This is a silly question, but my sister swears that one of her dogs is prejudice to black & Spanish people. More so toward black people. When I told her that was impossible, she said he barks wildly if he sees a black person....that darker the skin, the crazier he gets. I couldn't believe it. Odd thing is, the dog is as black as black can be,lol!
2007-05-14 14:50:52 · 12 answers · asked by mmmtarot 3 in Social Science ➔ Sociology
Dogs, more than any other animal among household pets that spend a great deal of time around humans, have a rather remarkable and instinctive ability to absorb and respond to and reflect their masters. When a dog bonds with a human they often 'know' instinctively when the person they have bonded with is lonely or sad or sick or happy or fearful and they often respond to the emotional state of their master.
That they pick up on your fears and respond to your fears does not make them prejudiced. It just means that they are responding, in a protective way, to your fears.
There is a good chance than your sister has some issues herself, some uneasiness around black people or people of Spanish decent, and her dog is simply instinctively reflecting her own uneasiness and misgivings.
Example: Whenever you have a person come to your house that your dog doesn't know your dog becomes defensive and protective. When you reassure your dog, through words or actions, that the stranger is a friend to be trusted the dog then responds favorably to the stranger.
In other words he accepts into your life those people that you accept into your life. In most cases a bonded dog simply reflects the personality of the human they have bonded with and they respond to how you respond.
2007-05-14 17:28:44 · answer #1 · answered by Doc Watson 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The key here is prejudging, and every animal does it or it would not survive. The idea here is that someone or some thing will make a generalization about something based on some grouping and even before encountering the the individual, which might be different. You can pretty much guarantee a deer is very prejudice of a wolf, even if that wolf might not want to eat that deer.
Why the dogs are prejudice could be anything from past experience to things that humans don't detect.
2007-05-14 22:23:36 · answer #2 · answered by Bulk O 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO -- not in the way that a human creates a prejudice of a person based on race, creed, national origin religion sexuality or handicap.
Dogs will react to sight, smell, taste and touch and sound however, and if previously injured or effected by a human with a similar characteristic, will remember the the surrounding indicators.
2007-05-15 03:12:20 · answer #3 · answered by Samantha S 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I would be very embarrassed and would question my personal behavior/beliefs should my dog behave like you described, and if it was my sister's dog, I would let her know that this makes her look like an idiot. It is extremely likely that your sister exhibits prejudicial behavior and the dog has picked up the cues from her.
The technical explanation:
Cognitive psychologists advise that prejudice is acting on stereotypic beliefs (Moskowitz 2005). Stereotypes are generalized assumptions, only differing from the other assumptions people make about their world in that they are mental constructs about people by their group characterstics. Given that dogs also have cognitive capacities, they would also be given to constructing generalizations, like sterotypes. From these generalizations, they would tend to act in a prejudicial manner, especially given their social learning capabilities and their tendency to direct these capabilities to their "alpha leader".
2007-05-15 00:59:19 · answer #4 · answered by bizsmithy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sorry but i disagree with everyone else.
Dogs dont give a crap what you look like or how you smell,as long as you feed them and love them then they really dont give a crap what you`ve done cause they`ll still be there for you,if only we were more like them .
Sometimes an animal can react to someone or something that reminds them of a bad experience and then there's always the animal instinct that's built into them.
2007-05-14 23:49:26 · answer #5 · answered by steve 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
they say everyone has their own fragrance, their own personality and attitude. Sure, animals are sensitive, they growl too at things and people they don't like. I don't think though that it has to do with race though. But, you know, each animal's fur is different and maybe animals like or dislike stripes or dots on another animal.
2007-05-14 22:11:36 · answer #6 · answered by sophieb 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
We are just another species of the animal kingdom; we share the same emotions as other mammals, I don't see any reason we can't share the same bias.
2007-05-15 10:08:09 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Absolutely. I had a pet squirrel that couldn't STAND Mexicans! I mean, all I had to do was bring home taco bell and that squirrel was throwing acorns at me!
2007-05-14 22:12:36 · answer #8 · answered by Spiffy 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
yes ma'am they can be very prejudice i know because my man had a dog that hated whites even though he is color blind
2007-05-15 08:25:45 · answer #9 · answered by naomi p 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
animals reflect the attitudes of their owners.
2007-05-17 16:23:39 · answer #10 · answered by Patrick the Carpathian, CaFO 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋