Hackles up - always a bad sign?

I'm posting this query on behalf of a friend who gets very anxious every time her labrador's hackles are up and is convinced that she (labrador) is about to attack. The labrador has been known to attack small dogs or just suddenly "change" but this is rare. When she is with my dog, for instance, her hackles are sometimes up but she has never shown any aggression towards him and they are very contented on walks together.

Any thoughts?

Thank you!

I read the hackles as part of the dog's overall body language, and they can mean different things in different contexts. Nola - lab x - often has her hackles up when she's playing. Chaos will have his (or the best he can do!) up when he's worried by another dog. Bobbert, a fear aggressive dog we had, rarely put his hackles up, even when he was spinning, howling and trying to get the other dog.

I'm not saying it can't mean a warning, just that it doesn't always. It' a bit like wagging tails, it can very much mean the dogs happy but there's also a tense wag and a slow not sure wag.

I'd advise your friend to ignore the hackles in this situation and read the rest of the dog.

Hackles can mean adrenaline in any form really - Bug's raise out of fear, aggression and at times playful excitement.

Rachel33 wrote:Hackles can mean adrenaline in any form really - Bug's raise out of fear, aggression and at times playful excitement.

above is true, when your arm hairs go up up its a primevil response the same as a dogs reaction. remember the feeling to get an idea how they feel