Willow is a confident, relaxed puppy but I've noticed she very regularly has her hackles raised. When she meets a new dog, she'll be submissive, but poofed, when she's playing with either Shadow or any other of her buddies, at home or out and about. She also raises them if she gets a shock from an unexpected noise or something, which is more understandable. It's never accompanied by any other "bad" body language, so I was wondering if this was just something some puppies do? Shadow never does it. I wouldn't want her to get into trouble with other dogs for sending off the wrong signals, but even if there was something to worry about, I wouldn't know how to start addressing it. I've been just putting it into the same category as the ferrets poofing themselves up, which they do pretty much all the time whether it's because we smell of someone else's pet, if they've been scared by a loud noise but generally just when they're excited and having fun.
Re: Hackles raised I think it's just an excited thing that comes as they get a bit older. Inca has only just started to do it when playing with other dogs. We went to a puppy party yesterday and it was interesting to note that all the puppies over 4 months old were doing it whereas the younger ones were very submissive still.
Re: Hackles raised She's done it for a while. The first time I saw it was when she met big Buster for the first time; he went barreling towards her and she bolted back to me with everything up! But she does it even when being submissive and grovelling on the floor under a new dog's nose!
Re: Hackles raised In isolation, it's not possible to know what raised hackles mean - you have to interpret it looking at the whole dog and the situation. It can be part of fear, aggression, worried, surprised and alert, a bit excited, a lot excited...it just means aroused about something...but what needs more information. So it's probably nothing to worry about.
Re: Hackles raised [quote author=JulieT link=topic=9001.msg128485#msg128485 date=1417794299] In isolation, it's not possible to know what raised hackles mean - you have to interpret it looking at the whole dog and the situation. It can be part of fear, aggression, worried, surprised and alert, a bit excited, a lot excited...it just means aroused about something...but what needs more information. So it's probably nothing to worry about. [/quote As julie said! Maisie does all of the above!!
Re: Hackles raised As Julie said it's a sign of one of the many kinds of arousal. At times it's a little bit of a startled/scared thing (loud noises) but that doesn't mean it's always a worried/scared thing for her. Sometimes it can just be excitement. If her behaviour is normal otherwise I wouldn't worry about it much, but do what you can to make potentially 'hair raising' situations calm and positive (eg with threats and stroking).
Re: Hackles raised [quote author=Oberon link=topic=9001.msg128493#msg128493 date=1417796327] calm and positive (eg with threats and stroking). [/quote] Heh, typo?
Re: Hackles raised Yes, lots of interpretations for raised hackles, Sam still does it occasionally if he sees something out of the ordinary, like a plastic bag blowing about on the road, nothing to fret about
Re: Hackles raised My dogs are the most reactive dogs I know either nervous or excited and the only time they seem to get their hackles up is with each other when they race around like nutters then pretend to kill each other ! It's all part of the game. :
Re: Hackles raised Mine both raise theirs when excited. For example, Tatze loves the really cold water in the reservoir, it gets her all giddy and her hackles rise as she runs in
Re: Hackles raised Its only ever really been an excitement thing with Mira. These days it's usually just the tail ones if she gets a bit wound up : When she went through her teenage phase of mad bum tucking around the garden then leaping & grabbing it would be the full works - shoulder, bum and tail hackles!
Re: Hackles raised Rue does it too when playing with other dogs at the dog park, and it's because she's excited. I had a person at the park tell me it was because she was scared, and I was like 'Does it look like she's scared?" She was running around, playing, and having the time of her life!
Re: Hackles raised Penny is like this too. She's the most hackley dog I've every seen (and in 7 years in rescue kennels, I've seen a few lol) which makes it good cos I can always read her body language but sometimes she gets all hackley for no apparent reason! She's a really good dog to look at if you want to see what raised hackles look like as she gets them all around her neck, down her spine, on her back end and her tail!
