@Ann72 He had a marvelous life with you, I'm sure, and lived about as long as we expect dogs to, although of course it's a terribly sad day for you. And it's so great that he got to run around in the woods, rather than being one of those dogs that's cooped up in an apartment all day, only getting walked around the block a couple times a day.
My 70 pound dog (of unknown breed, as she just appeared at my house at the age of about 5 months, but probably a Jindo, or a white shepherd/ Akita cross) is an alpha female, and though she's calmed down a lot in her old age, she used to be terrible for terrorizing other females. She'd get them on their backs and stand over them with her teeth bared, and you expected to see blood and fur flying, but she never really hurt them and never bit- it was just a big show of dominance.
However, you should have seen her cower and slink away if she tried to pull that on a little toughie like your Ben Ben. Especially chihuahuas. All they have to do is yap ferociously at her and suddenly all her alpha-ness just evaporates and she goes " Okay, okay, I didn't mean anything by it, I'm outta here".