Not sure if I should post this here or in another forum section, but here goes - Dexter is nearly 7 months old now and I have noticed a number of times recently when we have been out and he has been off the lead playing with other dogs chasing around furiously that his hackles are raised across his front shoulders and down his back. He makes no noises, has shown no aggression and reading on the internet the following quote seems to cover every eventuality though most of these have negative connotations "triggered by feelings of fear, aggression, arousal, lack of confidence, anxiety, defensiveness, being startled, or even plain excitement". When he met a group of snappy dogs off the lead today on a path in the woods I could see they were raised but he was showing no signs of doing anything or taking a stance and I just got him away as soon as possible. Later on the football pitch a very fast poodle came flying over who Dexter did not see coming as we were training and he was sat with his back to him, but as he raced around hackles were definitely raised. They chased around for a while then I started to walk away and called him and he came with me. Do you think that I need to be overly concerned by this, maintain a watching brief, or be taking some action - could it be male hormones kicking in ? As a much younger puppy he was bitten on the face whilst running about and had been quite wary of getting involved with other dogs but recently he does seem to have more confidence, and has been engaging more directly himself though not initiated the play on two of the occasions I have seen this.
Hello! Im no expert but i think thats from or nervousness or exitement. if it were aggresive your dog would probably have a stiff posture, bare his teeth, and growl. my puppy gets exited on walks and it looks like she has a mohawk on her back. Also, does he wag his tale?
A dog having hackles raised means that the dog is aroused in some way. It doesn't tell you 'how' they are aroused or what the underlying emotion is. They may be raised because the dog is having a fantastic time playing chase with another dog; they may be raised because a dog is fearful - it reflects arousal levels - and you then need to look at the rest of the context and body language, to determine what the meaning is...
