My dog puts his hackles up everytime we see a dog out on a walk.

A few months ago me and my dog were walking around a field that we regularly walked around. My dog was running on a head and went around a corner. I then heard a lot of barking and my dog came running back towards me closely followed by 4 three legged greyhounds. They pinned him to the floor between my legs and surrounded him, barking in his face. They didnt hurt him but every time he tried to get up they chased him and pinned him again. The owner wasn't bothered and kept calling them back but they were not leaving! Eventually they went back to her and we ran away. Marley (my dog) didnt have a mark on him but he was wet and his fur was ruffled. He was very spooked as was I.
We returned home.
Ever since that day whenever we meet another dog, Marley gets his hackles up and is very nervous around other dogs. Including puppies. He becomes very jumpy and sometimes growls and barks at them.
He never used to do this and used to love playing with other dogs. He has always been very well socialised.
I don't know how I can stop this from happening. He also spends the whole walk with his tail curled up over his back and completely on edge.
Can anyone suggest a way I can make this any better for him?

Being afraid to the other dog is just normal for a dog especially if it is the first time of walking on the street with the other dog. Try to bring him to the park so he can see the other friendly dogs and he will gain some friends there.

Hopefully he will gradually get over it. After little Bella was roughed up by a GSD she then barked at EVERY big dog she saw - however far away it was. Drove me nuts for a while. I mean the other dogs had sometimes not even noticed her before she started straining at the lead and yapping loud as she could in their direction! (I was mildly amused thinking how nuts it was as it drew their attention to her)

I just saw it as her way of saying 'KEEP AWAY FROM ME!!'

She did get over it but it took a while especially as someone with a huge Rottie had moved into a first floor flat on the route we take most mornings and it was always out on the verandah - so that seemed to set her off more or less as soon as we got going!

What I did was to change my route slightly so we didn't go past that dog or the guy that has the GSD that went at her. And, if I spotted a big dog in the distance before she did, however far away it was, I about turned with her so she didn't get the chance to start. In fact some people who own the big dogs would do the same if they saw me first lol!

As I said, she got over it eventually.

Paddy got attacked by a pack of terriers not long after we got him, he started putting his hackles up whenever a dog came near after that.

We persisted in getting him to meet and greet as many dogs as possible while on walks and within time it stopped, I guess he learnt that not every dog is a threat. He is now quite happy to play with all dogs, little and large.

I suppose it just takes time.

Poor Marley, it must have been terrifying for him and you. One of my two was attacked when on a lead by an out-if-control off lead dog. I was livid as my dog was only 10 months old at the time (he has just turned two) and my dog having been a really confident, well socialised, happy dog turned into a scared dog with little confidence.

I worked really hard by walking him again with friends who I knew had good tempered dogs and wouldn't hassle him. He is a lot better but is (and I think always will be) very nervous when off or on a lead and an unknown dog approaches. He is a very sensitive dog and I still smart at the day that that wretched dog attacked him. Even now when a dog approaches, he stops dead in his tracks and waits. I also have his littermate brother who is fortunately very confident. I know that all I can do is to keep on and on socialising him with other dogs to regain his confidence but it is difficult. If he is off the lead with his brother playing and a 'strange' dog races over he is still likely to run away.

Good luck and I hope by socialising your dog with 'friendly' dogs he will fully regain his confidence.

Hackles indicates adrenalin (not as some people think aggression) fight, flight, fool around or freeze ie the dog is on alert and not relaxed.

You want the dog to become more confident and that will be achieved by desensitisation and counter conditioning and not forcing the dog to interact with others.

You might want to explore BAT for dogs by Grisha Stewart it is something you can do yourself with your dog to change his emotional response to other dogs over time.

SB - thanks I'll take a look.

Betsy was a bit like this after her attack and still has her occasional moments, but we have found the 'controlled unleashed' books 'look at that' game to be quite effective, she hardly has her hackles up or displacement sniffs/scratches now and feels big time more comfortable in new enviroments

I never thought Bella barking at big dogs after her experience was 'aggression'. Seemed quite clear to me it was fear in her case triggering it after what happened or her giving a warning or whatever but not aggression.