Dog's Best Friend

I know they say dogs are man's best friend but I'm starting to think it's the other way around. I provide him with food, shelter, play, exercise, affection, baths, toys, etc. His existence is bound to my own. So I think technically he's getting the better end of this friendship. I can always go play with my human friends or sit on the couch and pet my girlfriend, but he needs his best friend to live.

Over the last year my dog Spartacus has become very skiddish and lacks confidence. Since he was a puppy he was the alpha dog and I was his pack leader. He spent some time at my parents home with other dogs but was always confident, social, and friendly. I moved to LA after college graduation in 2007 and lived in a big house with 2 other dogs. Spartacus was no longer the alpha dog and because I was working full time (for the first time in his life) he lost full sense of who his pack leader was. Was it the older male dog that beat him up? Was it those dogs' owner? Was it other roomates that scolded him? I believe this caused massive confusion and after a few months living there he began major submissive behavoir towards me.

I would walk through the front door after work and he'd shake and pee when I touched him. I coax him into coming to my bedroom to sleep and he'd tuck his ears back, roll on his back and pee on himself in complete submission. I felt horrible because Spartacus seemed traumatized and as his owner, I had failed on some level.

We finally moved out of that house and live on the beach. Spartacus spends his days gazing upon the Pacific and bird watching. He is the only dog and its very clear I'm his pack leader. He seldom socializes with other dogs and when strangers come by, he gets very spooked when they reach to pet him. He panics as if they are grabbing his collar and he warns them with a snap, a snap out of self defense but otherwise a liability and anti-social behavior.

I'm his best friend, and he is mine and I will do whatever I can to build his confidence and make him confortable. Off to the dog park!