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Long story short, I had 5 dogs for about 5 years. Molly (oldest and one of the of the smallest)has always been the alpha in our pack. A few months ago we adopted two small female dogs from the spca. Now Mojo (one of the adopted girls - pom x) has decided to try to dominate my one very submissive little dog to the point where she nips at her now. I am wondering how to handle this and correct it. I cannot put them in the dog run together because Mojo will corner Haley and Haley starts to shake. They have never had a "dog fight" and today was the first time Mojo ever nipped at her and refused to listen to me when I told her no. (She has always listened in the past and walked away from Haley at that point).

Anytime pack dynamics change, the balance gets upset and these behaviors will occur.

In my house I don't tolerate bullying, but I also am not 1005 sure who started the problem in the first place- sometimes the one reacting isn't the one who started it (kind of liek the kids who fight in the back of a car on a long trip). I tend to seperate dogs from each other at the first sign of trouble. All get to cool down and then earn new free time. Most mellow gets let out first and then slowly add back in. If problems occur again, lock down happens again. Play nice or don't play at all.

This takes work. I've never had it not work out in the end, but I know it can happen.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

thank you for your advice. I know it is going to take work - Mojo doesn't bully all the time but they had another go at it yesterday. I know if Haley would just stand up for herself once it would all stop! but she won't. if Mojo even shows signs of bullying i calmly tell her stop and i pick her up and put her in the dog run for a few minutes. then when she calms down we try it again. like i said she doesn't do it all the time and Mojo doesn't try it with any other dogs and I am sure it is because Haley demonstrates such strong submissive behavior. I will definitely keep working on it. isn't it amazing that alot of people would just give the dog back to the spca at the first signs of trouble just so they don't have to deal with it! of course mine are like kids and once you have them - you keep them for life! take care

It just takes some time and patience. You are doing it right, sometimes they can be a bit stubborn about getting the clear message. It really sounds like they'll work it out.

ENjoy them both- they sound liek a good team when once they learn to channel that energy towards good and not evil.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles