Can't visit friend as her dog is racist

I have read that some dogs can be reactive to people of colour - apparently its because they find their features harder to distinguish/read.

No idea how true it actually is/whether it's a load of racist bollocks or not.

I'm not sure it is a wind up. My friends dog was a rescue and if they saw someone with glasses they freaked out.

My dog, who happily ignores most people as he plods about living his doggy life, absolutely loves black men. Every time he sees a black man he's desperate to go over and make friends with them and pulls on the lead like a train. Luckily he's a daft, friendly lovebug and most people are more than happy to scratch his ears but it's a little embarrassing when he suddenly makes a determined beeline for a random bloke.

He's a rescue so I've no idea where his preferences come from.

This is a thing! I mean , you can’t say an animal has racist views - let’s be realistic! But I mean dogs that take a dislike to skin colours . I think it could be many reasons - some dogs have just never seen people with any skin colour other than the skin colour of their owners , or it could be a case of a previous experience of abuse at the hands of someone of a certain skin colour.

When I was younger , we got a lovely little dog from the dogs home . He was such a lovely little thing - so calm and loving . I can’t remember the breed , but he was a teeny fluffy little thing . Yet when my brothers friend , who was black , came around - he went wild ! He would bark , growl , show his teeth ! His friend used to joke that he was racist and we just thought maybe he had been abused by someone who looked similar . Then I had a friend come around , who was also black , and the same thing happened . So it couldn’t have been that he reminded my dog of a specific person that had abused him ( a male ) as my friend was female - the only thing we could think of was that maybe it was a black person who had abused him . We didn’t think it was just because he had only seen white people as he had been in a dogs home , so I highly doubt he had only seen white people there .

I know right !

My dog is scared of very obese people. I think it’s the way of walking. Whatever it is, she’s an absolute embarrassment.

Report them to DR (HR🤪)

Racist might not be the right word but dogs can react like this to something which is unusual to them. My dog reacts to people with disabilities which is very embarrassing.

How ridiculous

Some dogs are weird. I know a few man-hating dogs. Dogs that dont like tall people or children etc.
in my opinion it might be better if you meet the dog on neutral territory so it can see youre fine and then hopefully it will get over it and not react to others. She cant realistically just avoid black people surely. Shes got to desensitise the dog

I thought dogs were colourblind! 👀

My dog hated males.. maybe because she was brought up in a house of females

Dogs can be racist. If you’re in a very predominantly white area it does happen, I recall my dog going berserk barking at this poor woman walking down the street, it was awful.

We’ve since given a lot of work to someone who is a man of colour and it’s totally sorted the problem. You need to just go over and ignore all the nonsense and the dog will be ok. Well that’s unless your friend has got herself the Enoch Powell of dogs. Mine took a few minutes to not be total berks, plus this person is ridiculously nice so he was always going to win them over. Take treats!

I’m trying not to laugh here because the thread title is peak Mumsnet but I have actually heard of this.

The dog can’t actually be “racist” in the meaningful sense of the word because dogs are not aware that people have different ethnicities let alone have a sense that some are superior to others.

Presumably the dog either hasn’t met many non white humans or has negative encounters from the ones he or she has met or is just scared of them. But racism isn’t really relevant in the way we mean. Can’t the dog just be shut somewhere out of harm’s way?

https://x.com/racistpets?s=21&t=YMPmXqLoBYNx7uq_BhXnag

is it on there ???

My dog hates anyone in a high viz vest!!!
my mums dog hated collies
and I have a friend that says her dog is racist too!! Bizarre! Wonder if it’s to do with the socuialisation period when pups

We had a dog who hated men. Would bark incessantly. My dad just worked on him. Kept coming over. Kept giving the dog his space. One day my dad picked up the lead and the dog walked to the front door waiting for him to bring him for a walk.

They were great buddies from that day on.

Not a wind up. The Chihuahua I know will go ballistic at black people. Only the other day it was visiting my house and the plumber turned up who was black, the dog went insane. It was mortifying.

My rescue dog used to bark at any non white people because she hadn't ever seen them before. She also barked at people in wheelchairs and on crutches etc as it was unfamiliar to her and she felt threatened. She's much better now as we've exposed her to more people, but it's been bloody embarrassing and awkward at times!

My pug was the same, we used to have to turn the TV off, she was a rescue and I think she had hardly been taken out as a puppy and young dog. It was actually fear I think.

Dogs are not and cannot be racist. As a PP said, something has happened to the dog in the past that means it is either afraid or confused.

It can be trained out, but the owner needs to put in some effort, possibly with your help OP?

I'm sure I remember the same thread years ago.

It's really not a wind-up.

My cousin's lab was racist too. Lived in Devon, so not multicultural at all.

My friend's cat absolutely loves black people. My friend is white.

Obvious wind up