At this young age, I don't believe you're going to see much "alphaness" in your pup! I'm not saying your pup's not an alpha, personally, I think it's too soon to tell. Confident? Over the top? Hyper? Active? Demanding? Sure ... all of these, and all of these can be normal, depending on the line of your dog. l
My last dog was an alpha female, and she was a thing of beauty to watch interact with other dogs. BUT, she wasn't like that as a puppy ... she was just that as a puppy - a ball of fur, four long legs and tail and floppy ears. By the time she was two and a half (socially / mentally mature) her "alphaness" blossomed.
A true "alpha" (I personally prefer the term leader) never shows aggression EVER, towards another dog. Abby used to mediate dogs at the dog park. She'd simply stand there and watch them play, and if she noticed that the "level" was getting a bit too much, she'd simply walk over and insert herself between the two dogs. No growling, no lip curl, nothing but her physical presence. Guess what ... the dogs calmed down INSTANTLY.
Here's another story about "a true alpha" ... it's a long one ...
I got an email from a friend who needed help with her dog, Olive. She adopted Olive from the Humane Society and was told that Olive was 3 years old, and a rottie-mix. I went over to her house and met her dog - such a great dog, lots of fun and full of life.
A couple of weeks later I get an email – Olive had turned into a terror at the off leash dog park. Apparently, she was “attacking” the other dogs. Most people were helpful, but after repeated “attacks” she was asked to keep her dog away from their dogs.
After consulting with my roommate (at the time), we agreed to have Olive come by and see what the hoopla was all about. When I met Olive, I had certainly not witnessed any displays of aggression or dominance … however, I hadn’t seen her interact with other dogs.
We were also babysitting another dog, so we kept the other dogs in the house and gave Olive about 10 minutes to scope out the backyard and learn who lived there. I have to admit, I was hesitant to have Abby meet her first … if Olive really did attack, I wasn’t sure what would transpire between her and Abby. The last thing I wanted was a REAL dog fight and not some snapping of jaws and growling. My friend had to leave to run some errands, so off she went while my roommate and I prepared for introductions.
We decided to let the big goofy Bernese come out first. As soon as Jo came out, Olive came running up **** bent for leather and jumped right in his face. Jo backed up a bit, let out a low growl and moved away. Undeterred, Olive continued her overenthusiastic jumping and pouncing greeting. Jo NEVER growls. This dog has the patience of a saint, and the most relaxed temperament I have ever seen on ANY dog. Every time Olive jumped in his face, he growled, and backed off. When she pounced on him, he growled and moved away. After about 5-7 minutes, she got the hint and started playing with him in normal “doggie fashion.” Play bows, barking, running in circles, and simply having fun. Fifteen minutes later her interest waned, and she started checking out the yard again.
Now it was time for Abby to come out and greet the newcomer. At this stage, I wasn’t worried about Olive being aggressive (she is so NOT aggressive!) however, I was concerned that if she greeted Abby in the same fashion, she might not understand the correction that Abby would make. I needn’t have worried at all. We let Abby out and Olive came running up 90 miles an hour, to see the new dog. As soon as she was within about a foot of Abby’s presence, she dropped and rolled on her back!
Oh yeah, this is one AGGRESSIVE ROTTIE … hold back your dogs people …Olive’s going to eat you!!! Needless to say my roommate and I were stunned. Abby stood beside Olive and let Olive smell her. Then Abby nudged Olive to stand up (which she did) and then Abby proceeded to sniff her. They had a wonderful, slow and CALM “get to know each other” session. It was the most beautiful event to watch.
We let the three dogs run around and play for about 15 minutes before we brought out the next dog, and then the next one. For about 45 minutes the five dogs had an absolute field day.
Olive displayed NO aggression at all … what we did learn was that Olive was a SOCIAL MORON … she simply had NO CLUE how to meet and greet other dogs. And when she came face-to-face with a balanced and well socialized alpha, she knew exactly what to do.
Then we decided to let out the last dog (he was the last one because he displays some inappropriate behaviours – growling, lip curling, attempting to dominate other dogs. He is very respectful of Abby – she’s corrected him in the past, but we weren’t sure how he’d react with Olive.)
It did not go well, at all. My roommate called Olive over and we let out the last dog. He ran around sniffing the other dogs, and then we let Olive go. They came up to each other, it was just the two of them within a 3-4 foot radius and I see his lip curl, and BAM he’s on her. On the plus side, he weighs about 12 pounds … on the even bigger plus side … Abby came flying over to help my roommate and I. She did a great job … we got the little dog out of the way and Abby went over to Olive and stood beside her.
We waited about 5 minutes, and then let them go again. NOPE. As soon as the little dog came near Olive, he went after her like a bat out of ****. Same result. Thank you again to Abby for helping us out!
We decided to try it one more time. It didn’t work. He went after her harder than he had the first two times. This time, all the dogs were hyped up. It took about 15 seconds to get the other dogs out of the way, (thankfully, they are trained, and do listen!) while Abby was busy getting the little dog under control. She was herding him out of our way, and away from Olive.
Poor Olive was in shock … she had no idea what she’d done wrong (nothing) and was sitting on the ground shaking, head hung low, ears down, and eyes downcast. We knew we needed to get her out of the state as soon as possible.
We put the little dog back in the house, and then we watched a miracle unfold.
Abby went up to Olive and licked her ear (we found out after that she’d got her ear caught in a dog’s mouth – just a little scratch, nothing serious). Then Abby licked under her chin, Olive’s head rose up. Abby then circled around Olive, giving her lots of “licks” around her ears, her snout, and under her chin. Olive stood up and started walking, Abby walked beside her. Abby’s tail started to wag, and she was still “encouraging” Olive to move with her. Suddenly, Olive’s stubby tail starts a slow wag, and then over the course of the next 30 seconds, her whole body position changes. Her tail starts to wag faster and faster, her head comes up, neck is up, ears perk up, and she’s now PRANCING around the backyard. The other two dogs come over to see what is happening and WHAMO, Jo, the big Berner gets her going, and they are off.
While I was watching this miracle unfold, I had tears in my eyes. My roommate and I both knew that Olive needed to be reassured that she hadn’t done anything wrong, before we had a chance to move in and get her moving, Abby did what she was born to do … lead, guide, heal, teach, interrupt, encourage and love.
So that's my definition of alpha, leader of dogs, whatever you want to call it. Your puppy could very well be an alpha, but like I said earlier, I think it is way too soon to even think about those types of behaviours coming from your puppy! He's got some growing and maturing to do first!!!
It's also very important for people to recognize the difference between a dog that's a born "alpha / leader" and a dog that is a dominant PITA ... a lot of people (I'm not aiming this at you, OP, just a general comment) think that ANY dominant dog is an alpha ... this is so not true, and can certainly lead to the owners letting the dog get away with bloody murder b/c they think their dog is a leader.
On a final note, your puppy is freaking adorable!!!! I love that first pic with him half off the ground!