What Does It Mean When A Dog S Hair Stands Up
Olivia Luz
It can be sporadic or symmetrical hair loss or may be shown as bald circles.
The lifting of the hair in response to cold is thought to increase the insulation factor of the hair by making room for more air among the hairs to prevent heat loss. Raised hackles do not qualify as a behavior as they are an involuntary reflex triggered by something that put the dog into a state of arousal. Because the raised hackles are an involuntary response of your dog s nervous system it isn t necessarily aggression that you re witnessing. For the most part dog hair loss will be very noticeable to owners and it may show up in different patterns and shapes.
It is an involuntary reaction just like the goose bumps we humans get so it s important not to have any expectation of a dog being able to control it. Contraction of the muscles that pulls the hair up is an automatic response. When the hair is raised over the area where the shoulder blades meet this is called raising the hackles. Certain hairs located along the spine of a dog from their neck to the base of their tail are connected to small muscles called arrector pili.
The scientific term for raised hackles is piloerection. These muscles contract under certain circumstances causing the hair shaft to move making your dog s hair stand up and puff out. When the hair on a dog s back goes up technically called piloerection it s usually a sign that the dog is aroused fearful startled stimulated or excited in some way. More accurately when your dog s hair is standing on end it simply suggests that she is surprised and just isn t quite sure what to make of the situation.
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Your dog does not mentally decide to raise the hairs and neither do you. Now to answer your question my dogs hair stands up at anything be it stare downs at other dogs or just something that scared them. There is actually a medical term for the reaction. But once he feels comfortable the hair might fall back down.
If danny meets a new friend he may have hair raise on his back during the first minute or two because he is anxious about this new dog.
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