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Fighting with dominant males is a risky behavior that may result in defeat, injury or even death. In bighorn sheep, however, subordinates occasionally win a fight for a female, and they father 44% of the lambs born in the population. These sheep live in large flocks, and dominance hierarchies are often restructured each breeding season.
1) Punishing dogs has been associated with a strong likelihood of new or increased aggression and other behavior problems; 2) dominance in pet dogs is not a character trait of a dog but rather a power agreement between dogs regarding who has best access to particular resources; and 3) the behavior of dogs controlling access to resources is fluid, not static, depending on context.
For several days before estrus, a phase called proestrus, the female dog may show greater interest in male dogs and "flirt" with them (proceptive behavior). There is progressive vulval swelling and some bleeding. If males try to mount a female dog during proestrus, she may avoid mating by sitting down or turning round and growling or snapping.
Male mandrills sometimes fight for breeding rights which results in dominance. Though conflicts are rare, they can be deadly. Gaining dominance, that is becoming the alpha male, results in an "increased testicular volume, reddening of sexual skin on the face and genitalia, and heightened secretion of the sternal cutaneous gland". [13]
A dominant dog turning its head away from a submissive dog – a calming action, indicating that it is not going to attack. [1]: 120 A less dominant dog approaching a dominant dog with its head down, and only on occasion quickly pointing its muzzle towards the higher-status dog – shows no fight is intended. [1]: 120
And, particularly if you have friends, relatives, or neighbors with dogs themselves, your pooch might end up meeting them on a more regular basis. Like humans, some dogs are more sociable than others.
Although dogfighting is illegal in all 50 states, there are still tens of thousands of people involved in it, according to the ASPCA.
Any parent is dominant to its young offspring, so alpha adds no information. Why not refer to an alpha female as the female parent, the breeding female, the matriarch, or simply the mother? Such a designation emphasizes not the animal's dominant status, which is trivial information, but its role as pack progenitor, which is critical information.