My dog might be a racist?

Question

I have alot of different kinds of friends, but he barks and growls only at the black ones. Its starting to make them mad, is this a weird coincidence or what? I don't know how to make it stop. Also, its 4 years old...if that makes a difference.

Answer 1

get rid of ya black mates

Answer 2

It's possible. Generally this takes repeated bad experiences for the dog. More likely the dog simply didn't like one, or 2 of your friends. The guy(s) happened to be black. He growled. Now every time you get him around a black man. You start thinking oh god is he going to to growl. You tense up, and your dog picks up on this. So he growls. Now you yell at him, and this tends to reinforce black man == bad.

What you need to do is have one of your black friends over, and remain calm. Be sure the friend has a treat for the dog. As long as the dog has been abused by black people repeatably in the past this should be easy to break him of.

Answer 3

This is actually more common than people think. Just as some dogs don't like people wearing hat, or men, or children, some dogs don't like a certain color. My friend used to have a dog that absolutely hated white people, except the more tanned ones. Some people may laugh it off, it doesn't really matter because he's a dog and doesn't know any better. But, like any moral person would think, it affects the other racial group and the owner more than the dog. Her white friends felt bad and thought we trained her to act that way, and she ofcourse was embarrassed that people thought she was racist. If you are serious about stopping this problem, it can be done with a lot of hard work. You may need to hire a personal trainer. Read this entire article...

http://www.slate.com/id/2079214/

http://www.deadlyhippos.com/columns/Archive/Aug_2005/racism.htm

Answer 4

Dogs bark at anything that is different..Your black friend is different, so is unusual to the dog..Try this..borrow a cowboy hat, and come out of your room with it on..Your dog will go crazy! You might even do this in front of your black friend, just to show him that it is nothing personal, but only a dog's reaction to the unknown...
If your black friend will hang around a while and get to know the dog, the dog is likely to accept him more and more..

Note: all of those comments about slavery dogs are ridiculous..America didn't even have German Shepherds in those days..(developed in Germany 1889, first known in USA 1907) a dog can't be *bred* to be race aggressive...However, the comment about him not seeing your friend well could have a ring of truth, depending on how your friend dresses..If your friend wears light clothes, the dog can see him just fine, but if he wears dark clothing, or red or green, the dog can't see him well, especially detail...Dogs don't see facial expressions well....Smiles can look like snarls, showing teeth...as they can't pick up the twinkle in the eye that goes with it..

Answer 5

My dog did that, my mom's did that. My personal opinion, is you're like their sheep they protect and you're white. A black person comes in, and it's a totally different look for the dog. It's probably the same when a dog is raised in a black household and sees a white person. There are people that train their dogs that way, which is sad. If you think the dog will bite/attack them, I'd keep him locked in another room while your friends are there. Otherwise, have them slowly over time try giving him a treat. Slowly progress to petting him. Let your dog know too when he growls at them, that you don't approve of that behavior, need to correct him immediately when he does it.

Answer 6

It would seem that dog has had an experience with a black person which caused the dog to not like black people. You need to train your dog to except all people regardless of color.

Get together with one of your black friends and plan a solution. Pick a black friend who is unafraid of dogs and may have on of his own. When your friend enters your home, you must have your dog on lease. Your friend must not look at or otherwise interact with your dog. Your friend must never show he is afraid of your dog. He must be calm and normal. For him the dog must not exist.

Little by little your dog will realize that your friend is not a threat. You can now let your dog go over to your friend for a smell. Your friend must continue to ignore your dog. If your friend is sitting and your dog is smelling him, ask your friend to put his hand, the hand away from the dog, down to where the dog can smell it. Your friend must continue to ignore your dog and must not move his hand while the dog is smelling it.

This is a slow process of acclimatizing process. You may have to do it again and again with different friend.

When black people visit your home, ask them to ignore your noisy dog. Assure them that it is just noise and if they ignore him, he will soon quiet down.

Little by little your dog with learn that black people are not more threat to him that any other color.

Answer 7

He's not racist, he probably just wasn't completely socialized as a puppy. Dogs are wary of things they aren't familiar with. Some dogs don't like men with beards, or people who wear hats. As soon as that "different" thing is changed to something they are used to, they are fine with the person. Unfortunately for your dog, your friends can't change their skin color, nor should they want to. You just need to get your dog used to those people that are different from what he is used to. Whenever your friends come over, meet them at the door with a yummy dog treat and have them give this to your dog. They may have to get down to his level and talk nice and toss it a little ways for him to take it, but make sure it's something he thinks is AWESOME. Make sure he only gets those yummy treats from your friends he is wary of. Also, some people get mad at the animal if it is wary of them and start to act mean. Make sure your friends don't tease the dog or yell at him even if they are upset that he isn't friendly toward them.

Answer 8

Your dog may well be reacting to the difference. My Australian Shepherd can not tolerate anyone coming into our house wearing their hair in a bun -- she goes ballistic with raging barking! My sister-in-law sure learned her lesson on that one. Talking to the dog didn't help, so when the hair was put down again, all was well. I just tell people, "We don't do buns here."

Maybe if you let your friends give the dog a treat when entering, that might help dissuade the violent reaction. Good luck!

Answer 9

I have noticed my dog doing the same thing occasionally when people walk by and I too have friends in all sorts of colours! I figure its because dogs see/view things in black and white only and not colour. It must appear intimating to them the all black....tell your friends to be flattered...not intimitated! I just tell my dog to shut up....but then again I really hate barking no matter what...

Answer 10

Dogs see in black and white so they have a harder time "seeing" black people if they are not use to them. I had a dog that did the same thing

Answer 11

Years ago, I knew a white guy who had to lock up his dog when his black friend came to visit. When Dave and I went to visit the black guy, he had to lock up his dog because it hated whites.
Dogs aren't racist, but they sometimes seem to be afraid of people of different races from the people they are used to.
I once lived on an Indian Reservation and had to keep my dog in the house or tied up. He hated Indians. There were dozens of dogs all over the place, but mine was the only "racist" dog in town.
I got rid of him.