Denali – Head Rest or Squash

Denali is taking advantage of Grayson as a headrest although, some might interpret it as an active dominance behavior called a squash.  How do you tell the difference?  If it were a squash, it’s likely that Grayson would resist it and be posturing to get up, using his feet to push Denali away.  In this photo, you will notice that Grayson’s feet and tail are relaxed, showing no indication of a struggle.  Staff also witnessed Grayson serving as a resting spot for Aidan’s leg as he recovered after his surgery.  This might be the way that Grayson shows pack bonding.  It is a common behavior for pups to just flop down on one another while resting, this could just be the residual pup in Grayson and Denali as well. Denali continued to show food aggression towards Boltz and Grayson on the carcass with less guarding towards Axel.  This is in contrast to Aidan who seems to show more dominance towards Axel than Grayson.  Grayson had a bit more focus and chasing from Denali and Boltz while Aidan was not feeling well, but the pack seems to be returning to normal.  The yearlings even took advantage of Aidan’s presence and did a duel ride-up on Denali.