I have Niko who is over 4 months old and Lana who is just 8 wks, and she thinks shes the boss. She won't back down to Niko and she gets viscous (growling/snapping) when he tries to pin her. Is this normal?

I would also be curious to hear this . Nike is 9 weeks and the lab is 2 years old. If the lab has a bone or toy nike will run up to her and bite and chew on her back ear, jaw, head. The lab doesnt do anything for awhile, after having her eat chewed on she will swat nike off or something, but is this normal for nike to be howling and barking at the lab like shes the alpha?

Huskies are extremely pack oriented by nature. Just because they aren't your alpha doesn't mean they don't have dominance over another part of the pack. It works like a hierarchy.

I live in a household with 5 dogs (4 of them belonging to my roommates). other than the top dog Marco, who is a 120lb. GSD/mix, and Diesel (Black lab built like a brick s*** house), the other three dogs show displays of dominance over each other every day. Keeonah, Iris (5.5 mth female German Shep) and axel, a chihuahua(HATE him) assert their dominance, testing to see where they fit in in the pack. Eventually it will sort itself out, just as in nature. However, unwanted behavior is still unwanted behavior, and should be curbed through steady, consistent training.

I think it's normal. The puppy is still learning the rules of canine behaviour, everything is a game to it and it wants lots of attention. When Nike is howling and barking she probably just wants attention ('play with me! I wanna play!').

Usually adult dogs will make allowances for puppies and let them get away with a few things, but then when they've had enough they'll let the puppy know. It's just part of the puppy learning how to behave. The four-month old is still a puppy too, of course, but further ahead in development.

You can shape their behaviour by praising/rewarding good behaviour and intervening or distracting them if things get too rough.