Who's Alpha Now?

I recently went on a road trip to Eastern Washington to visit Kimberly who is interested in turning her property into a workshop retreat center. Newly-minted Reiki Master Teacher Rhonda Hanley and my dog Puma were also part of the adventure.

Kimberly and all of her animals (cats, dogs, horses, donkey) welcomed us heartily. Puma had never really seen horses up close, and it was interesting to note that he attempted to communicate with them as though they were really big dogs, turning his body sideways so that they could sniff and wagging his tail to let them know he had friendly intentions. One of Kimberly's horses, Tulle, kept an eye on Puma throughout the visit. I think she was trying to figure out if he was part wolf (-:

Tulle has a dominating nature, she was trying to show him who was alpha as Puma is an alpha dog. Puma, bless his heart, ceded the field to what he considered a vastly larger being. His respect did not extend to staying out of the grazing area—while I was doing some Reiki and shamanic work with one of the horses Puma felt he needed to be part of the action (as he is in my healing practice) and perhaps protect me from the other large horses who were crowding around me wanting to be part of the action, too. This led to a somewhat tense moment as he ducked under the fence, and being on his leash could not easily get back to the safe side. I had to move quickly to get to him first; Tulle was clearly intent on teaching him whose pasture it was!