# Shoulder hackles



## Sonny Lee (Nov 11, 2009)

Took care of a club member's malinois pup when he was away last week. The pup is about 5 months old now. Initially, I thought this is a very nervous pup, or it is probably going through a fear period but after discussing with the handler, I am not too sure now.

When the pup is playing, eating, etc. his shoulder hackles would stand. When we take him out for a walk, the hair would stand as well when he anticipated the walk. And the hair would stand again when we are on the walkway in the direction of coming back home... he knows that we are reaching home. This pup has great drives, no environmental issues. My friend would play with the pup around household items etc, and he would be fine, but the hair is constantly up!

There are times when we know it is nervous such as the other time we were walking him in the evening and it was dark. He saw a couple of recycled bags (they must smell funny with all the recycling stuffs in them) on the side of the road and his shoulder hackles is up again. However, he did not run away, instead went ahead to check out the bags....

When he plays with my pup... same thing! hackles up!... but there isn't any sign of discomfort in him...

See people, hair stand... see other dogs, hair stand... but he doesn't jump away from anything.... 

Any ideas, or similar experiences? :-k


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## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

Dogs can hackle up just from being excited(play, sees a cat etc) - it's just means the dog is excited more but doesn't indicate any underlying mood by itself other than arousal. You have to consider the other body language the dog is displaying.


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## Alison Grubb (Nov 18, 2009)

My pup puts his hackles up too. He does it on walks and it does happen a little more at night. But his ears are pricked and his tail is up and he always moves forward, eagerly, toward the object of interest. So I think he is just excited and wants to go check things out.

In general, he has solid nerves and is a confident pup who hasn't displayed any environmental or noise sensitivities. Good drive in this animal as well.


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## Kat LaPlante (May 17, 2009)

Check the Leerburg site for one of the more recent Michael Ellis videos pertaining to dog aggression (there were 5 parts and I think this is referenced in part 2). He goes on to discuss this as a certain type of stimuli and states that it is simply a mechanism due to the dog being excited as opposed to any indication of aggression.

http://leerburg.com/playem.htm?name=flv/6-21-10-news.flv


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## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

He also goes on to say that maybe 1% of dogs do this. You must have had a special dog for a few days.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

There are how many threads on this *** ?? LOL


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