My 2 year old GSD bitch has recently started to raise her hackles from shoulder to tail very often and in situations that perplex me.

Examples:
1. I let her out the front door to urinate and she jaunts out , hackles raised,(tail curled and up)and circles the front lawn w/ her nose raised. This goes on for 20/30 seconds and ends when she puts her mind to her business(peeing!)

2.We walk on leash to the neighbors house to call on them for a walk. As we arrive they exit their home(new constuction,formerly woods)and as they are coming out I notice her hackles are up!This is a woman w/ her pre-school age child we are talking about,hardly a threatening presence.(we live in a house full of kids all ages)

3.Bella is out in the a.m. and running all around expending her pent-up energy(approx 1 acre of open land w/slopes). Then the puppy (15 wks)tries to catch her but she runs circles around him.As she is running at this point her hackles come up. She will run at him and then around him, and it is clear that he will never even get close to her.

I am concerned with these events, any ideas what is the root of the behavior? How should I respond to this , if at all?

I may be speaking out of turn here, I'm certainly not one of the more knowledgeable folks in the forum, but my automatic response is that she's nervous when she's doing this.

1. She's securing the area, making sure that she is safe to do her business before she can relax. If you have wildlife where you live, this is reasonable. Who would want to be surprised in mid-pee by an angry deer or raccoon?

2. She sees people emerging from the house and walking toward you, which could be threatening to her. You didn't say how long you have been walking with this person? Do you do this frequently, or was this the first time? Also, how far away from you and your dog is the door to the house from which the others were emerging? Dogs aren't known for their keen eyesight, as far as I know, so perhaps your dog simply sees figures coming toward you, and doesn't recognize who they are until they are closer?

3. I have seen hackles raised in play situations. When it's with unfamiliar dogs, it's definitely a fear reaction. When it's with dogs that are known, I think it's more of an excitement/stimulation thing.

Again, I'm not an expert or anything, just my humble thoughts.

Hmmmm,sounds logical......

What does this mean about my dogs personality?

She has always been( up to now) very secure and is very well socialized.

Also, she bit my father-in law(not badly, but drew blood) as he attempted to put on her leash while he was house/dog/child sitting. She did this by nipping in excitement at his hands as he tried to put the lead on the collar.

She knows him well for all of her 2 years, and he has always played with her with no problems in the past.........Now he is upset with her and he refuses to go near her......I might add that she would never have gotten away with that sort of behavior with me or if I had been home.

I think your dog is "spooky". Dogs with good nerves don't hackle up all the way down their backs for no reason, with people that they know, and in areas that they know.

She bit your Dad? In a play situation? Are you sure that is how it happened? Is she a mouthy dog in general with you and everyone else? I bet this was another fear response. Dogs just don't all of a sudden become mouthy with people, it is an ongoing problem or it isn't.

Why, all of a sudden, she has become fearful of people if she has been well socialized. I have not seen that very much. Like night and day? Nice to everybody and now a full hackled defense response?

I think you have a lot more work to do in the socialization department. At this point I think I would start introducing corrections to drive the point home that aggressive responses are unacceptable. Period. . .

Have you taken her to the vet for a checkup? Is she in heat? The pieces are not fitting together for me. Can you describe more behavior? Maybe I'm wrong here.

VanCamp... I think you are on the right track here... but ususally nerve problems are evident at a young age... and apparently, this is a new behavior???

It is possible... that defense instincts/drives are awakening in this bitch at a late age.

Also, don't forget that dogs focus much more on scent... strange scents are sometimes perceived as threatening.

I would take her to the vet for a physical. L Swanston mentioned that dogs aren't known for their great eyesight - it is also possible that her eyesight is getting worse and that is making her feel nervous and defensive.

You said that your neighborhood had woods that have recently been developed. Is there much wild area around you? I wonder if there is some kind of animal - coyote or something - who has moved near you, and is making her nervous. Or, have any other dogs recently moved in near you?

When a dog suddenly starts raising its hackles around a puppy, I usually assume the puppy is hurting the dog by playing too rough. Sometimes, the puppy is hurting the dog because the dog has some kind of injury or sickness going on that you might not have noticed.

Could she be pregnant?

Does she stay outside alone during the day or night? There could be another dog or some other kind of animal, or person, coming by and harassing her.

She has always been VERY mouthy,usually she picks up a shoe or a toy when we come home so that she has something in her mouth or else she will be reprimanded for thying to put our arms in her mouth!!!

She definately was not scared of my father-in-law. She was on the back deck, he let her in and then picked up her leash to take her out. At this point she became over-excited and had nothing to pick-up in her mouth so she started to nip at him( this is how it was described to me).

She did not respect his reprimanding her to stop and after a minute of this he wound up with a skin tear.He then threw the leash down and said the hell with her, and left her in the house for 3 more hours until my teenager came home and let her out.

I had her spayed recently (1st week of march)and she was examined by the vet at that time.

As for socializing, we entertain frequently, so peolpe are always coming here( including young children).She has gone to OB.since she was 6 mos. old and has gone for many a walk around out area. The wildlife around here usually stay quiet during the day.(wild turkeys are mating now though and they never shut up!!!!)

I get compliments on how well behaved she is when we go to the vet's office, so she is not timid there, and at dog school, she usually has to be toned down because she is super charged and is not intimidated by anything, sooooo.............

I do not understand where this behavior is coming from and I am very concerned about it and I need to know how I should approach any discipline, or do I ignore it?? Help me because I am really confused ........thanks all

If she is really that tough and this is a weirdo defensive response then you correct her for the inappropriate actions. That behavior is not OK, and you need to either break her of the mouthing or don't let other people handle her in those situations.

It doesn't sound to me like you are going to be doing protection work with this dog, so I would make sure that the unwanted aggression and nipping is taken care of ASAP.

But, once again this is just a board, and I can't see the dog through my magic mirror. What do you think Davy?

Da. . .da-da-daaaahhhh Captain Correction Time!

I'm new to the dog world, but have read everything about dogs I can get my hands on. So this isn't an opinion on what might be happening with your dog. It's just my experience.

Our year-old female pit bull has just started raising her hackles when is she set free for her morning exercise. She zooms around happy as can be with her hackles raised. After a while she settles down. She loves to play keep-away and when we chase her around with the frisbee in her mouth that's when her hackles are really raised. She's a very playful dog and loves to play rough. Sometimes, she'll be very excited at playtime and accidentally nips in her excitement. Haven't seen her react in an aggressive way to anything ever.

We think it's like us having goose pimples. In our case I know that she reacting to a stimulus that excites her in a good way.

Hope this is the case with your dog.

Stewart

I agree that a few raised hackles around the neck is fairly common for some dogs in the early morning... but what was described here apparently involved fur up from neck to tail.

Based on the further info it seems likely that the bitch is dominant... but also developing defense. This combination is sometimes difficult to read because the dominance can mask an underlying nerve weakness.

VanCamp is correct... this type of dog REQUIRES rock solid obedience and should NEVER be allowed to decide who is friend / enemy.... In any new or non-routine situation the dog should be on leash and under firm control.