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just curious?


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was walking bingo n blaze as i do lol and we met my aunties friend who was walkin her chow and as we were walkin 2wards them blaze's fur on his back was raised and as we got closer he had a sniff n jumped back did this sevral times then started playin with her was he just abit nervous and/or curious cuz he had never seen a chowchow before or was it something else (bing didnt seem too sure either this is only the 2nd time hes met this chow 1st time it was a puppy) yet we met up wit a labrador about 5 mins b4 and they were both absolutely fine

so was he just bein cautious and curious cuz hed never seen a dog like this before or what?

any help is greatly appreciated and i look 4ward 2 readin the replies i get when im back from my nans x

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Usually when Hackles (Fur on the back at the either end) are raised usually can mean dominance, or thats what Ive always thought. What is the rest of his body language like (i.e. tail position, ears, eyes, etc)?

If you have a look on this site it has a basic explantion on a dog body language and how to spot the signs: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/understand-your-dogs-body-language.html#

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Erect pilars/hackles is a often sign of arousal and dominance but they are also commonly seen when a dog is feeling fearful and they want to 'puff themselves up' to make themselves look bigger. However, some dogs might raise them slightly when they are having an adrenaline rush and are excited.

In the past when my bitch has had a big fright her hackles rise instantly, and Micha being fear aggressive almost always raises his hackles when he gets close to another dog.

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Erect pilars/hackles is a often sign of arousal and dominance but they are also commonly seen when a dog is feeling fearful and they want to 'puff themselves up' to make themselves look bigger. However, some dogs might raise them slightly when they are having an adrenaline rush and are excited.

In the past when my bitch has had a big fright her hackles rise instantly, and Micha being fear aggressive almost always raises his hackles when he gets close to another dog.

Thats what Ive learned today - never knew hackles were a sign of arousal, thanks smeagle

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Thats what Ive learned today - never knew hackles were a sign of arousal, thanks smeagle

Your welcome :) Just to clarify (although I'm sure you knew what I meant, I just want to be clearer) I don't mean sexual arousal, but that hackles up indicate the dog is in a state of arousal i.e. it is feeling fearful or trying to look and act dominant.

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Your welcome :) Just to clarify (although I'm sure you knew what I meant, I just want to be clearer) I don't mean sexual arousal, but that hackles up indicate the dog is in a state of arousal i.e. it is feeling fearful or trying to look and act dominant.

yeah, I knew what you meant by that - I just thought that hakles were just a dominant body posture

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yeah, I knew what you meant by that - I just thought that hakles were just a dominant body posture

Yep it can definitely mean a couple of different things :D

Arousal in dogs is the trigger that produces responses. Dogs can be triggered into a state of arousal by a variety of things, including conditioned excitement (i.e. situations the dog has learned is exciting/rewarding such as approaching another dog or going to the dog park), high drive situations such as running in packs or chasing balls, and unfamiliar situations.

Pilor erection/ raised hackles is a common sign of high arousal in a dog, other signs include:

- high pitched barking

- ears held forward or erect

- taut, stilted body language

- a tail held stiffly and higher than normal

- slow, deliberate tail wagging

- dilated pupils

So a dog can be switched into a state of arousal and show signs like the above if it is in drive (prey drive, pack drive, defense drive etc), if it feels confronted/frightened, if it is displaying dominance, if it is excited etc - there are a range of triggers that might not always indicate that the dog is being dominant. This can often be seen in dogs with high prey drives, we use a term called 'drive peak' and we use the above signs of arousal to identify when a dog is in it's drive peak and it's body is full of adrenalin. It is when we see a dog in 'drive peak' that we know their brain is working in the lower cortex - a part called the medulla, which is responsible for primal instincts such as prey drive. The dog's state of arousal is so high and the adrenalin in their body so strong, that their hearing is all but switched off - the reason many owners will tell you they can't trust their dogs off leash etc because if they catch sight of something they are off and cannot be called back.

That's all getting a bit off topic but it's an interesting subject! :)

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alaska does it, her hackles go up, her tail is curled and dead still, she makes her self looking bigger by her ears being perfectly erect and in the centre of her heard, and it looks like she's standing on her tippy paws lol >>> i was told by several people it was excitement, fear, aggression and my trainer put it very simply.... it's dominance >>> making themselves looking bigger >> that's all.

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alaska does it, her hackles go up, her tail is curled and dead still, she makes her self looking bigger by her ears being perfectly erect and in the centre of her heard, and it looks like she's standing on her tippy paws lol >>> i was told by several people it was excitement, fear, aggression and my trainer put it very simply.... it's dominance >>> making themselves looking bigger >> that's all.

It's not always the urge to dominate that makes a dog want to raise their hackles, a dog who is fearful will do it to make themselves look bigger than they are too. As I said before there are many reasons for a dog to go into a state of arousal, and a variety of triggers that will set them off. It really depends on the situation and the trigger, so what the dog is responding to and why etc - but I wouldn't say the reaction is always or exclusively dominance based.

SW - I like to understand the ins and outs and whys and hows and all that too!! I like to try and understand how the canine brain works and why they do what they do.

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so do u think his hackles were raised due to fear as he did seem very warey ov the dog at first then started 2 play i deffo dont think it was dominance he didnt raise his hackles when we had a lab run at us tho he was fine with her hes never seen a chow b4 so do u think this is y? like its a new dog hes never seen before hes never seen the breed so was abit fearful??

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so do u think his hackles were raised due to fear as he did seem very warey ov the dog at first then started 2 play i deffo dont think it was dominance he didnt raise his hackles when we had a lab run at us tho he was fine with her hes never seen a chow b4 so do u think this is y? like its a new dog hes never seen before hes never seen the breed so was abit fearful??

It's near impossible to say without having seen it Nix, it could be a range of things from fear to dominance to excitement.

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ill try and get sum more details if we see them again its weird cuz he is fine wit all other dogs like i saud we had a run in wit a lab about 1/2 mins b4 and he was fine with the lab

Maybe he his behaviour could be reflecting back to when the other dog 'attacked' him. Dont quote me on that, just a thought more than anything.

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im just thinkin tho then y wud it only b at this chow n not the lab that ran at us cuz we walked up2 the chow the chow was jsut standin there where as i think if he was tryin 2 puff himself up to b dominante or whateva he wud ov dun it wit the lab runnin at us like blue did? i dunno i think its just cuz hes never seen a chow before he was like it with a westie when he 1st saw 1

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It does seem odd, but that was like what Gizmo was like. No I dont hold him back he doesnt growl anymore but he used to growl at one dog and then be fine with another dog. There could be many different reasons why he is like it. Like Bec said, its hard to say much without physically seeing his body position and behaviour.

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i didnt hold him back n there wasnt any growling ill c what hes like on our walk and over the feild 2day and c if it happens again then ill b sure 2 take in everythin something i 4got to mention is when we were walkin 2wards the chow bing got low 2 the ground and looked like he was stalking her he does this often and hes never hurt another dog even when hes bin attacked he didnt fight back and his hackles near his tail raised 2 but he does that i think his is excitement

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i didnt hold him back n there wasnt any growling ill c what hes like on our walk and over the feild 2day and c if it happens again then ill b sure 2 take in everythin something i 4got to mention is when we were walkin 2wards the chow bing got low 2 the ground and looked like he was stalking her he does this often and hes never hurt another dog even when hes bin attacked he didnt fight back and his hackles near his tail raised 2 but he does that i think his is excitement

Bandit does that, he will lie to the ground sometimes. Ive always considered this as a sign of submission/excitement

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i deffo think its excitment as ive never had any problems when he does this the soft shit lol ill bet ppl wrry tho when they c um do this lol

Ive seen a few worried faces when Bandit goes down as he has that stare look on him. Usually when they get a bit closer he will jump straight back on his legs and say hello, and some people do get worried but I say he is friendly and just wants to say hello and they are usually ok as long as they let me get him into a sit before they pet him!

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