You know how you sometimes get goosebumps when you experience certain feelings such as fear, anger, or excitement? Hackles work in the same way. In other words, raised hackles are an involuntary response brought on by some type of adrenaline rush. Hackles are important because they act as a defense mechanism.
When your dog raises its hackles, he or she is able to appear larger, taller, and more intimidating Farricelli, Think of it like a puffer fish or a porcupine.
He was overly exuberant in his greetings, and oftentimes this put other dogs off from wanting to meet him. Many dogs displaying this kind of behavior have raised hackles while the rest of their body suggests play: fast horizontal tail wagging, forward ears, even barking and lunging on the leash in excitement.
This combination of raised hackles and body behavior signals aggression from the dog. If a dog is highly aroused, the hair can stand up from their neck all the way to the tip of their tail, as shown in the predatory stalking image below.
However, there is no consistent pattern that correlates the amount of hair raised and where to a particular behavior. Each dog and each situation are different.
You could turn a fearful or shy dog into an aggressive one because of how you respond. The best way to handle a dog with raised hackles is to redirect his attention until you can better understand the triggers and see a pattern.
If the reaction persists and escalates, consult a behaviorist who can help you help your dog feel less of whatever triggers them. Jill Breitner is a professional dog trainer and dog body language expert. She is the author of the Dog Decoder , a smartphone app about dog body language. Join Jill on her on her Facebook page. What a great kitty feline!!! Thanks for another great post. Where else could anybody get that type of information in such a perfect way of writing?
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Wonderful site. Lots of useful info here. And of course, thanks for your effort! By having the hairs along their neck and back stand up, dogs appear taller and bigger to whatever threat they are reacting to. Dog hackles are more of a visual cue to their trigger that they are big, dominant, and ready to defend themselves if necessary. Although rare, there have been a few reports of dog hackles being raised when they are not stimulated by an outside trigger.
Sometimes dog hackles can be raised during times of play. Overstimulation, excitement, and surprise can cause piloerection. When new dogs are introduced to each other, or a dog is in a new environment, some pups will have their hackles raised. They want to appear bigger and tougher, just in case they need to defend or fight for their territory. Most of the time, once the sniffing and introductions have been made, the dog will relax and therefore their nervous system will, too.
The arrector pili muscles will relax, and the hair will go back to their normal position. I associate this pattern of piloerection with low confidence, and I often find that these dogs are somewhat fearful. The most confusing pattern is when a patch of hair is raised at the shoulders and another is raised at the base of the tail but the hair in between the two is not raised.
This pattern of piloerection often occurs in dogs who are in an ambivalent emotional state and feeling conflicted. Many of the dogs who show this pattern are somewhat unpredictable in their behavior and are inclined to be more reactive than other dogs.
Of course, there are many exceptions, but these generalizations apply to the majority of dogs that I see. What have you noticed about your dog when they raise their hackles?
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