Can a dog be racist?

[jd_1984]

My friends dog has a really great nature.
But a strange habbit has come to light - she tends to bark and growl solely at black people and Indian people (sorry if not the most PC terms).
She never ever barks at anyone else and it happens too frequently to be a coincidence.
Any ideas why this would happen??

[alexanderd]

Has your friend had it since a puppy? if not then perhaps something happened in the past. I dont really think they can be racist

[China Doll]

Yes, if trained incorrectly. I used to live on a uni campus and we sometimes got some alkies using the shop there (cheap wine deals... well actually, they probably weren't after the wine) and one of them had a dog which never bothered me but I noticed would often growl at asian or black students walking past, usually with the owner laughing his drunken socks off. I reported them to security as I'm a disapproving tattle tale...

[thedaveformula]

I may just be that a non-white person somehow mistreated the dog at some point in the past, the leading the dog to assume that all non-white people are a threat. Something which can be forgiven in dogs but not in humans.

[ChuckFickens]

As above, if the dog had been badly treated by a black person in the past then it may have a fear of black people, I have come across a couple of dogs who will growl at me purely because I wear glasses and they have been badly treated by others that wear glasses in the past.

[jd_1984]

Yeah from a pup. It is the strangest thing, I didnt believe until I saw for myself but she really barks at certain people (as stipulated above)

[ummmm]

But it's not actually racist.

[jd_1984]

Ummmm - yes I realise that it cant actually be a racist, it was a half hypothetical question!

[joggerjayne]

Apart from their colour, did these people have any other common feature which you might not have noticed, and which might have caused the dog to bark?

eg ...

Particularly tall ?

Wearing yellow ?

Wearing a hat ?

Carrying a few rashers of bacon ?

[alexanderd]

I used to own a dog that hated anyone in White because one of the vets hurt her giving her an injection

[jno]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084899/

[NoMercy]

Yes, my dog did not like Spanish people, despite being a Spanish rescue dog. If he heard Spanish people being particularly vocal, he'd bark his head off. He didn't mind English or any other race being vocal, though.

[McMouse]

You can train a dog to growl, bark or bite just about anyone. It would be the trainer not the dog being racist.

[jd_1984]

LOL Jno!

[ludwig]

My dog's not racist, but it has expressed concern about the 'open door' policy on immigration.

[LoftyLottie]

Unfortunately, my dog has always growled and barked at coloured people. I find it embarrasing!! She also hates people who wear dark woolly hats. We were her first owners so I don't think it was because anything nasty happened to her.

[ludwig]

My dog once referred to another dog as a 'huge g@ylord'. I had to chastise him severley and send him to his basket.

[LoftyLottie]

LOL at Ludwig.

[tinpotLizzie]

We had a wonderful, kind German Shepherd for 14yrs. & he hated travellers with every fibre of his being. He'd never had any dealing with them as we had him from an 8 week old puppy, but if one came anywhere near our property he would stand at the gate, rigid & snarling & ready for action. Needless to say, they never ventured inside the gate. Everyone else was assured of an ecstatic welcome!
Perhaps he already knew their track record re- their 'treatment' of animals & they knew better than to challenge him!!
He was loved & respected by everyone who met him & considered something of an Oracle by our neighbours, who welcomed his opinion on all comers !!

[jno]

"Perhaps he already knew their track record"

How, by reading the Mail? That's a smart dog.

[society]

"Can a dog be racist?"

I absolutely believe so; growing up we had two dogs that would bark and growl at any *** people they saw, and would tear them to pieces if they had gotten the chance.