Can a dog really be racist ?....?

Question

you know i must have hear this a thousand time by a friend walking down the streets he knows better than i .. i had this latin friend long ago and i remember one day i was walking home and we was coming up to this house and there was a dog barking and he said the dog do not like black people so he went closes to the dog and the dog really don't bark at him in stead the dog was barking at me ... what do u think?

Answer 1

i doubt it but everything is possible

Answer 2

Yes they can.  Mine was becasue someone of that racew hit him with a bottle once.  Took me a long tim eto find out

Answer 3

Well I wouldn't call it racism but yes dogs can have prejudices against people of a certain color, gender, or even someone in uniform. If the dog had bad memories of someone of that color before he might remember and become enraged.

Answer 4

I don't think in a sense that humans would be racist.I think that they may cautious of somebody big or dark if they have never been around that before.

My Grandmother's dog growled at an African American repair man when he entered the house (she's never growled at anyone) but she eventually got used to him and hasn't growled at any African American since.

I don't think that dogs sensing that someone is evil is the same as that though.

Answer 5

yeah my 3 year old border collie absolutely HATES African american people.

Answer 6

yes, dogs can see in different pigments so they can see the diferent between white poeple and black people so yes, if he grew up with white people and knows no black people he probably bark at black people when he sees them

Answer 7

they can sense if you are nervous.

so maybe if you are afraid/nervous around a certain race then he could sense that and go crazy

Answer 8

dogs don't see colors .... they only sense that you were scared... so it barked ........

Answer 9

Yes, because they can see black and white. I'm not racist, but it's probably because you do look a little scarier. He might have just been barking because he didn't know you, or because he had a prior bad experience with an African American.

Answer 10

I am an indian and i have been attacked by an otherwise friendly dog last year.

Answer 11

I don't think a dog can be racist the way a person can...but, I have been told to socialize my puppy with people of various races and cultures.  I think that if a dog only sees people who are white, he/she may be afraid of a person of color.  So, it is more about fear...well, really that is what racism is about when you get down to it...so, I guess dogs can be racist.

The suggestion that dogs react that way to black people because they are big, dark and scary is just silly.  I also don't think that it has to do with a previous bad experience usually...I really think it has to do with the unknown.

Socialize Them Early and Often!!

Answer 12

There are several factors that can make a dog racist.

1: Dogs have a very good memory when it comes to bad situations. Dogs remember certain things. I knew a dog that use to be beat with its blue food bowl. To this day, if it sees a blue food bowl, it freaks out. My aunt fosters beagles in Michigan. A lot of them are just dumped by hunters. When a beagle wont hunt, it is often abused and left out in the field to die. So a lot of her dogs hate men, and bark at men. A lot of them also hate bright colors like orange and red because hunters wear bright orange. So, its possible that a dog was beaten by a black person, and has now come to fear black people.

2. Dogs also pick up on their owners feelings. If the owner is racist, then the dog will sense that hostility coming from the owner every time a black person is near. Some dogs will also start to act hostile, because of their owner. Now, these examples could go for any race, not just black people.

So yes, it is "possible", but unlikely in some ways. Some dogs just do not like some people. It could of been your height, the way you looked, your posture, what you were wearing, what you smelled like. There are many reasons a dog will not like some one, and a lot of those reasons are just unknown.

EDIT: Dogs CAN see color. They can see about 7 or 8 different shades of color. Not nearly the extent humans can, but they can see them. Also, even if they couldnt see in color,t hey could still tell the difference between a white person and a black person.

Answer 13

I don't know for sure but I have a friend who's dog hates overweight people. He can tell the difference and growls and barks at them.

I assume animals are like people they have opinions.

Answer 14

I wouldn't say that the dog is racist. Somebody that was black might have serious hurt the dog, struck him, kicked him and the dog associates black people with pain. When the dog sees you it brings up bad memories.

I had a dog that did not like people in uniform and another that we could not ride bikes around her because every time u would she would go after you and bite.  

something has happen to that dog and it involved a black person and now that dogs dislikes black people he is scared of you