You did great for the time you had and you seem to have a natural talent.
Dog body language is infinitely subtle and watching dogs interact is like watching a hairy ballet.
The “big dog” is the one who stands still, disregarding the subservient sniffs, chop licks and stares of the other ‘lesser’ dogs.
Poor Odin, the big galoot, is completely unnerved by little Gypsy’s blatant disregard of his existence.
Right now she’s out with the puppy teaching her good manners.
She stands in the middle of the room while the pup play bows and barks into her face incessantly, trying to get a reaction.
Then, almost imperceptibly, she’ll slightly shift her eyes or her head and the pup ~leaps~ away, head low and tail wagging in dutiful obeisance.
To us, the signal’s nearly invisible.
To dogs, it’s a huge, blinking red neon warning sign.
Everybody should spend a day or two in a dog park, watching the intricate power plays, mutual agreements and running ‘conversations’ dogs have.
It’s cool.
:)
Seriously, I’m surprised he hasn’t challenged her alpha-ship; but perhaps she cured him of that in his puppyhood.