

mind you this is just MHO , and i am looking forward to what others have to say also.

my 8 mo is trying to become top dog , since she is coming into her own. SAmmy , well he has a dif opinion of who that dog should be. ... well they get along great , play well , sleep with each other ( on terms ) ect. if sam is sleeping on the bed n the computer room , Kush is allowed to come snuggle up with him. if SHE is already on the bed , she will give him a little growl - or get up in a huff & leave for a dif bed. SO now sam will just sit on her !! like she is a couch ! he doesn't do it on that bed - but on the kitchen DB he will any chance he gets !

to me it seems more of a dominating or controle thing - he also has started trying to hump her when playing outside ( we have not seen this behavior since last winter from him, right after we rescued him )

i think its dominating ~ cant wait to hear from others !!

 

[jzaun]

I'm not sure what it is, but you really need to get a picture of that! It sounds pretty darn cute.
Julie
Mom to Betty, flashy fawn, cropped, docked

 

[MIboxermom]

My female sits on my two males all the time. Sometimes she wants what they have but there's usually no reason for it. I don't think it's a dominance thing. I think it's just a boxer thing!

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

It's not just a Boxer thing as I've seen other dogs do it and my GSD (the dominant one) does it to my Boxer frequently and my previous Boxer (who thought she was the dominant one) did it to people as well as other dogs. IMO it's a dominance deal.

 

[Furface]

Storm does this all the time to Devon too. mind you he always has done since he was a little puppy. I don't think it is dominance as Devon is very much the queen bee in our house..just the need for contact. They also sleep "spooning" each other....soo cute

 

[hurleygirl]

My female used to do it to my male all the time--she would sit right on his head. My female does have dominance problems. I think it's a dominance issue. She would really get in a huff when I would correct her. My male has since passed on. Also dominance issues include getting higher than the other one, i.e. laying on a footstool overlooking the other one. Also the female humping the male, etc.

 

[gizmoluvsme]

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for all of the replies and great ideas! Maggie has tried to hump Jake too and she does at times try to sit higher than he is so I think this probably is a dominance issue. One thing is for sure, they are both very much loved by their humans and have us wrapped around their little puppy paws!!

 

[ehayes21]

Please don't buy into the whole "dominance" BS. That is the problem with the construct of dominance...it lends itself so easily to misinterpretation. Dominance is not a behavior, nor is it a trait in a dog. A dominant dog is a dog who wins a contest for a resource. If there is no contest, or resource, then dominance does not exist.

Your dog sitting on your other dog is NOT dominance - both of your dogs are teenagers and they are going to try new behaviors and see how far they can get away with one another (and YOU) before there is a protest.

And please, yes, get a picture!