I did an experiment Nov 10- pups were 6 weeks old- to try to determine the pack dominance order of the pups at that stage by handing out a sanitized (roasted at 350* for 30 min) soup bone and gradually adding one pup at a time to the pack surrounding the bone. Here's my journal at that time:
I'm expecting there may still be some changes as they mature some more but it was still enlightening.
I figured Blue was top dog, and no surprises there, he is. But I wasn't prepared for Silver and Red to vie for 2nd place. I've seen Blue beat up on Silver with completely submissive body response from her, so I figured she might be lower in the pack, but she's 2nd to 3rd. And Red being such a soft dog towards new situations, I figured she'd be lower on the totem pole- closer to Peach's position, but she's pretty high up in the ranking (she is no longer very soft towards new situations. Even by 6.5 weeks she was significantly improved in confidence). She and Silver appear to be fairly evenly matched.
4th pup was Pink- that was a REALLY close race with Red/Silver. 5th pup was Green. Followed by Gold, then Peach.
I'll test them again close to 8 weeks to see if that changes. UPDATE:
So, I didn't have time to do another test when I had all 7 pups here. However, I did run a smaller test today on the remaining four pups. Surprisingly, Blue has dropped into third place in the hierarchy, with top dog going to Silver, followed by Red. The lowest on the totem pole remains Peach.