Excitement
It may seem unlikely, but excitement and fear generate the same response in the body as each other. It’s why a lot of people enjoy horror movies.
Overexcitement can trigger raised hackles in the same way that fear does. This includes play, hunting, chasing, being stroked, and introductions into new environments.
So when a dog raises its hackles, how can you tell if a dog is aggressive, fearful, or excited?
While your dog may raise his or her hackles for a number of different reasons, it is always a good idea to pay attention to your dog’s physical positioning as well as his or her surroundings in order to understand context. The more you pay attention to your dog’s physical signals, the easier it will be for you to figure out if there are certain stimuli that trigger your dog.
While commonly viewed as a sign of aggression, your dog’s raised hackles don’t automatically signify hostile behavior. In combination with your dog’s body language, hackles can signify many different feelings. In order to help you determine what your dog is feeling, it is important to understand what hackles are and what function they perform.
Hackles are the hairs that run along a dog’s spine. They typically begin at the neck and extend to a dog’s tail. Below a dog’s skin are muscles that are attached to his or her hackles. These muscles are called arrector pili (Byer). As these muscles become activated, air becomes trapped between hair shafts causing your dog’s hackles to stand up (Farricelli, 2018). The phenomenon of a dog’s hackles standing up is called piloerection. How piloerection presents itself, or the pattern it takes on when raised, is different in each dog. Some dog’s hackles will stand in line along their backbone, and you may notice hackles across the shoulders, along parts of the back, or even at the base of the tail (London, 2012).
You know how you sometimes get goosebumps when you experience certain feelings such as fear, anger, or excitement? Hackles work in the same way. According to Adrienne Farricelli, “These muscles are innervated by the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system and are therefore not under conscious control” (Farricelli, 2018). In other words, raised hackles are an involuntary response brought on by some type of adrenaline rush.
While it is common to associate raised hackles with aggression, there are other common causes. For instance, Farricelli writes that the most common causes for raised hackles are “…fear, arousal, surprise, insecurity, excitement, nervousness, or defensive behaviors” (Farricelli, 2018). In other words, your dog may exhibit raised hackles in a number of situations, such as during a thunderstorm or in an environment that causes your dog to feel nervous.
5 Reasons Why Dogs Raise Their Hackles
Raised hackles in dogs indicate that they are on high alert.
They might be experiencing a response brought on by fear, surprise, insecurity, excitement, or uncertainty about a situation.
It’s a physiological response to stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system that induces piloerection along the neck and back.
Anything from a sudden clap of thunder to the excitement of a visitor could cause hackling.
This isn’t something that dogs do consciously. Instead, it happens in the same way that the hairs on our arms stand on end when we experience a burst of adrenaline.
5 Common Reasons Why Dogs Raise Their Hackles:
Dogs can raise their hackles through fear of the unknown, or if they feel threatened by the presence of something.
This may be a dog-on-dog encounter where they feel intimidated by the other dog’s size and stature. Your small dog might raise its hackles in response to an overly large dog, for instance.
Fear can also be caused by loud or unexpected noises such as thunder or fireworks – anything that your dog isn’t used to or is expecting.
Dogs may raise their hackles when startled suddenly or unexpectedly. This could be the appearance of someone (or another dog) jumping out from around a corner, for example.
In these cases, you may notice that your dog’s tail is also tucked in between their legs as this is another way that dogs show they may be feeling anxious or scared.
Dogs may also raise their hackles to assert dominance over another dog or individual.
This can also occur during dog training when your dog is trying to establish who is in charge, for instance.
A dominant dog will raise their hackles and growl if they feel threatened by a dog who isn’t obeying them or is behaving in an over-excited manner.
If your dog is usually confident but suddenly starts raising its hackles for no reason, it could be a sign that they’re feeling insecure in the current situation.
This might be because of a change in their environment (a new baby or pet in the home), or because they are feeling uncertain about something new that has occurred.
Dogs can also raise their hackles during playtime with another dog, or even you!
It’s usually combined with lots of tail wagging and is just a sign that they are incredibly stimulated or excited.
Why Do Dogs Raise Their Hackles?
Whether you’ve got a feisty Fido or calm canine, you’ve probably, at some point, been aware of your dog’s hackles. For many owners, raising the fur along a dog’s back and shoulders is cause for alarm as most people associate it with aggression.
But raised hackles are a much more sophisticated form of communication than that. Depending on the situation and the rest of your dog’s body language, the meaning may differ. So here are our hair-raising facts about dog hackles and what they mean.