I finally got round to watching it.... it's a great video, and I've been hankering after something like like this for ages, because I have alays wondered at the efficacy of this manouvure - does it work, and if so WHY, and if it works for dogs does that mean it will work for us too?
IMO the main puppy disciplining was happening throughout most of the video. The pups were being bratty about the pumpkin, so she took it away. It doesn't look like play behaviour to me. Looks like an act of "dominance" to me - the message is pretty clear, even if you are blind, deaf and dumb. "This resource is MINE." Virtually all done without overt confrontation, physicality, aggression... in fact she is so calm as to be nonchalant about it. If we can take anything away from dog-dog interactions, anything to emulate, THIS is the part that is most relevant, and easiest and safest to copy. This is gold, IMO.
I have heard of two main definitions of an alpha roll. One is a scary display with the dog being flung on his back and held down by his neck and kept there until it's considered he has "submitted". The other is a less overtly scary, just placing the dog on his back and pinning him like that, with the hands replicating the dogs mouth and paw, until he "submits", or until he lies calm and still. (Many dogs find being held down intrinsically frightening on it its own.)
This pin was definitely more similar to the second of those definitions than the first, but still not the same. Cleo just looked fed up of being bitten and the less physical message hadn't worked on RC. So she warned her with her eyes and lips first, and then when RC still didn't listen, Cleo plonked a paw on her to prevent herself being bitten anymore. RC was more on her side than her back, she wasn't being pinned around the neck area and the pin round her back end didn't seem very firm. It looks haphazard to me - almost more like an soft embrace than a pin - like if RC really wiggled, she would come free. Is that what happened, or was she released? If Cleo REALLY wanted to hold her down, she could, being so much bigger and heavier, she didn't seem very serious about it. Does Cleo nip her at this point? Or give her a wash? RC doesn't seem to be "calm" or "submitting" before she is released (or manages to wriggle free). She is still wriggling and yapping just moments beforehand.
It would also be interesting to know whether RC has repeated any similar behaviour since the episode. That would tell me whether this manouvure (sp?) is valuable as a punishment (ie, to rehab the dog so that the behaviour is not repeated) or whether it is only any use as a temporary measure, to stop a puppy from sinking their teeth into you in that moment.
In any case, this part of the video is complex and hard to replicate. We can't even agree here on what we are seeing. The facial expressions that precede it are hugely important, I think, and not easy for most people to replicate. Yet I feel they are intrinsic to the whole.
The rest is so haphazard as to be winged on the spot, and rather than being held down with her mouth, most of the pinning is happening with (fairly relaxed) paws, while the mouth is busy doing other things (licking?). Would we WANT to replicate that I wonder - hold a dog down with both hands and lick them all over? I'll be honest, it sort of reminded me of Will and DH playing, when Will goes a smidge too far and DH says "Oi! you little...." [cross] (the eyes and lips) and then "aw come 'ere you little rascal" [tickling follows] (the "pin" and the licking).
The main difference tho, is that the "alpha roll" I have heard described (both definitions) tend to be performed on older dogs, not puppies that are merely weeks old. Is the move even appropriate beyond a certain age? Would Cleo do this to an adult dog - has she ever done it with the adult beagles in the house? This part is crucial IMO.
"Give a man a fire and he is warm for a day, but set fire to him and he is warm for the rest of his life." - Pratchett, "Jingo"
