Does stress or excitement ever cause the hair on your arm, neck, or head to rise uncontrollably? Dogs refer to it as “hackles,” whereas humans refer to it as “goosebumps.” Piloerection is the medical word used to describe this condition in dogs. Although hair cannot speak, it can convey a dog’s emotional state. It is a dog’s method of expressing his emotions. Humans, cats, rodents, and birds all exhibit the same response. This serves as protection for porcupines by deterring predators.
A dog’s hackles extend from the base of its tail to the neck, backbone, and shoulder. All dogs have hackles, but some breeds make them more noticeable than others. Breeds with longer, fluffier hair make it harder to see hackling, whereas breeds with short hair tend to make it easier to see piloerection.
Why does a dog furrow its brow? It is caused physically by an adrenaline rush. It can be brought on psychologically by excitement, fear, curiosity, or arousal. If a hunting dog detects its prey, its hackles may rise. A canine partner may perceive threat from an unfamiliar or foreign dog. A male in good health may notice a female in heat. A dog’s hackles may increase in response to fireworks or lightning. Your dog could be so thrilled that its hackles increase when you get home after a long day away.
A dog’s raised hackles often give him a taller, bigger, and more frightening appearance. This is a “fight or flight” reaction brought on by fear, designed to frighten off predators. A dog, though, may tense up for reasons other than aggression. Nobody is more familiar with your dog’s reactions than you are. As a responsible dog owner, it is your responsibility to understand your dog’s body language when its hackles are raised.
Take note of its tail, eyes, ears, and body posture in addition to his hackles. He can be feeling tense and hostile if he is standing erect. Observe his tail. Is his tail curled up in aggressiveness, tucked under in fear, or wagging with excitement? Is your dog playing with himself or does he appear to be about to lunge? His ears can also convey his emotions because they might be relaxed, flat, up, or in the back position. Is his expression calm or is he gritting his teeth or growling?
You need to be aware but not tense when your dog starts to get nervous. Your dog may be acting aggressively because he is scared and wants you to reassure him. Take him away from the incident and bring him to a peaceful location.
Always be conscious of your surroundings and how your dog is behaving when you are out walking your dog. If he becomes nervous, find out what is going on in the area. Try to divert him if something is worrying him.
Note: The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a breed of dog that has permanently raised hair on its back. Raised hackles should not be confused with this. It is merely a characteristic of this breed of dog.
Does a dog with high hackles tend to be aggressive?
Many pet parents are perplexed by raised hackles, the fur on a dog’s back and neck. They might see them as an aggressive gesture, but that’s not always the case. Since they are an uncontrollable reflex brought on by something that aroused the dog, raised hackles are not considered behaviors. The reaction is known by the medical term piloerection (pilo referring to “hair in medical terms).
Raised hackles may indicate fear, anxiety, agitation, jitteriness, or even rage. If your dog develops elevated hackles, you must examine otherbody language and the surrounding circumstances to determine what is going on. Then, you’ll be able to decide how to reply.
Raised hackles as anxiety
Every time a new dog entered the room, my German Shepherd dog, Ginger, used to show elevated hackles. When she was 7 months old, I saved her. She wasn’t properly socialized because when she was a puppy, she got parvovirus and needed to be isolated from other dogs until she was well. She was past the crucial stage of puppy socialization when she was finally healthy enough to interact with other puppies, which is why I had to rescue her. She was also uncontrollable on the leash.
She experienced a lot of nervousness while meeting new canines, which as an adult showed as heightened hackles. Her other body parts all gave forth reassuring signals: a paw lift, a low horizontal tail wag, and squinty eyes. The good news is that I was able to interpret her behavior, and the better news is that the dogs we met were also able to interpret her body language: she was tense but amiable and eager to greet. This screenshot from my Dog Decoder app exactly captures Ginger’s current condition.
Within the first 60 seconds of meeting a new dog, Ginger overcame her initial apprehension and became the friendliest pup who enjoyed playing rough and tumble with the best of them. Her continued lack of socialization would have made her more uneasy and even violent, when that wasn’t what she originally intended, if I hadn’t understood her increased hackles and body language and seen it as aggressiveness that called for her to be removed from the environment.
Raised hackles as excitement
When he encountered another dog, Jack, another puppy I’ve worked with in the past, would likewise exhibit increased hackles, but for a different reason. His excitement was unbridled and pure, and he was constantly itching to play. He frequently turned off other dogs from wanting to meet him because of his too enthusiastic greetings.
Many dogs who engage in this type of behavior have heightened hackles, even when the rest of their body language signals play: a fast horizontal tail wag, ears facing forward, even barking and leash lunging. Due to the heightened hackles, some people could interpret this as hostile behavior as well, but for Jack in this circumstance, it wasn’t at all.
Raised hackles as aggression
The left dog is seen in the next image with slightly raised hackles at the shoulders and at the top of its back, as well as ears back and down, hard eyes, a high tail, a wide open mouth with teeth showing, and a more stiffly posed body. Raised hackles and aggressive body language are signs of canine hostility.
Raised hackles as predatory
As seen in the predatory stalking image below, when a dog gets extremely excited, their hair may stand up from the base of their neck all the way to the tip of their tail. However, there is no regular pattern connecting the location and amount of lifted hair to a certain action. Every dog and every circumstance are unique.
The bottom line on raised hackles
It’s crucial to understand your dog’s full body language and to analyze the situation if there are raised hackles. If you don’t, a problem can arise where none previously existed. Your response could cause a timid or nervous dog to become violent.
The best strategy to treat a dog that is acting aggressively is to divert his focus while you try to identify the triggers and discover a pattern. Consult a behaviorist who can assist you in helping your dog feel less of whatever is triggering them if the reaction continues and worsens.
To ensure that our dogs live emotionally fulfilling and healthy lives, it is essential to comprehend your dog’s body language.
What canine breeds cause raised hairs?
You’ve probably noticed that when your body releases a burst of adrenaline in response to emotions like fear, rage, insecurity, or even joy, goosebumps automatically appear on your skin. The identical phenomenon occurs in your dog when he raises his hackles or experiences piloerection. The sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system transmits nerve energy to the arrector pili, which are particular muscles under your dog’s skin related to his hair follicles. In essence, the feelings he experiences cause his adrenaline to cause a “fight or flight” response in his body. The similar response occurs in cats, rats, birds, and even humans, among other species. To protect themselves and deter potential predators, porcupines rely on this autonomic reaction. When this happens to dogs, it traps air between the hair shafts, fluffs him up, and gives the impression that he is bigger. All breeds exhibit this typical response to spikes in adrenaline, however in some breeds it is more obvious than in others. While animals with rigid and short coats tend to more visibly display their piloerection, breeds with longer and fluffier hair do not as readily exhibit hackling.
Breeds with longer hair exhibit shoulder hacking more visibly, while other breeds, like Poodles, frequently experience piloerections without anyone knowing. One breed, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, has elevated hackles that are a feature of his breed rather than an ongoing piloerection that is permanently visible. Many people believe that “hackling” is an indication of aggression and that any dog that has its hackles up is actively seeking a fight. In actuality, dogs that are spitting up their hackles are more likely to be startled, afraid, insecure, tense, or even aroused. When hunting dogs are hyper-focused and pointing at a raptor, they frequently raise their hackles. It’s important to understand that a variety of emotions can cause a piloerection, and that working through these emotions with your dog is crucial to having him properly socialized.
What causes the hair to stand up on dogs?
Dogs’ hair stands on end as a result of muscles in their skin being attached to their hair follicles. This is an uncontrollable behavior that arises when a dog’s senses are activated, typically by something that makes them feel threatened or afraid.
Do dogs’ hackles rise when they play?
As a reflexive reaction to what is going on around them, dogs raise their hackles. As your dog cannot control the response, this behavior is not actually learned, but it does give dogs more methods to communicate. The dog becomes roused by emotions like fear or enthusiasm and develops elevated hackles. The dog has hackles all the way down his back, across his shoulders, and to the end of his tail. Dogs do react to perceived threat in different ways, therefore in certain circumstances, your dog may raise some or all of his hackles. You will gain a better understanding of the issue by observing your dog’s body language and the display of hackles. First off, although there may be an aggressive occurrence, rage or a threat of an attack are not the main causes of elevated hackles. Hackles can display a variety of emotions, including fear, enthusiasm, joy, mistrust, dominance, and even occasional predatory behavior. Your dog’s tendency to flee or fight is associated with raised hackles. The two F factors of fiddle or freeze have been added to the raising of hackles. Hackles cause the dog’s body to generate hormones like cortisol and adrenalin, which give the dog an energy boost. The dog’s back hair is raised and lifted by the arrector pili muscles that lie between hair follicles. Dogs used to need hackles in the olden days to make them appear bigger and more aggressive to their opponents. They were able to analyze the situation and decide whether to flee or fight after raising their hackles. All dogs have hackles, however they are more visible in dogs with short hair. Although the Rhodesian Ridgeback’s back has a ridge of hair that could be mistaken for hackles, the ridge is genetically inherited. The name “Ridgeback” comes from this ridge of hair on the dog’s back that grows in a distinct direction. When a dog feels threatened or insecure, they will immediately raise its hackles. By observing your dog’s body language, you can determine what mode your dog is entering and how to handle that response. Meeting another dog will automatically make your dog exhibit its hackles. In these circumstances, using the signals that nature has supplied and having a basic understanding of dog behavior is really advantageous.
