The Many Hackles of Elke
When you live with a reactive or fearful dog, you live a life of hypervigilance. If you’re lucky enough, your dog might have a tell or outward sign that shows you when he or she is reaching their threshold or state of over-arousal.
Our job as pet parents is to help our dogs stay under that threshold and be at a level of stimulation that allows them to be comfortable in their world. As we know, the world is not without stress for any of us. Our goal is to keep that stress at a level that keeps our dogs in a loose, relaxed state instead of one that is explosive and scary for all.
One way that we can do that is to get familiar with what our dogs are communicating to us. When we experience those explosive, scary episodes, what did the dog do right before it happened? Did he get very still or freeze in place? Did he give a low growl? Did he become laser-focused on something? Some dogs have a very noticeable behavior that precedes the barking, lunging, and pulling that occurs when they are over-aroused.
Elke is a five-year-old German Shepherd, and she is reactive, fearful, and has overall generalized anxiety. She has lived with us for four and a half of those five years. With the help of behavior consultants, a veterinary behaviorist, medication, and hundreds of hours of work, she is in a reasonable state of eustress 90% of the time. Of course, it’s that 10% of the time when she is over-aroused and unable to control her reactions that is very scary.
We are fortunate that Elke has a tell—her hackles.
What is a hackle? It’s the erectile hair on the back of a dog. Elke has the most beautiful hackle language that I have ever seen on a dog. When she raises her hackles, the range of her hackle vocabulary goes from a good hair day to a slight cowlick to a full-on mohawk. These are not scientific terms, but it helps me and my husband gauge how Elke feels in any given situation. We can then convey to each other which of these looks she had when in a stressful situation, painting a clear picture of what Elke was telling us at that moment.
The goal is for her to always have a good hair day with her fur lying flat and in place when she encounters something stressful. But, we live in the real world where that doesn’t always happen. Her hackle language helps us understand when to intervene or simply extract Elke from a stressful situation.
One of the situations in which learning Elke’s hackle language helped us immensely is when she plays with our other dog. They play together daily but always under supervision. As soon as the fur at the base of Elke’s tail starts to go into low, cowlick mode, we take a break. This doesn’t happen every play session; as a matter of fact, it happens less and less as time goes on. But we always watch and are ready to pause the play session when Elke’s hackles speak to us.
“I wish my dog could talk.” We hear and think this sentiment time and time again. Here’s the thing—they can and do. Sometimes, it’s simply that we are not listening. Because dogs communicate with us via their body language, it is our job and responsibility as pet parents to learn that language to understand what they are saying. Once you learn to interpret dog body language, you recognize your dog’s tell, too!
Want to learn more about canine body language? Check out some of these resources below.
Body Language for Shelter Workers webinar with Trish McMillan (Save $5 by using discount code body2021 - good thru March), Doggie Language: A Dog Lover's Guide to Understanding Your Best Friend by Lili Chin, or Canine Body Language by Pawsitive Connection.
