I think my dog is racist

[Wordsmith]

Might sound stupid - I certainly would think so, but my 15 month old Cairn Terrier barks like crazy everytime she sees a black or Asian person. It is getting really embarassing. There is one lady who walks in the park and everytime the dog sees her she runs up to her and barks. This lady then looks really nervous - and I'm trying desperately to catch the dog and apologise profusely at the same time. A similar thing happened when we were walking down the street and a black man was walking towards us. In both cases there was nothing unsual about the way they were dressed - the Asian lady was wearing a headscarf but otherwise just the usual trousers, coat and boots etc. Today my dog saw her from a distance and deliberately targeted her - it wasn't as through she was surprised by her coming up from behind or anything like that.

I would try and ask her if I could intriduce the dog to her when I am holding her - but I think she would be a bit scared (the lady, not the dog)

She's generally speaking a lovely, friendly dog, not particularly 'barky' when we're out walking normally, and I've defnitely noticed the difference with black or Asian people.

It sounds crazy - but does anyone else have experience of their dogs barking like this? I'm getting to the end of my tether with her.

[Arkkorox]

I often wonder if with people wth very dark skin if dogs struggle to pick up facial expressions, therefore making them more of a worry to dogs. I know there's a degree of that with black dogs and very hairy dogs too.

[CatsCantTwerk]

I don't think it sounds stupid. I had a dog as a child and he would bark and go mad at any man with facial hair, it was really strange and there was nothing at all we could do about it. He was a terrier too.

[Floralnomad]

When on a lead my dog goes absolutely berserk when he sees a 'golden' or yellow dog - fine with all other dogs it does make you wonder how their little minds work !

[Wordsmith]

I was checking online and some dog sites suggested that you should be 'socially conditioning' your dog and exposing him/her to people from as many races as possible. I do have black and asian friends but not many who live near and visit, so the dog wouldn't see them in the normal course of events. So what do I do - ask a black friend to come round so my dog can be exposed to them and learn to like them?

[Wordsmith]

She doesn't have the problem with black aninmals - some of her best friends are black labs! And she lives with a jet black cat and loves following her around the house.

[TheoriginalLEM]

He is probably picking up your anxiety - there is categorically no such thing as a racist dog! people with dark skin not being able to show facial expressions??? Come on!!

What the dog might be picking up on is other peoples anxiety, you have interpreted it as "racism" and now you are anxious if you see someone.

Either that or you are just going to have to change the dogs name to Nigel

[TheoriginalLEM]

OMG - ive seen it all now!!! sorry but im pmsl - "Some of her best friends are black labs" well then she can't be racist then can she.

[tabulahrasa]

Dogs that haven't been fully socialised can definitely find different kinds of people scary...whether they're reacting purely to skin colour or something else is debatable.

Mine doesn't like teenagers.

[Takver]

"He is probably picking up your anxiety - there is categorically no such thing as a racist dog! "

I'm very unconvinced by this - my dog had a real thing about people in hats and would bark wildly at them. It took a very, very long time to persuade him out of it - he's now 15 and doesn't do it often, but that's the best I can say.

I always wear a hat (and different sorts - cap, trilby etc), so it's really not that he wasn't used to them. He just didn't like strangers in hats . . .

[Owllady]

Lol at calling the dog Nigel :o

My dog doesn't like older men wearing glasses! I have no idea why. When we were out on our walk yesterday we met an old bloke in his pyjamas and she was fine with him....

[atonofwashing]

Ha ha, this is funny. I am having a giggle abt this.
Like our kids, we want our dogs to have as many social experiences as possible. It won't be possible to expose them all to every single experience be it of a person or place. Some are in the city and some in the country. We live in a huge city with all colours and creeds, busy traffic and way too much going on. Our darling little dog always got scared of black ladies waiting at a bus stop. Even tho she saw that every day. Always left me a bit red faced ??. My mum's dog hates huge dogs. Even tho she sees them everyday.

Even our doggies have their funny quirks!
Some things we/ they just won't like.
Aton

[Owllady]

God mine hates Staffordshire bull terriers too, no other breed, just staffies

[atonofwashing]

Owllady, excruciating, isn't it?!
On the flip side, my mum's old blak lab (now passed on), absolutely loved toddlers. She got so excited. Would go racing up to them, sending them fleeing in all directions! I can well imagine if you are 2 yrs old and there is an over excited " huge" black dog with " great big" white teeth, slobbery tongue, long waggy tail barreling towards you, you might be more than terrified!

All she wanted to do was mother them. Not sure the parents saw it that way. Ahem. Red faces and a million apologies all round.
Miss her heaps. She was wonderful.
Off tack though.

[TheoriginalLEM]

Your dog is Hattist - that is quite different, Hattism is a growing prejudice and needs to be eradicated!

[BossWitch]

When we got our dog we went to the puppy parties at our vet's practice to help with socialising her. We were all given a sheet with a long list of things to introduce the dogs to as young as poss to help prevent nervous / defensive responses like you describe OP. People of a different race were on the list (as were people in glasses, with beards, in wheelchairs, pushing prams, and many more things I can't remember!) so it doesn't seem crazy to me that if your dog isn't used to seeing people who look different it might react badly. It's not racist, but it is freaked out by the fact that all the human-beasts it has seen were a beige colour and now that one is brown. Wouldn't you be a bit freaked out if you saw a bright green pigeon or a crimson cat? Same thing!

[insanityscratching]

Eric doesn't like black labs, he barks at them, I'm pretty sure it's because, when in the vets, a black lab came and licked his face when he was a tiny pup on my knee as he was most affronted at the time. As for people, I've never met anyone he doesn't like.

[NiceCupOfTeaAndALittleSitDown]

My dog's the same Wordsmith
He's a rescue so don't know what his experiences have been but he barks at black and Asian people. Plus people with florescent jackets on. And cyclists (he's even been known to bark at a pedestrian who was walking to his bike, was impressed at that insight). And buses.

[IvegotaCaveTroll]

My dog hate brown labs and gets upset and barmy when Asian people walk past the house. But she is fine with my Asian friends. I think it's because she associates with a man who delivers takeaway flyers. Funny as my dog is brown herself!

[IrianofWay]

I wonder if dogs are aware of 'difference' ie that human has got black skin but all the others have got pinky-grey skin. Weird! Threat? Mine doesn't react to black people and is the friendliest dog to the majority of people but there is a man with learning difficulties in our street who has got into the habit of putting all the neighbours bins away after the bin lorry has emptied them. My dog dislikes him with a passion - he had different mannerisms and movements to other people and I wonder if that is the issue.

[YiIKEA]

Mine is very umbrellaist.

I think op, you may want to get a consult with a behaviourist as sometimes the one nervous reaction multiplies and your plan on introducing the two whilst your dog is held is more likely to cause more nerves. If you reassure them they they think they were right to be worried!

[TheWildRumpyPumpus]

My Mum's dog goes insane every time she sees a black man, full on barking, running round like crazy if off-lead. She has no such reaction with white or Asian men.

My Dad is black and she gets on perfectly well with him, so it's not an anxiety or 'hatred', maybe she recognises the skin colour difference and thinks it's my Dad... It's strange.

[Houseworkavoider]

I had a racist dog!
We never did figure it out
Our neighbour was Gambian and really quite fond of dogs. Was embarrassing!
I've met other owners of racist, hi-vis jackitist and hatist dogs.

[Skivvywoman]

My dog hates my neighbours dogs both golden a lab and a retriever he goes crazy teeth bare the lot! I thought maybe the same kind of dog had hurt him before we got him?

And he doesn't like my neighbour much either or his wife but I can understand that

[SukieTuesday]

There's a bit in the Perfect Puppy book about getting them to meet men with beards and people with glasses during the 8-12 weeks window so they don't end up reacting to that. They should also include nuns .

[Wordsmith]

TheoriginalLEWM - you do realise the comment about black labs was a joke, don't you? And I'm not anxious - until she starts gong crazy!

I think it is social conditioning. A friend of mine's Jack Russell has a thing about joggers and people on bikes - a dog behaviourist said it was probably because when she was 16 weeks old she broke her leg and therefore missed out on a lot of the early walking/human socialisation puppies get at that stage.

However with my dog this is a fairly recent thing - it's only happened a couple of times and I'm pretty sure she's encountered people of colour before with no adverse effect. I'm at a loss to imagine what's caused it.