Settling the order of things

Well, it's been an interesting couple days. Dakota is getting it, when I tell her I want her to do something. She listens to me - No so much the rest of the house, though that's slowly improving, too. Dakota and Suka were outside together this evening, and Suka had her hackles up for a while, but calmed down, and consented to play nice. Unfortunately, Dakota discovered something yummy (a dug up maple root - We've been doing some landscaping), and drilled Suka a good one when she came to investigate. It's clear I screwed up, in not policing the yard for all things that might be yummy to a dog. I'm still learning Dakota's tastes in this regard. Suka wouldn't have cared at all, except that Dakota was carrying it about and chewing on it. Dakota started pacing, and looking for places to hide the root, until I removed it. Then Dakota calmed down right away. So - Lesson learned - Watch Dakota closely to determine which things she finds high value, and get them out of her reach, else she may become anxious, and display a hair trigger with other dogs. Mind you, she surrendered the root to me quite graciously.

Not a disaster, though, it seems. Suka's pouting, but has backed waaaay off, and is giving way. Looks like the heirarchy is settled. Dakota is still showing no signs of jealousy, and doesn't care that I give Suka attention.
Of course, she's got Jenn, so she's not exactly starved for affection.
:-p


Oh, and I brushed Dakota out - I got enough fur out of her with the rake to knit me a yorkie. And not a minature one, either! Next up - Trimming Suka's nails. She never likes that.
:-p


Edit:

I don't normally edit posts, except for information that I want people to see without having to go to the comments.

I was correct about the dominance issue being settled. I had the wrong order of things - I failed to observe closely enough. Suka was pouting alright, but that was, I now suspect, from the ouchies of getting drilled a good one by a big dog. On the other hand, her backing way off is due, it is now clear, to her having come out on top of the dominance discussion. She doesn't need to push any longer. How do I know this? Dakota submitted to Suka when Suka "teed off" on her in a clasic dominace display.

There is some negotiation still on-going, as Dakota will defend high value objects or food, so Suka clearly hasn't completely overawed her. Never the less, Suka follows Dakota closely about the yard, ruff up, overmarking all Dakota's 'spots' and Dakota submits to this. Dakota is also yielding right of way in the choke-points in the house, and in general has become a lot less vocal.

Conversely, Dakota is interacting with people more, and more confidently.

Also, starting with Jenn, and with some tinkering with the mix of food, the feeding issue is resolved. Dakota is now eating enough to make me happy with her intake.