My girl dogs are 12 yo, sisters. One has always been dominant, the other one is very timid and goes "oh, my gosh" all day long.
I take them for walks every day and have the leashes hanging by the gate. The newest thing Ms. Bossy does now, is to growl at the other one until she goes on the deck, so I put Bossy's leash on first. After that, Timid is allowed to come to the gate to get her leash on.
Is it ok that they have a "natural" order, or should I do something about it? I pride myself for being the alpha dog ....

At 12 yrs old, I guess they are pretty comfortable with the pecking order they've worked out for themselves. My concern is that this seems to be a new behavior, and it is aggressive. Since this can climb into other ugly behaviors, I would want it to stop. If you want to be in charge, you should be able to leash whomever you want whenever you want. It would really bother me to have my dog dictating that the other dog has to stay on the deck until SHE gives permission for her to join you.

I would address the growling, make Ms. Bossy lie down & stay down until she settles down, then leash Timid and then Bossy. Don't coo over Timid, just be business-like. If during the time you are leashing Timid the other starts up again, I would put her back down, and wait until it stops. It may take some time the first few times, but she'll get the idea quickly that she needs to knock it off.

Good luck!

Good advice from momshops. I would add that at this age there may be a physical reason for the grumpy one to be grumpy. She may have arthritis that is acting up, she may be getting senile and/or having other problems. If what momshops suggested, doesn't help, then I would take her to a vet and see if something else is going on.

Yep. At that age, I'd worry about what's making Bossy's behavior change. We have another thread on dog alzheimer's. You might want to read that.

First - thank you all for your in-put! It was very helpful.

My first dog died at 17 yo and I believe she had Alzheimer's. Her behavior changed drastically and she got quite unpredictable. I really don't think Bossy has that problem - she has always been bossy! She's just pushing Timid more and more. I watched The Dog Whisperer dealing with a similar problem and he said, that this is the way they treat omegas, and that it is this way, because dogs understand that. According to him, treating insecure dogs like insecure children is a big mistake. I will keep an eye on her and will take her to the dr. if things get weirder.