How to tell dog pecking order?

In nature, there are three positions in the dog pack - front, middle, and back - and each dog will gravitate to its natural place based on relative dominance, with the pack leaders always in front. Each position has its own function within the pack as they work together to survive. The dogs in front provide direction and protection to the pack. If you have more than one dog, you have to let them figure out the pack order amongst themselves. A dog's position in the pack is hardwired into him. If you try to treat that back-of-the-pack dog as having a higher position than a middle-of-the-pack dog, you can create anxiety and instability in the dog with a lower position and aggression in the dog with a higher position. The dogs in the rear are primarily concerned with alerting to danger approaching from behind, and their function is to warn the rest of the pack. The dogs in the middle are mediators, communicating between the rear and the front. Every function is important. Without the dogs in the front, the dogs at the rear don't know where they're going. Without the dogs in the back, the dogs up front are not aware of any problems coming up from behind. And without the dogs in the middle to relay messages, the front and back of the pack are isolated from each other.

Dogs should defer to their owners, including the alpha dog. Assuming that your dog or dogs are properly socialised, trained and well managed, regardless of how many dogs you have or how dominant the boss dog is, they should all defer to the adult humans as higher in the pecking order than all of the dogs. Dogs place their human owners in their own pecking order, whilst your dog or dogs should see all of the adult family members as higher in the pecking order than themselves, they will also naturally place the human family members into a seniority order, whether you realise this or not. Your dogs will see one of the adults as the ultimate alpha, and will see one as the top of the tree, and the other humans below them as well. You might notice this if there is ever a situation in which two human family members give conflicting commands or signals – or fall out – the dogs will look to, congregate with, or even take a defensive stance in favour of one of them in particular, as that is to them the human alpha. Your dogs might also follow commands first time with the person they view as the alpha human, but be a little less responsive to the others. Your dogs might see your children as below them in the pecking order. This is unavoidable in certain situations, such as if said children are very young or immature. A dog that sees themselves as senior to your children is more likely to be very protective over them than they are to be poorly mannered with them, with the exception being potentially if your child disrespects your dog unwittingly or deliberately, in which case said dog will likely put them in their place, or even growl or snap, like they would with a puppy. As soon as your child is old enough to begin to learn to read canine body language, and issue commands appropriately, you should begin working with them and your dog together to establish your now-older child as above the dog in the pecking order too.