Whose going to take that bone?

I bought my dog a chew bone today.  I thought this would be a win/win situation: he'd have some fun chewing it and I'd have some time to relax on my computer. 

Unfortunately this turned into a lose/lose situation.  He's apparently paranoid someone will take his bone.  Or at least he's acting paranoid by running around the apartment with the bone in his mouth whining and crying.  I've watched him try and bury the bone a few times but being unsatisfied retrieved it and dug it back up. 

I'm not sure who he's afraid of.  He's currently the only dog in the house and I gave him the bone.  Maybe he's remembering the times Mira bullied him out of his toy and is preemptively hiding it from her.

Eventually I helped him realize his fears by taking the bone away from him.  This turned out to be a win/win because I didn't have to listen to him whine anymore and losing the bone apparently was much better than being afraid of losing the bone because he immediately calmed down.

One minute later I gave it back and now he's happily devouring it on the floor in front of me. 

Who knows. 

Unnecessary use of Elevators

Please stop using the elevators to go up or down a single floor.  Especially when the stairs are next to the elevator.  It really slows down my 4 floor trip.  Thank You.

Part of the Pack

I often wonder how my dogs perceive me.  Am I their friend, master, playmate, pack member or some combination?  Recently I found a new way to analyze this through our pack relationship. 

Dogs work in packs.  According to many dog trainers, an owner should attempt to establish themselves as the clear alpha member of the family pack.  My wife and I take that approach, to greater and lesser success, with our dogs.  For the most part it works.  The dogs appear to consider us one pack and we do have constant struggles with Mira (the female) for dominance of the pack. 

The dogs though seem to treat people and dogs differently with respect to packs.  Whenever a person approaches us, Mira will happily jump up and show affection in hope that she can sneak in a quick lick or two.  However she often will react negatively to other dogs which seek to approach us. 

Why the difference?  Do my dogs view themselves as different than us?  Why are they afraid of new dogs but not new people?  Do they consider other people beneath themselves?